U.S. Judge Orders Release of Young Guantanamo Detainee

[kas125]

Source: Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has ordered the military to release a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was arrested in Pakistan when he was 14.

Mohamed el-Gharani was one of the first people to be sent to the U.S. military prison in Cuba in 2002, where he has been held ever since.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled on Wednesday that el-Gharani, who is also known as Yousuf and is now 21, is not an enemy combatant and must be released.

El-Gharani's lawyer says he was accused of being a member of al-Qaida in 1998, when he would have been 11 years old.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011402511.html?hpid=topnews

[The Blue Flower]

1. It's a start

Of course his formative years were a lesson in why to hate America and its values. I hope he can overcome this experience.

[MineralMan]

2. Oh, for pete's sake...

Children! A week's too long for Bush to remain as President...

[balantz]

3. shrubbie and zany say: "Nooos, don't let him go!

"He's a child terrarist, he might do something evil, or say something to make us terrarists look worse!"

[VP505]

9. They are probably right

who wouldn't be angry and thinking of revenge after what was done to him.

[thereismore]

4. Imagine spending your last middle school year and all of high school in Gitmo. nt

[EFerrari]

17. And that's after you were tortured.

God bless America.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Oh, God. He needs to go home ASAP. Only a fool would have EVER dreamed of putting this young man

in prison.

From Amnesty USA:

http://blogs.amnestyusa.org.nyud.net:8090/pub/amnestyusa/student-activism/Mohammed_el_Gharani.jpg

Mohammed El Gharani

A young man not so different from the average 15 year old, was born and brought up in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after the September 11th 2001 attacks Mohammed moved to Pakistan to study English and gain IT skills.

In October 2001, 15 year old Mohanmmed el Gharani was more interested in his religion than say a current crush. While praying in a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan Mohammed was arrested when the mosque was raided by the police. After his arrest, Mohammed was first taken to a prison in Pakistan where he reports abuses such as being hung by his wrists naked with his feet barely touching the floor for up to 16 hours a day, as well as being forced to drink lots of water and not having the ability to urinate.

He was eventually handed over to US custody, at which point he says he was put in blue overalls, hooded, shackled, beaten and threatened with death. He was taken by helicopter to Kandahar, Afghanistan where he reports that he was stripped naked and repeatedly beaten.
http://blogs.amnestyusa.org/portal/entriesForTag?tagId=zd0nvggu8zm9

http://chawedrosin.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2008/01/mohamed-el-gharani.jpg
Cases: Mohammed 'Yusuf' El Gharani (Guantánamo Bay)

Sent to Guantánamo at fourteen years of age

Mohammed El Gharani was just 14 years old when he was seized by the Pakistani authorities and sold to the US military for a bounty.

As a Chad national living in Saudi Arabia, his opportunities for education and advancement were extremely limited, so Mohammed left his home for Pakistan, hoping to learn English and train to work with computers.

Seized in a random raid on a mosque in Pakistan in October 2001, he is one of 22 juveniles held in Guantánamo Bay since the prison opened in January 2002, according to lists compiled by the US Department of Defense.

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/casework_mohammedelgharani.htm

[kas125]

6. I have three sons and I can't even imagine how they'd deal with

a life like that. Those responsible for these abuses must be held accountable.

[bluesmail]

7. Let go with a mind easily manipulated. n/t

[stillcool]

8. If there is anything left of his mind...

he'll make a great 'terrorist'.

[bottomtheweaver]

10. He was seized in a mosque. He wants to work with computers.

If others who have gone before him are any indication, he'll continue his life as best he can before the psychotic US torture brigade kidnapped him for the chimperor's sick pleasure.

[stillcool]

11. life as he had known it, is over..

I hope he finds some way to make peace with the last 5 years of his young life.

[bottomtheweaver]

12. Yes, but he's not necessarily ruined.

People are falsely imprisoned all the time; when they get out, they generally return to what they were doing. And while it's been reported that there's al-qaeda "recruitment" going on there at Gitmo, the reports also say that prisoners find it unwelcome, which is also like the prison situation. So if he wasn't a terrist before, it seems unlikely that he would be now, especially since most terra is bogus to begin with. That's my view anyway.

[stillcool]

14. I can't imagine how you can equate

a 14 year old, being taken from his country to a torture palace, with no access to his family, no charges, no lawyer... to people being falsely imprisoned all the time. How do you think you would fare if the same thing happened to you at the age of 14? Even in the best of circumstance there would be some serious emotional trauma. I think the "Al-Quaeda" recruitment is credible only to the extent that the people there might want to seek revenge. They surely can't seek justice. Maybe Al-Quaeda will be in the phone book when they get home.

[MetaTrope]

13. That reminds me

Did that http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/sep/22/afghanistan.guantanamo">78-year-old farmer ever get his life back together after being released from Guantanamo?

[annabanana]

15. Is this the one who's defense lawyer was on the Maddow Show?

I think so. . .

[Solly Mack]

16. K&R