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Al-Jazeera Reporter Imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay to Sue George Bush
Sami al-Haj – freed in May 2008 after more than six years – to launch legal action against former US president
An al-Jazeera reporter who was imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay plans to launch a joint legal action with other detainees against former US president George Bush and other administration officials, for the illegal detention and torture he and others suffered at the hands of US authorities.
This photo, reviewed by the US military, shows a US soldier at Camp Justice, Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba. (AFP/Pool/File/Brennan Linsley) The case will be initiated by the Guantánamo Justice Center, a new organization open to former prisoners at the US base, which will set up its international headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month.
"The purpose of our organization is to open a case against the Bush administration," said co-founder Sami al-Haj, an al-Jazeera reporter from Sudan who was illegally detained by US authorities for over six years. He was freed in May 2008.
"We need to start our organization first and then we will prepare a whole case. We don't want to do this case by case," said the 40-year-old reporter during a recent visit to Oslo.
"We are in the process of collecting information from all the people, such as medical evidence. It takes time," he said.
He added: "I need them to go to court ... we don't want [what happened to us] to be repeated again."
The legal action may be modeled on an action against General Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in the UK in 1998 at the request of a Spanish prosecutor for the alleged murders of Spanish citizens in Chile under his dictatorship.
Al-Haj said: "I spoke to my lawyer, who advises me to do this in Europe. The courts do not have the power to bring [US officials] by force, but at least they can't visit European countries. If they do, [the authorities] would catch them and send them to court."
The Guantánamo Justice Center, which will be led by British ex-detainee Moazzam Begg, will open a British-based branch this month in addition to its Geneva headquarters.
Al-Haj, who is back at work for the Arabic satellite channel in Qatar, is in frequent contact with Guantánamo detainees, both past and present.
"Torture is continuing in Guantánamo ," al-Haj said. "Obama needs to close Guantánamo immediately."
Al-Haj said he was questioned by British intelligence officers during his detention, once in Kandahar in March 2002, and another time at Guantánamo later that same year. He said: "They asked me questions about al-Jazeera, whether it had links with al-Qaeda. They asked me questions about the British detainees at Guantánamo.
"They told me I should cooperate with the Americans and work as a spy," upon his release. He said he was not mistreated by the British intelligence officers.
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35 Comments so far
Show AllGood! I hope he wins his lawsuit!
I really think this is part of the answer to the PROBLEM posed by great wealth, held by the 'privileged' few.
I am so sorry for the terrible treatment (TORTURE) endured by these victimized people. I don't mean to compare my experience as being near THAT horrific. Torture of the degree prisoners at Gitmo and secret black sites received, and continue to receive, is in a class almost beyond human comprehension...they received the worst of the worst...it is HOLOCAUST.
Yet I have been 'tortured' too, deprived of my rights, my identity by the bureaucracy, the kleptocracy and the corporate death machine as administered by some of its special 'servants'. Special, in the sense, that they have been made insensitive to human understanding (which is to say, compassion or even any sense of 'fairness') by their fanatical devotion to ideological pursuits and obedience to a hierarchy of corporate command. It has caused me and my family, great pain and loss. The main instigator of this pain was: Organic Valley, Family of Farms. However I also wish to include the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture (and a particularly bad, milk inspector), the NFO, the Melrose, Mn. dairy testing lab and the USDA.
So I plan to sue too. I encourage all victims to follow a similar strategy.
I only hope they are enough legitimate and humanitarian lawyers. With enough courage to aid all victims of corporate con games in this essential process. I ask them to stand up and be counted. I am asking one of them to help me.
To some maybe I am just a dumb, simple farmer. And maybe to some others I am a loudmouth. But I am a human being.
I WILL NOT SHUT UP.
nedlud
God Bless you, sir.
The system came very close to killing me as I did attempt suicide many years ago. I'm still here by the grace of God.
I wish you all the success in your fight.
And I wish you continued success, in yours. And joy, I wish you joy and happiness.
love,
nedlud
NEdlund and AGG - i hope the best for you and your families....
what is so sad about the USA and its powerstructure - is that millions upon millions of americans ARE decent human beings - no different, no less, no more , than any other person on the planet that try their best to approach life with honesty , with dedication, with kindness and concern for not just themselves but others as part of society -- and who have the most natural human instinct to share their JOY at what they do or produce with others .....
but whose lives are destroyed or corrupted SIMPLY by being within a structure that is so VICIOUS in its exploitation.
this to me - is what is most sad about how the USA is "ordered".........
it is SO unnecessary in its sadness.
reading your stories is like imagining what the great american writer John Steinbeck wrote and depicted in his noval
":GRAPES OF WRATH " about how essentially decent folks are destroyed by the "forces" of such great power and exploitation.
Thank you sir, thank you...you are right, about people. There ARE good people who care. And you are right about this 'structure' that we live in, that it is VICIOUS.
I could tell you many many stories, about good people and, about BAD structure. And I'm sure you could tell me...
your friend,
nedlud
actually, the smirk had never travelled to foreign countries before he twice raped the electoral process. what makes anyone think that he - being the second most wanted/despised man on the planet - would now want to leave the confines of the country he helped to destroy? it is really doubtful that he will consider emerging from his multi-million dollar chicken-shit infested hole he currently resides in.
good luck to anyone who can get their hands on him.
nedlud July 17th, 2009 9:50 am
I have read many of your posts. You are not "just a dumb, simple farmer" nor a "loudmouth". Rather you sound like a person who actually has a moral backbone and an individual with some amount of courage to stand up and speak out.
As more of the world speaks out against the abhorrent behavior of corporate controlled USA the more shame will be heaped on the American people for not being the patriots we incessantly speak of being.
Like the point on a graph that says peak oil perhaps this is the point that Americans need to all stand up and show some backbone.The rights, freedom and democracy that we value so highly and which our leaders espouse as they conquer and dominate other countries has been stolen from us by our own leaders.
As the dominate media story of the week points out. Why is it that the story about covert assassination is focused on that which is kept from congress not why we as a nation have been covertly murdering humans all over the globe and have been doing so for 40 years or more?
Abe~
Thank you sir, I appreciate your words very, very much.
I will fight for myself, I will fight for my family and I will fight for real people everywhere. Because that is who I love.
Thank you again, kind sir.
your friend,
nedlud
he is so right nedlund .
you are truly - in the most human and ethical and noble way - "the salt of the earth" .
i just hope that for you and for all of us - all is not yet lost.
lino July 17th, 2009 10:22 am
The Bush family has bought 300,000 acres of land atop one of the worlds largest water aquifers in Paraguay one of the countries that have no extradition treaties.
The amount of acreage changes every time someone mentions this. I think it is actually 25,000 acres. In any case it is clearly an escape route for the eventuality that George W, for the first time in his life, may be held accountable for his actions.
But who knows. Maybe as he approaches the airplane to make his getaway, someone will stop him.
Let's see how long it takes the Uncle Tom in the White House to do everything in his power to derail this suit or the mobsters on the Supreme Court to dismiss it.
The suit is not being filed in the United States, it is filed in Europe, so Obama and the Supremes have zero say over it.
Conversly, the european courts have zero jurisdiction here in the U.S. Unfortunately this will be a press stunt only and unless a foriegn power wishes to invade U.S. soil to enforce this lawsuit and extridite, it will lead nowhere.
Regardless of where the suit is being filed, Bush has Obama's backing and protection 100%, 24/7, 365.
The reason being, Obama has been committing the same exact heinous crimes against humanity since Jan 20 2009.
Obama met with Spains Prime Minister twice after the judges went after Bush, Cheney,Yoo, Who? and then the judges were told by the prosecutors that they had no case.
As long as the USA has missles, assasssins and borrowed money it has power anywhere.
Ex-President Bush will, I hope, finally get what he deserves. For those who are interested just Google two words, 'Bush Nazi.' You will read about Prescott Bush, G.W.'s grandfather, and how he along with others attempted to overthrow the U.S. Government during WWII in favor of a Nazi government ruled by Adolf Hitler. Many people, like me, are being tortured right here, right now in our own country by being denied the safest, most therapeutically active drug known to man, Marijuana. I suffer from Diabetic Neuropathic Gastroparesis (paralyzed stomach.) There is no drug in today's pharmacopoeia that safely (safely described as: Not leaving an irreversible condition or death) controls chronic nausea, vomiting and wasting syndrome, the 3 major symptoms from Gastroparesis. Marinol does not work. I have been on it for years and the only benefit it has is it legally allows me to have THC in my bloodstream in case I have to drop a UA. I have tried all other anti nausea drugs relevant to my case to no avail. The only help my doctor's can offer me is a prescription for Reglan/Metoclopramide. As my digestive specialist handed my Reglan prescription to me he said, "Do not take Reglan/Metoclopramide on a regular basis for it causes irreversible Parkinson like shakes and tremors." This is a guaranteed side effect. Though rarer regular use of Reglan/Metoclopramide can also cause "Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome" which is fatal. Inhaled marijuana vapors gives immediate relief from chronic nausea & vomiting. I already have 1 life long disorder I do not need another. To deny me, and others, of the safest, most therapeutically active substance known to man in favor of already FDA approved drugs with serious/fatal side effects is torture without a doubt for these drugs and their serious side effects are worse than the disease. If marijuana use is so dangerous, which it is not, why does the U.S. Government already own the patents of any future drug from the marijuana plant? And why does the U.S. Gov prohibit even just the growing and research into the medical efficacy of marijuana? There is only one answer. Federal Government CORRUPTION! They already know of the safe and therapeutic effects of smoking/vaporizing or ingesting whole cannabis and do not want to allow people to grow their own medicine for fear of the financial losses to the big pharmacuetical company's. Marijuana Prohibition was in created in 1937 to enable the U.S. to deport the marijuana smoking Mexican's who flooded the southwest after the 1910 Mexican Revolution. Marijuana Prohibition evolved to include society's minorities i.e. blacks, Hispanics and others. As put by the Federal Governments own people, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest, most therapeutically active substances known to man. It would be arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferer's and the substance."-Francis L. Young, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, 1988.
Portugal has decriminalized drug use. It's going great for them in reduction of street and organized crime involving money laundering. I hope we get with it here soon. This Gastroparesis, does that affect your esophagus peristaltic action too? It must be a daily struggle and I sympathize with you. Not to belittle your condition or herbal education, because I'm sure you have tried a lot of alternative treatments, but have considered smoking Mullien leaves? It's an old Native American remedy. Also eating Lemon Catnip leaves in salad is very therapeutic.
Unlike the US government "The (European) courts do not have the power to bring [US officials] by force".
Surely that is not true if a conviction of accessory to murder ensues.
Holder. Get going.
And Bush? We will come for you in your bed.
Holder?
This guy is linked through big money to Chiquita Bananas in HONDURAS. Yep, the same Honduras that has some "difficulties" at the moment. Chiquita was VERY upset with the recently ousted president because he raised the minimum wage. Don't expect help from Holder. He is one of them.
AGG, thanks for that, I'm not surprised,
My belief that Holder may be useful is as a function of political fighting I foresee, not Holder's innate decency.....?
I believe that as Cheney attacks Obama he will counter these blows w/ an Investigation into torture, Yoo et al,
And as Congress investigates Cheney (the bush regime) for concealment from Congress of their fuckery,
The suit, the investigations, together may reach a critical mass and that asshole cheney may die on the ropes, fighting and losing as he is hammered, beaten, TORTURED by the Ghosts of his Victims.
Let me see if I have this straight.
It was bad when dim witted George W. Bush sent young Americans to kill innocent Iraqis and Afghanis for oil. But its ok now that a charismatic Barack Obama does it. Is that the story you fucking liberal Democrats, progressives, and social democrats who think you believe in socialism?
It was bad when the semi-literate George W. Bush sent young American fathers, mothers, sons and daughters off to die for rich people in foreign lands. But its ok now that the great orator with the teleprompter Barack Obama does it. Is that the story you fucking useless dilettantes at the Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, MoveOn.Org, and on web sites like Common Dreams?
It was bad when the bankers guy in the White House, George W. Bush was ordering Predator drones to fire missiles into wedding parties and funeral processions in Pakistan and Afghanistan and counting the dead children and their mothers as "militants" killed. But its ok now that the new bankers guy in the White House, and hasn't Barack Obama been good to Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, BOA and Citigroup, does it. Is that the story you fucking pretend anti-war, anti-imperialist, anti-racist and labor organizations in this God-forsaken country.
There's not a dimes worth of difference between either of these war criminals. Fuck them both! And fuck any of us who continue to remain silent because Barack Obama is the president.
well NO malcolm it is NOT ok because it's obomber now. if anything it's probably worse because of his escalation, his effing drones, and spreading it to Pakistan
does that help?
No it doesn't grandad.
Damned straight!
Anyone who calls himself a Democrat is now part of the problem as well as the Republicans.
The world gets nuttier by the day.
We in bizzaro world now are.
Like The Wise Yoda Spoken .
Oh this is truly delicious in its irony. Mr. George W. "I take full res;ponsibiity for that" Bush is finally getting called on the responsibiilty he takes. Imbecility, like wisdom, is truly justified by her children.
Poet
Sami al-Haji's case is discussed at some length in Stafford Smith's book Eight O'clock Ferry to the Windward Side. Smith represented Sami, along with 34 other gitmo detainees. This case is special because Sami was arrested for performing as a reporter. Also he got beat bad enough at Bagram so he can, Smith tells us, barely walk. He has a terrific spirit though, and made it his business to keep an account of all the child prisoners at gitmo. Sami's list had 45 juveniles.
Smith's book is excellent by the way, along with Andy Worthington's Guantanamo Files.
I applaud reporter Sami's preparations to sue a criminal Bush along with Bush's criminal associates. Any perception that previous presidents have gotten away with criminality must not be used as a preceden- in this the abundantly enlightened 21st century - to allow Bush and his asociates to slink away too . This Criminality Buck must stop here. We all need to set the desired moral example of being capable of according the privelege of high-minded justice to the tortured aggreived and of aiding them in their right endeavour. Trying to equate this situation with that which "happens in so-called Banana republics" - as had been suggested by some - and so should not be proceeded with, is a cop out by NEFARIOUS BOOT-LICKERS of Bush and his associates lest THEY too get roped in.
As regards the Predator STRIKES still continuing to be carried out in Afghanistan and the adjoining region, it is not yet clear whether, behind the scene, THEY are being encouraged by the governments of those stricken. Be that as it may, the phrase being used to justify non-militant deaths as a result of these stikes as COLLATERAL DAMAGE is a moral monstrosity which the Obama government is advised to cease without delay. Looked at this from another angle it would seem to be suggestive of AIDING the Taliban to continue their horrific atrocities by co-opting the sympathizers of the victims. The hydra and its regenerative instincts come to the foreground ! Here again conscientious stalwarts from amongst the relatives etc. of those so callously murdered need to be advised to resort to legal action in the appropriate quarters.
The above is being endorsed in the context of the CHANGE now so necessary to LIFT America to the moral high ground from which Bush and his associates have criminally toppled us.
Sami al-Haj is a hero. I would never have made it through what he has gone through and yet here he is with the grit and determination to organize and sue. A truly great man with a great mind and the courage most of us only dream about.
Sue the whole lot, I say.
Much has been posted about the rotten system, corporate killing machine, etc.
Check some sources and see if you don't agree that the CORPORATION and corporate "personhood" are at the root of all the injustice and exploitation.
The corporations are chartered under terms that legally require them to lay waste the earth and people to increase shareholder value. The corporation is the most heinous mistake humanity has ever made and will be the end of us all if the terms are not soon radically changed.
The corporation floats the wrong people to the top of the power structure for the wrong reasons.
Read the works of Thom Hartmann, David Korten, John Perkins, Naomi Klein, Chalmers Johnson, and of course, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and others.
Vote for people who know the difference. Spend wisely. Remove your support of this malignant cancerous business model.
Spread the word.