One of youngest Guantánamo prisoner released. (Thank you President Obama)

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Friday 25 September 2009

Nineteen-year-old Mohamed Jawad has set foot in Afghanistan after seven years in detention making him one of the youngest prisoners to be released from Guantánamo. He is set to sue the US Government in the next couple of months for inhumane treatment and torture in addition to being a minor in detention.

He was handed over to the US authorities by the Afghan police after being suspected for throwing a hand grenade at a passing US convoy wounding two US soldiers and an interpreter. The Pentagon claims it carried out a bone scan which showed that Jawad was seventeen at time of capture but did not present this evidence in court. Like many Afghanis he has no birth certificate to show when he was born.
Mohamed claims the confessions were coerced out of him after repeated threats of killing him and his family. The presiding judge, Ellen Huvelle, ordered the Government case against Jawad thrown out of the court after claiming it was an ‘outrage’ and ‘full of holes.’
He was initially held at a US air base, before being transferred to Guantánamo where he spent six of the seven years in detention. Jawad claims his captors tortured him and other prisoners, deprived them of food and sleep. He has described having his hands tied behind his back and being forced to eat by bending over and putting his mouth into a plate of food. He received substantial abuse, including the ‘frequent flier’ treatment which is a form of torture where the victim is shifted from cell to cell. Mohamed was shifted through 152 locations in a week’s time, staying a maximum of 2 hours and 55 seconds in each location.

Mohamed’s case against the US Government claiming compensation is being led by Maj Eric Montalvo, a US marine judge advocate who is coming to the end of his tenure, but has vowed to act in a private capacity to see this case to the end.

Human rights campaigners say it is going to take him a long time to recover from suffering the traumatic abuse in the formative years of his life . . .

read more: http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=4282

[Luminous Animal]

1. That would be, thank you ACLU (Obama's DOJ sought to keep him detained)

And thank you Judge Huvelle for rejecting the DOJ's arguments.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/38714res20090113.html

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2. I understand what's occurred (thanks to the ACLU, of course)

The DOJ is currently ignoring other court decisions regarding these prisoners, like the last administration did. I'll give the administration credit for following through on this decision with the eventual release.

from the ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/40544prs20090730.html

"Judge Huvelle made clear that Mr. Jawad has been illegally detained and the government has no credible evidence to continue holding him. We are pleased that the Justice Department has expressed a commitment to getting him home so that this nightmare of abuse and injustice can finally come to an end."


Judge Huvelle's order is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/40543lgl20090730.html

More information about Jawad's case is available at: www.aclu.org/jawad

[sabrina 1]

3. One of the most sickening of Bush/Cheney's crimes was the detention

and torture of children. According to reports over 60 children under the age of 18 were captured and tortured, at least one sodomized as the crime was applauded and photo-graphed by members of the US military.

Sy Hersch, as early as 2003 reported on these crimes and was the first to mention the torture of children. I did not actually believe it and hoped his information was incorrect at the time.

In an interview with Sy Hersch on cable news several years ago, he appeared to be really frightened about the direction this country had taken. When asked by the interviewer, 'what should we do'? Hersch responded 'get another passport?' He knew and probably still knows more than we will ever know unless he writes a memoir to be putlished after his death. He looked like a man who was haunted.

While the US military was deeply involved in much of the crimes reported, there WERE heroes.

I will never forget or forgive the 12 Democrats who voted for the egregious Military Commissions Act essentially removing the right to Habeas Corpus right before the 2006 election.

The heroes who may have saved the reputation of the military were the defense team in this case. Their story alone is a long, tortuous journey through through the travesty of what was laughingly called 'military justice' during a time when defending Gitmo prisoners was viewed as almost treasonous.

http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/09/21/the-unsung-heroes-who-helped-secure-mohammed-jawads-release-from-guantanamo/

The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Secure Mohammed Jawad’s Release From Guantánamo

The ACLU deserves a special thank you for their role in this case, also organizations like UNICEF, Human Rights Watch and others.

The military prosecutor who quit and became a witness for the defense, and so many others who never gave up despite everything obstacle that was thrown in their way.

All International laws were broken and yet, not one of the criminals have been brought to justice.

All child prisoners who have been recruited into conflict, are supposed to be viewed as victims, not criminals, agreed to by the US.

Until justice is done with the prosecution of the torturers and child abusers, this will remain a stain on the US for a very long time to come and undermine any efforts this country may try to make to speak out on human rights abuses elsewhere. We have no moral authority to do so until someone demands the prosecution of those who took the US down this dark road.

I will thank Obama when his DOJ begins to look at these crimes. The torture of children has to be the lowest act a human being can engage in. Shameful is too good a word. May Rumsfeld, Cheney et al be haunted by these tortured children for the rest of their lives.

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4. I understand a reluctance to credit the administration

I do believe that they need to know there's support out here when they eventually do something right.

[sabrina 1]

5. Yes, that's true bigtree

I just don't understand, now that the country has been taken back from the criminal administration responsible for so many crimes, why this all cannot be addressed quickly. I expected more in terms of justice. For one thing, Obama would have huge support in ending the crimes, if these stories were reported in detail by the media.

Most Americans do not know what was done, and still is being done, in their name. I think in general, the public is decent overall and would be horrified to know the facts about what went on in America's gulags.

Just this week I told some relatives, both very liberal who donate to the ACLU, the Dem Party etc, about the torture of children. They did not know about it, informed as they are, because they are no online, being older people. They WERE horrified, but I'm not sure they really believed me. They love their country and it is hard to accept something so horrible could have happened without a media that reports the facts.

I think this, now, young man would have been released even under the Bush administration as there were too many people, including the military prosecutors, six of whom resigned, who were unwilling to stop until they obtained his release.

If only these people were in Congress. I think that was the idea when this country was founded. Instead we have bought and paid for lobbyists representing us, and the people have no lobbyists.

Anyhow, thanks for posting this, it is good news and he seems to be remarkably informed and caring (for his fellow prisoners) considering how abused he was and how removed from the world at such a young age.