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Remember way back when President Barack Obama promised to close
Guantanamo, restore the United States' moral standing and end the
practice of torture? It wasn't that long ago -- January 2009. As one of
his first acts as president, Obama signed the executive order committing to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
Remember way back when President Barack Obama promised to close
Guantanamo, restore the United States' moral standing and end the
practice of torture? It wasn't that long ago -- January 2009. As one of
his first acts as president, Obama signed the executive order committing to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
He knew the importance of this principled stance. In a major address on national security
later that same year, President Obama held forth on the damage wrought
by the Bush administration's policies of indefinite detention, torture
and abuse.
"There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral
authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of
building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that
drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was
defending positions that undermined the rule of law. In fact, part of
the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the
misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law -- a
proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead
of serving as a tool to counter terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol
that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the
existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world
than it ever detained. So the record is clear: Rather than keeping us
safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national
security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the
willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that
operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping
it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That's why
I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign, and that is
why I ordered it closed within one year."
Sounds good, right?
But the administration has allowed those complications to eclipse everything else. In a recent Washington Post article, an unnamed administration official admits that: "Gitmo is going to remain open for the foreseeable future."
Does this mean that for the foreseeable future men like Djamel Ameziane will remain trapped in a web of isolation at Guantanamo?
Djamel Ameziane was born April 14, 1967. A member of the Berber
ethnic group, he fled his native Algeria in his early twenties to seek a
better life. He found that better life as a chef at Al Caminetto
Trattoria, one of the best Italian restaurants in Vienna. Forced to
leave when his visa was not renewed, Ameziane went to Canada. Living and
working in Montreal, Ameziane sought political asylum there as well.
When that claim was denied in 2000, he was out of options. He decided
to go to Afghanistan because as J. Wells Dixon, a member of his legal
team and a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, explained: "he believed it was only there that he could live in peace, anonymously and permanently."
But Djamel Ameziane was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soon
after he settled, the U.S. launched the October 2001 war against
Afghanistan. He tried to flee the fighting, but was captured by local
police while trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Like so many
others who were captured
along the border, he was turned over to U.S. forces for a bounty of
$2,000 or $5,000. Next he was held at Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan.
Later, Ameziane was transported to Guantanamo in February 2002, making
him one of the earliest prisoners held at the notorious facility.
Ameziane has never been charged with a crime. There is no credible
evidence that he took up arms against the United States or posed a
threat to this country. He remains at Guantanamo because the United
States cannot send him back to Algeria and has not found a third country
to host him.
Algeria has also not been Ameziane's home for nearly two decades and
he should not be forced to return there. Returning to Algeria would
expose Djamel Ameziane to even more suffering. He grew up in Kabylie, an
unstable region in the north known for frequent, violent clashes
between the Algerian army and Islamic resistance groups. In April, the
State Department issued a travel warning
for Kabylie, citing "terrorist attacks, including bombings, false
roadblocks, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations." Practicing
Muslims, like Ameziane, are automatically suspected of supporting the
resistance and are frequently harassed, targeted for arrests by the
government because of their religious practices.
The stain of having spent time in Guantanamo would alone be enough to
put him at risk of being imprisoned if he is returned. The first two
Algerians transferred out of Guantanamo in July 2008 were disappeared
for two weeks and likely subjected to interrogation by Algeria's
"military security" police. Other Algerian nationals at Guantanamo have said, through their lawyers, that they would rather stay in the prison than return to their country of origin.
Until a third country comes forward to offer him resettlement
protection, Ameziane remains at Guantanamo. Djamel is a college
graduate who speaks French, Arabic and English fluently and can
communicate in German, making him an attractive candidate for any number
of countries.
In 2008, his lawyers submitted an application for resettlement in
Canada, where he lived in for five years before being denied asylum. The
Anglican Church in Canada
is prepared to sponsor Djamel Ameziane's settlement, where one of his
brothers also lives. Barry Clarke, Anglican bishop of Montreal, said:
"Having read what Djamel has suffered and the risk he would face if
returned to Algeria, I am convinced that sponsoring him is the right
thing to do." Canada is not the only option. If the Austrian government
agreed to resettle Ameziane, his old boss at the Al Caminetto Trattoria
is eager to rehire him as a chef.
Despite his long separation from family and his painful ordeal,
Djamel continues to pursue his interests-- he enjoys drawing and water
coloring, he reads French mystery novels and plays soccer. Djamel says:
"I have only ever wanted to live quietly and peacefully in a country
where I would not suffer persecution. That is still my goal."
There are 173 other men still at Guantanamo. Many face the same knot
of complications as Djamel. Resettlement is not as difficult as the
administration is making it out to be. The main hurdle is that the
United States refuses to accept even a single man from Guantanamo within
its borders.
Guantanamo is a crime against humanity. It is our crime against
humanity. It is a crime carried out first by President George W. Bush
and continued now by President Barack Obama.
As January 11, 2011 approaches-- the ninth anniversary of the opening
of Guantanamo to "war on terrorism" detainees -- there should be a hue
and cry and pressure on the Obama administration to decisively right the
wrongs of Guantanamo. A first step is resolving the cases of Djamel
Ameziane and so many others who remain in a brutal purgatory sanctioned
by the same administration that promised, on January 22, 2009, to end
this suffering and injustice.
Human rights organizations and anyone of conscience should commit
themselves to action and education and outreach on this issue, so the
United States does not end up marking a tenth year of Guantanamo and a
third year of broken promises.
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Remember way back when President Barack Obama promised to close
Guantanamo, restore the United States' moral standing and end the
practice of torture? It wasn't that long ago -- January 2009. As one of
his first acts as president, Obama signed the executive order committing to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
He knew the importance of this principled stance. In a major address on national security
later that same year, President Obama held forth on the damage wrought
by the Bush administration's policies of indefinite detention, torture
and abuse.
"There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral
authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of
building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that
drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was
defending positions that undermined the rule of law. In fact, part of
the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the
misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law -- a
proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead
of serving as a tool to counter terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol
that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the
existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world
than it ever detained. So the record is clear: Rather than keeping us
safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national
security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the
willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that
operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping
it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That's why
I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign, and that is
why I ordered it closed within one year."
Sounds good, right?
But the administration has allowed those complications to eclipse everything else. In a recent Washington Post article, an unnamed administration official admits that: "Gitmo is going to remain open for the foreseeable future."
Does this mean that for the foreseeable future men like Djamel Ameziane will remain trapped in a web of isolation at Guantanamo?
Djamel Ameziane was born April 14, 1967. A member of the Berber
ethnic group, he fled his native Algeria in his early twenties to seek a
better life. He found that better life as a chef at Al Caminetto
Trattoria, one of the best Italian restaurants in Vienna. Forced to
leave when his visa was not renewed, Ameziane went to Canada. Living and
working in Montreal, Ameziane sought political asylum there as well.
When that claim was denied in 2000, he was out of options. He decided
to go to Afghanistan because as J. Wells Dixon, a member of his legal
team and a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, explained: "he believed it was only there that he could live in peace, anonymously and permanently."
But Djamel Ameziane was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soon
after he settled, the U.S. launched the October 2001 war against
Afghanistan. He tried to flee the fighting, but was captured by local
police while trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Like so many
others who were captured
along the border, he was turned over to U.S. forces for a bounty of
$2,000 or $5,000. Next he was held at Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan.
Later, Ameziane was transported to Guantanamo in February 2002, making
him one of the earliest prisoners held at the notorious facility.
Ameziane has never been charged with a crime. There is no credible
evidence that he took up arms against the United States or posed a
threat to this country. He remains at Guantanamo because the United
States cannot send him back to Algeria and has not found a third country
to host him.
Algeria has also not been Ameziane's home for nearly two decades and
he should not be forced to return there. Returning to Algeria would
expose Djamel Ameziane to even more suffering. He grew up in Kabylie, an
unstable region in the north known for frequent, violent clashes
between the Algerian army and Islamic resistance groups. In April, the
State Department issued a travel warning
for Kabylie, citing "terrorist attacks, including bombings, false
roadblocks, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations." Practicing
Muslims, like Ameziane, are automatically suspected of supporting the
resistance and are frequently harassed, targeted for arrests by the
government because of their religious practices.
The stain of having spent time in Guantanamo would alone be enough to
put him at risk of being imprisoned if he is returned. The first two
Algerians transferred out of Guantanamo in July 2008 were disappeared
for two weeks and likely subjected to interrogation by Algeria's
"military security" police. Other Algerian nationals at Guantanamo have said, through their lawyers, that they would rather stay in the prison than return to their country of origin.
Until a third country comes forward to offer him resettlement
protection, Ameziane remains at Guantanamo. Djamel is a college
graduate who speaks French, Arabic and English fluently and can
communicate in German, making him an attractive candidate for any number
of countries.
In 2008, his lawyers submitted an application for resettlement in
Canada, where he lived in for five years before being denied asylum. The
Anglican Church in Canada
is prepared to sponsor Djamel Ameziane's settlement, where one of his
brothers also lives. Barry Clarke, Anglican bishop of Montreal, said:
"Having read what Djamel has suffered and the risk he would face if
returned to Algeria, I am convinced that sponsoring him is the right
thing to do." Canada is not the only option. If the Austrian government
agreed to resettle Ameziane, his old boss at the Al Caminetto Trattoria
is eager to rehire him as a chef.
Despite his long separation from family and his painful ordeal,
Djamel continues to pursue his interests-- he enjoys drawing and water
coloring, he reads French mystery novels and plays soccer. Djamel says:
"I have only ever wanted to live quietly and peacefully in a country
where I would not suffer persecution. That is still my goal."
There are 173 other men still at Guantanamo. Many face the same knot
of complications as Djamel. Resettlement is not as difficult as the
administration is making it out to be. The main hurdle is that the
United States refuses to accept even a single man from Guantanamo within
its borders.
Guantanamo is a crime against humanity. It is our crime against
humanity. It is a crime carried out first by President George W. Bush
and continued now by President Barack Obama.
As January 11, 2011 approaches-- the ninth anniversary of the opening
of Guantanamo to "war on terrorism" detainees -- there should be a hue
and cry and pressure on the Obama administration to decisively right the
wrongs of Guantanamo. A first step is resolving the cases of Djamel
Ameziane and so many others who remain in a brutal purgatory sanctioned
by the same administration that promised, on January 22, 2009, to end
this suffering and injustice.
Human rights organizations and anyone of conscience should commit
themselves to action and education and outreach on this issue, so the
United States does not end up marking a tenth year of Guantanamo and a
third year of broken promises.
Remember way back when President Barack Obama promised to close
Guantanamo, restore the United States' moral standing and end the
practice of torture? It wasn't that long ago -- January 2009. As one of
his first acts as president, Obama signed the executive order committing to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
He knew the importance of this principled stance. In a major address on national security
later that same year, President Obama held forth on the damage wrought
by the Bush administration's policies of indefinite detention, torture
and abuse.
"There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral
authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of
building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that
drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was
defending positions that undermined the rule of law. In fact, part of
the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the
misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law -- a
proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead
of serving as a tool to counter terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol
that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the
existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world
than it ever detained. So the record is clear: Rather than keeping us
safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national
security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the
willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that
operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping
it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That's why
I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign, and that is
why I ordered it closed within one year."
Sounds good, right?
But the administration has allowed those complications to eclipse everything else. In a recent Washington Post article, an unnamed administration official admits that: "Gitmo is going to remain open for the foreseeable future."
Does this mean that for the foreseeable future men like Djamel Ameziane will remain trapped in a web of isolation at Guantanamo?
Djamel Ameziane was born April 14, 1967. A member of the Berber
ethnic group, he fled his native Algeria in his early twenties to seek a
better life. He found that better life as a chef at Al Caminetto
Trattoria, one of the best Italian restaurants in Vienna. Forced to
leave when his visa was not renewed, Ameziane went to Canada. Living and
working in Montreal, Ameziane sought political asylum there as well.
When that claim was denied in 2000, he was out of options. He decided
to go to Afghanistan because as J. Wells Dixon, a member of his legal
team and a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, explained: "he believed it was only there that he could live in peace, anonymously and permanently."
But Djamel Ameziane was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soon
after he settled, the U.S. launched the October 2001 war against
Afghanistan. He tried to flee the fighting, but was captured by local
police while trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Like so many
others who were captured
along the border, he was turned over to U.S. forces for a bounty of
$2,000 or $5,000. Next he was held at Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan.
Later, Ameziane was transported to Guantanamo in February 2002, making
him one of the earliest prisoners held at the notorious facility.
Ameziane has never been charged with a crime. There is no credible
evidence that he took up arms against the United States or posed a
threat to this country. He remains at Guantanamo because the United
States cannot send him back to Algeria and has not found a third country
to host him.
Algeria has also not been Ameziane's home for nearly two decades and
he should not be forced to return there. Returning to Algeria would
expose Djamel Ameziane to even more suffering. He grew up in Kabylie, an
unstable region in the north known for frequent, violent clashes
between the Algerian army and Islamic resistance groups. In April, the
State Department issued a travel warning
for Kabylie, citing "terrorist attacks, including bombings, false
roadblocks, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations." Practicing
Muslims, like Ameziane, are automatically suspected of supporting the
resistance and are frequently harassed, targeted for arrests by the
government because of their religious practices.
The stain of having spent time in Guantanamo would alone be enough to
put him at risk of being imprisoned if he is returned. The first two
Algerians transferred out of Guantanamo in July 2008 were disappeared
for two weeks and likely subjected to interrogation by Algeria's
"military security" police. Other Algerian nationals at Guantanamo have said, through their lawyers, that they would rather stay in the prison than return to their country of origin.
Until a third country comes forward to offer him resettlement
protection, Ameziane remains at Guantanamo. Djamel is a college
graduate who speaks French, Arabic and English fluently and can
communicate in German, making him an attractive candidate for any number
of countries.
In 2008, his lawyers submitted an application for resettlement in
Canada, where he lived in for five years before being denied asylum. The
Anglican Church in Canada
is prepared to sponsor Djamel Ameziane's settlement, where one of his
brothers also lives. Barry Clarke, Anglican bishop of Montreal, said:
"Having read what Djamel has suffered and the risk he would face if
returned to Algeria, I am convinced that sponsoring him is the right
thing to do." Canada is not the only option. If the Austrian government
agreed to resettle Ameziane, his old boss at the Al Caminetto Trattoria
is eager to rehire him as a chef.
Despite his long separation from family and his painful ordeal,
Djamel continues to pursue his interests-- he enjoys drawing and water
coloring, he reads French mystery novels and plays soccer. Djamel says:
"I have only ever wanted to live quietly and peacefully in a country
where I would not suffer persecution. That is still my goal."
There are 173 other men still at Guantanamo. Many face the same knot
of complications as Djamel. Resettlement is not as difficult as the
administration is making it out to be. The main hurdle is that the
United States refuses to accept even a single man from Guantanamo within
its borders.
Guantanamo is a crime against humanity. It is our crime against
humanity. It is a crime carried out first by President George W. Bush
and continued now by President Barack Obama.
As January 11, 2011 approaches-- the ninth anniversary of the opening
of Guantanamo to "war on terrorism" detainees -- there should be a hue
and cry and pressure on the Obama administration to decisively right the
wrongs of Guantanamo. A first step is resolving the cases of Djamel
Ameziane and so many others who remain in a brutal purgatory sanctioned
by the same administration that promised, on January 22, 2009, to end
this suffering and injustice.
Human rights organizations and anyone of conscience should commit
themselves to action and education and outreach on this issue, so the
United States does not end up marking a tenth year of Guantanamo and a
third year of broken promises.