Action mail : Quatre hommes originaires du Koweit ont été détenus à Guantánamo et deux y sont encore

Posté par : Benoit Priem le 5 février 2010

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En complétant les champs vides du formulaire ci-dessous, vous allez envoyer un courrier électronique à Monsieur Tony West (Assistant Attorney General), Monsieur Matthew Olsen (Executive Director) et Monsieur Alan Liotta (Principal Director of the Office of Detainee Affairs)

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Dear Assistant Attorney General, Executive Director and Principal Director.

As a member of Amnesty International, I am writing to you to express my concern regarding the cases of Kuwaiti nationals having been or still being detained in Guantanamo Base.

I fully support President Obama’s stated goal of closing Guantanamo and bringing the treatment of detainees into compliance with the law, but I note with disappointment that some of the specific actions of the Administration in these cases do not appear to be consistent with those goals, including the reluctance to return the Kuwaiti detainees to their home country.

I nevertheless acknowledge the fact that Khaled Al Mutairi was returned to Kuwait on  October 8, 2009.

As far as Fouad Al Rabiah is concerned, I appreciate the fact that he was returned to Kuwait in December.  However, the judge found that Al Rabiah had been subjected to treatment that appears to constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, including techniques that were not authorized to be inflicted on him by the officials whose approval was supposed to be sought under the Bush Administration policies then in effect.

This case is one of many that illustrate why it is imperative to have an independent commission of inquiry conduct a comprehensive, impartial investigation of US counterterrorism detention and interrogation policies and practices.  International law requires the US to conduct an investigation and to make restitution to victims of torture like Fouad Al Rabiah. The Obama Administration also owes an explanation to Fouad Al Rabiah, his family, the government of Kuwait, and the American people of why it has argued in court for the right to continue to detain Fouad Al Rabiah, based on coerced “confessions” that Al Rabiah’s interrogators themselves did not find credible – “confessions” that were elicited using tactics that President Obama himself has publicly repudiated as inconsistent with American values.

Another Kuwaiti national, Fawzi Al Odah, is still detained in Guantanamo. I respectfully urge you that he be returned to Kuwait, despite the fact that Judge Kollar-Kotelly declined to order his release.  The government of Kuwait has repeatedly requested Al Odah’s return and has established a rehabilitation program for returning detainees.  I wish to underline that, unlike some of the detainees who have been repatriated, Fawzi Al Odah has spent more than 7 years in detention without being charged with a crime and that the US apparently has no intention of ever charging him with a crime.  May I respectfully recall you that the United Nations Committee Against Torture has held that indefinite detention without charges constitutes, per se, a violation of the Convention Against Torture.  It is certainly contrary to American values.  Please also note that Al Odah has alleged being subjected to treatment during his detention that may constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, which the US has an obligation to investigate, under domestic and international law.

I also urge you to take the necessary measures to return Fayiz Al Kandari to Kuwait for the same reasons – i.e., that he has spent more than 7 years in detention without ever being charged with or convicted of a crime.