Posted on 06/16/2007 9:54:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
Several human rights groups Friday raised concern over the US government's intent to repatriate a Guantanamo prisoner to Libya, despite his fear that he will be tortured.
"The US is ignoring (Abdul Rauf) al-Qassim’s credible fear of torture by relying on a promise of no torture from Libya, a country with a documented record of torture," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.
Qassim, 40, was arrested in late 2001 in Pakistan on US suspicion he trained at a terrorist camp in Afghanistan, said HRW and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which coordinates legal defense for prisoners held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
When Qassim challenged his detention in federal court in 2005, the US government announced he would be sent back home to Libya, and repeated attempts to have the decision legally revoked have failed.
The US Supreme Court last month refused to take up Qassim's case.
"The fact of Abdul Rauf’s detention at Guantanamo -- and the US government’s false and unsubstantiated allegations that he was associated with a group hostile to (Libya's Moamer) Kadhafi regime -- put him at grave risk of indefinite detention, torture and death if forcibly returned to Libya," CCR said.
Qassim is married to an Afghan woman, who gave birth to his child after he was arrested. His lawyers said he should request Afghan citizenship and ask to be deported to that country.
The US government has promised not to repatriate prisoners without first receiving assurances from their home country that they won't be mistreated, but CCR director Vincent Warren said in Libya's case, that's not enough.
"Diplomatic assurances from countries known to torture are utterly worthless," he said. "They are fig leaves for the US government."
Kudos to George O who foresaw these nuts very clearly.
Hey they might just put panties on his head!Or maybe the wood chipper is more their style.
Poetic justice. This all came about because Qassim thought he had the same rights as a U.S. citizen. Human Rights watch think we are mistreating people in Gitmo and won't let us expand the camp. Therefore Gitmo space is at a premium.
We can't execute him, because they are against capital punishment. We can't keep him, because Gitmo space is at a premium. So the only thing we can do is return to sender . . . his country of origin, because we don't need this toxic waste on our doorstep!
Enjoy!
And here I thought that Guantanamo was the 21st centuries answer to Hitler’s Concentration Camps, and Stalins’ Gulags all wrapped in one. I guess Guantanamos not as bad as Human Rights Watch, and other communist front groups, have previously made it out to be.
By all means, let’s turn him lose on our streets then. Or even better, how about he moves in with you, Jennifer.
File this under "Too Effin' Bad"
I..like..the..testamonial
Please,Please,..do..not..send..me..home!..I..KNOW..what..they..do..to..people
Thus..it..is,...GITMO..is..a..walk..in..the..park
sorry..no..space..bar
Doublethink, wasn't it?
Send him home already. He couldn’t be tortured much more than he already is. I mean, consider the horror: pink panties on your head and your Koran flushed down the toilet. Compared to that, what’s having your fingernails pulled out?
Bring his butt to the U.S. and grant him illegal status and put him on welfare.
Except the Koran was flushed down by an terrorist and not the guards
The irony is almost thick enough to form a black hole.
I can hear her right now.
Have him move in with me? No way are you out of your mind? No way, I would never feel save for my life
Well I guess our troops just aren’t practicing torture well enough... Maybe we need to get some pointers from the those ROP countries?
PAWLEEEZE, PAWLEEEZE, don't release me from my torture and put me back into the world!
I'll be good I promise!
Sadly enough, that's true.
.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.