Cruel Confinement of ‘Enemy Combatant’ in United States (H.Rights Watch)

[Up2Late]

(I don't know why this, and a bunch of other older articles, just popped up on my RSS feed from Human Rights Watch, but I hadn't heard about this case, and it's absolutely outrageous what * and his fellow war criminals are doing to this poor guy.

If you read through this complaint, you'll see that this is one of the Muslim men who "...The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested ...at his home in December 2001 as a material witness in the investigation of the September 11 attacks, and he was subsequently indicted on federal charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI...." See below for more outrage.)

Cruel Confinement of ‘Enemy Combatant’ in United States

Complaint Provides First Look at Isolation and Abuse

(New York, August 8, 2005)—A lawsuit filed today against U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reveals the gratuitous cruelty inflicted on a foreign student held without charges for more than two years as an “enemy combatant” in a South Carolina naval brig, Human Rights Watch said. Although three men have been confined in the United States after being designated “enemy combatants” by President George Bush, the complaint by Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri provides the first look into the treatment of any of them in military custody.

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Al-Marri is a citizen of Qatar who lawfully resided in the United States, having come with his wife and children to obtain a graduate degree at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, the same university from which he had earned a bachelor’s degree 10 years earlier. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested al-Marri at his home in December 2001 as a material witness in the investigation of the September 11 attacks, and he was subsequently indicted on federal charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI.

In 2003, President Bush designated al-Marri an enemy combatant, and shortly before his criminal trial was to begin, the criminal charges against him were dismissed, and he was sent to the Consolidated Naval Brig in North Charleston, South Carolina. Lawyers for al-Marri immediately challenged the President’s actions in federal district court in Illinois, where his criminal case had been pending, but the courts ultimately held that this challenge had to be brought in the district where al-Marri was presently confined. On July 7, 2004, counsel for al-Marri filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court in South Carolina, challenging the lawfulness of his detention. On July 8, 2005, the court ruled that President Bush has the authority to detain non-citizens who had been residing in the United States as enemy combatants.

(clip)

Human Rights Watch disputes the government’s contention that the laws of war permit holding al-Marri indefinitely and without charges. Those laws are not applicable outside areas of armed conflict and where there is no direct connection to an armed conflict. In the case of a civilian detained within the United States—whether or not affiliated with any terrorist organization—international human rights and constitutional law require that he be formally charged and given a fair trial before a civilian court.

<http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/08/08/usdom11612.htm>
(more at link above)

[Maple]

1. Well THAT will certainly solve your

foreign student problem.

Except you didn't have one before.

You sure do now.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Ask not for whom...

http://www.karlandkinggeorge.com/Ask_Not_for_Whom.html