Annotated Bibliography of Guantanamo-Related Documents Available as Downloadable PDFS
(click on links to download PDFS to your computer)
A. Internal Government Memoranda
(Jan 22 2002) Then-Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee memo to White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales and Deputy of Defense General Counsel William J Haynes II, which argues that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to “non-state actors” and thus those at Guantanamo are not entitled to prisoner of war status.
(Feb 7 2002) President Bush order declaring “I accept the legal conclusion of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice that I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva (conventions) as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time.” Order also states Bush reserves the right to do so “in this or future conflicts.”
(August 1 2002) Memo from Jay S. Bybee to Alberto Gonzales claiming that the text of the Torture Convention “prohibits only the most extreme acts by reserving criminal penalties solely for torture and declining to require such penalties for ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’”
(Nov 27 2002) Memo in which Haynes advises Rumsfeld to apply Category I and II and “mild, non-injurious physical conduct” techniques from Category III during interrogation.
(January 15 2003) Memo from Rumsfeld to U.S. Southern Commander James T. Hill in which Rumsfeld rescinds permission to use previously approved Category II and III techniques during Guantanamo interrogation and approves uses of these techniques only on a case by case basis and only with his approval.
(Mar 6 2003) A Rumsfeld-appointed working group report on detainee interrogations recommends taking the Geneva Conventions into account but determines that Taliban detainees do not qualify as prisoners of war and the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the other prisoners at Guantanamo, as they are non-state actors.
(April 4 2003) A revised version of the earlier working group report which argues that it may be necessary to interrogate detainees “in a manner beyond that which may be applied to a prisoner of war who is subject to the Geneva Convention.”
B. ACLU FOIA Documents
ACLU Request For Documents (n.d. 2003) Memorandum addressed to the Bush Administration by figures in the American legal community urging release of the documents requested by FOIA (documents below were eventually obtained through court order).
(5/22/02) FBI interview in which detainee claims he was beaten unconscious at Camp X-Ray (prior to his move to Delta)
(11/25/2002) FBI interview in which detainee mentions carrot/stick approach
(12/16/2002) Notes the clash between FBI and DOD interrogation styles
(2/5/2003) FBI official complaining that DOD interrogators were posing as FBI agents, thus leaving the agency liable for detainee complaints.
(6/20/03) FBI agent comments that he hasn’t seen outright abuse but had heard “about folks doing weird things”
(05/05/2004) FBI memo cautions that “abuse” is a word to be applied carefully; “techniques which fall outside of FBI/DOJ training” may not be abuse.
(1/28/2004) Interrogation summary in which detainee claims he will cooperate if moved to Camp Four, and discusses his several suicide attempts at Guantanamo.
(07/30/2004) Memo which mentions several questionable interrogation practices, including draping an Israeli flag over detainee.
(08/02/2004) Memo in which FBI agents describes conditions he finds abusive, including detainees shaking with cold and sitting in a pile of their own urine or feces.
C. Selected CSRT Proceedings
CSRT Notification Form (n.d. Fall 2004): Document notifying prisoners of the commencement of the Combatant Status Review Procedure.
ADIL ZAMIL ABDULL MOHSSIN AL ZAMIL (August 4 2004) Zamil, a Kuwaiti, claimed he worked for an Islamic charity in Afghanistan and that he had no connection to terrorist organizations or to one of Osama bin Laden's alleged associates. His organization, the Al-Wafa organization, is identified by the US as suspect. He remains at Guantanamo.
MAMDOUH HABIB (Oct 1 2004) Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib was arrested in Pakistan on October 5, 2001, and sent to Egypt for interrogation shortly after that. The Australian government has accused Habib of attending Lashkar and Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. Following his CSRT, he was declared an enemy combatant, but then released to the Australian authorities and then set free in January of 2005. Habib was one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case Rasul v Bush.
MURAT KURNAZ (Oct 6 2004) Kurnaz, a German-born Turk, was arrested in Pakistan in 2001. He claims he was there for religious reasons. In his tribunal proceedings, the Administration claims Kurnaz has associated with a “known suicide bomber:” the man they identify as such is neither a suicide bomber nor charged with any crime. Kurnaz remains at Guantanamo. (For more information on his case, see the “Kurnaz” section of the DVD)
ABD AL AZIZ SAYER UWAIN (Oct 8 2004) Uwain, a Kuwaiti professor of Islamic studies, claimed he was a civilian whose name was merely found on a computer, and said that he never trained to fight. "How can it be that travel to a large country with millions of people is travel for al Qaeda?" he asked, according to tribunal documents. "For is a person who traveled to China considered a communist?" He was declared an enemy combatant and remains at Guantanamo.
EMAD ABDALLAH HASSAN (October 12 2004) Hassan, a Yemeni, claims he is a civilian and never received military training in Bora Bora as investigors charged. He was declared an enemy combatant and remains at Guantanamo.
FERROZ ABBASI (October 21 2004). Traveled from Great Britian to Afghanastan and trained at a terrorist camp. Abbasi was freed on January 25, 2005, along with Belmar and Begg. On January 28 2005, after Abbasi's release, the US authorities released to the BBC further details of their allegations and a statement allegedly written by Abbasi in the form of a handwritten autobiography whilst in detention. He outlines how a jihad works and describes his training and use of weapons. However, it is generally felt that the statement could not be used in a British court as evidence.
MOAZZAM BEGG (Nov 17 2004) By far the longest CSRT proceeding, as Begg is one of the more high-profile detainees and was originally (like Habib) slated for a military commission. Begg claims he was doing humanitarian work in Afghanistan; he also claimed that he was given POW status and that that status was taken away from him unlawfully at Guantanamo. He also called many witnesses on his behalf, none of which were allowed by the panel. After being declared an enemy combatant, Begg was released to British authorities on Jan 25, 2005 and then set free.
RICHARD BELMAR (Nov 22 2004) Belmar, a British citizen, went to Pakistan to flee British authorities and entered a terrorist. After being declared an enemy combatant, Belmar was released to British authorities on Jan 25, 2005 and then set free.
SAIFULLAH PARACHA (Dec 13 2004) Paracha, a Pakistani businessman, was arrested while on a business trip to Thailand. He and his son Uzair — who is also detained — have been charged with providing material support to Al Qaeda. Both remain at Guantanamo.
CSRT SUMMARY (March 21 2005) Defense Department summary of the CSRT decisions at Guantanamo.
D. Selected Legal Briefs 2002-Present
Original habeas petition for Supreme Court detainees (n.d. 2002) Plaintiffs in this case include Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, two British citizens, and Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, two Australian citizens. This motion was dismissed (see below) but the case ultimately made its way to the Supreme Court. (for more details on this case, see the “Supreme Court” section of the DVD).
Original government motion to dismiss habeas petitions in Rasul v Bush (March 18 2002) This successful motion was appealed and the case was finally brought to the Supreme Court in April 2004 (for more details on this case, see the “Supreme Court” section of the DVD).
Al Odah v Bush (Jan 14 2004) One of the two cases combined into one April 2004 Supreme Court Case. Al Odah is one of a number of plaintiffs, “twelve citizens of the state of Kuwait who were in Pakistan and Afghanistan serving as charitable volunteers to provide humanitarian aid to the people of these countries.” At the time the case was filed before the Supreme Court, the case had been filed in federal district court in 2002 and dismissed for by both that court and the appeals court for lack of jurisdiction; each court relied on Johnson vs Eisentrager as precedent. Rejecting this precedent, the plantiffs ask again “whether United States Courts lack jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.” (for more details on this case, see the “Supreme Court” section of the DVD)
Rasul v Bush (Jan 2004) The second of the two cases combined into one April 2004 Supreme Court Case. Plantiffs in this case include Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, two British citizens, and Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, two Australian citizens. (for more details on this case, see the “Supreme Court” section of the DVD)
Amici Curiae, Former American Diplomats (n.d., 2004) Argues that Johnson vs Eisentrager should not be considered as precedent to the habeas situation at Guantanamo; warns that Guantanamo has damaged the international reputations of the United States, notes that “Guantanamo is an artifact of America’s imperial age in this hemisphere.”
Amici Curiae, Members of Irish Parliment (n.d., 2004) Argues that “the exercise of executive power without possibility of judicial review jeapordizes the keystone of our existence as nations — namely, the rule of law — as well as the effective protection of human rights as a matter of international obligation.”
Amici Curiae, Former American Prisoners of War (n.d., 2004) Emphasizes the possible consequences of a rejection of habeas rights for American prisoners abroad; points to the long tradition of American embrace of the Geneva Conventions.
Amici Curiae, Fred Korematsu (n.d., 2004) Korematsu, a Japanese American, challenged the constitutionality of Roosevelt’s 1942 Executive Order setting up detention camps for Japanese Americans; he was convicted and sent to prison, but awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of half-century later. Korematsu’s brief emphasizes the danger of suppressing civil liberties during wartime.
Hamdan habeas petition (April 6 2004) filed by Military lawyer Charles Swift, calls for a writ of habeas for Hamdan, the first detainee scheduled for a military commission, and charging that the commissions are not legally sound.
Supreme Court Decision on Rasul (June 28 2004) Supreme Court decision that Guantanamo is not outside of US territory, hence petitioners have habeas rights.
Kollar-Kottelly Decision (Oct 21 2004) Rebuke to the Admistration’s petition to continue to deny attorney-client privileges to Guantanamo detainees
Hamdan Decision (Nov 8 2004) US District Judge James Robertson rules that the military commissions are unconstitutional and must be halted, and that Hamdan must be removed from isolation.
Leon Decision (Jan 15 2005) Federal District Court decision that claims that while the Supreme Court gave detainees the right to file habeas petitions, U.S. courts had neither the right nor the obligation to consider them.
Green Decision (Jan 31 2005) In an opposing decision on a case similar to the one brought before Leon, Hens Green ruled that the detainees had habeas rights and that the CSRTS were unconstitutional. Green devoted part of her decision to a discussion of what she saw as an especial dereliction of justice in the case of the German-born Turk Murat Kurnaz (for more on Kurnaz, see the “Murat Kurnaz” section of this DVD)
Murat Kurnaz Documents
MURAT KURNAZ CSRT (Oct 6 2004) Kurnaz, a German-born Turk, was arrested in Pakistan in 2001. He claims he was there for religious reasons. In his tribunal proceedings, the Administration claims Kurnaz has associated with a “known suicide bomber:” the man they identify as such is neither a suicide bomber nor charged with any crime. Kurnaz remains at Guantanamo.
Murat Kurnaz Habeas Petition, DC Federal District Court (July 7 2004) Habeas petition filed in DC Federal District Court in the wake of the Supreme Court Decision
Green Decision (Jan 31 2005) In an opposing decision on the Kurnaz case (a case very similar in content to the one brought before Leon), Hens Green ruled that the detainees had habeas rights and that the CSRTS were unconstitutional. Green devoted part of her decision to a discussion of what she saw as an especial dereliction of justice in the case of the German-born Turk Murat Kurnaz (for more on Kurnaz, see the “Murat Kurnaz” section of this DVD)
Summary (n.d., 2005) Lawyer’s press brief on the Kurnaz detention.
Chronology (n.d., 2005) Lawyer’s summary of the chronology of events in the Kurnaz case.