Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin

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Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin is a citizen of Libya who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 709. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1965, in Tripoli, Libya.

Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu al Qusin was transferred to Albania at the end of February 2010.

Combatant Status Review

Main article: Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Abu al Qusin was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings. A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo for his hearing lists the following allegations:

The detainee is associated with forces engages in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners:

1. The detainee served in the Libyan military from 1983 to 1990, where he received training with AK-47's, pistols and various machine guns.
2. The detainee traveled from Libya to Afghanistan via Tanzania, Algeria and France in 1990, to fight the jihad against the Soviet Union.
3. The detainee received weapons training (AK-47, sniper rifle, RPGs, and 82mm mortars) at two Libyan training camps located within Afghanistan (Torkhum and Samar Khaila).
4. The detainee stayed at a Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) guesthouse in Jalalabad City, AF.
5. The detainee was a member of the LIFG.
6. LIFG is a known terrorist organization.
7. Detainee traveled to Tora Bora in December 2001.
8. After the fall of the Taliban, the detainee fled to Pakistan where he was captured in a Libyan guesthouse.

Administrative Review Board

Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin's first annual Administrative Review Board on 25 May 2005.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. Commitment

1. Because of his lack of future prospects, the detainee decided to go to Afghanistan in 1990 to use his military skills in what he described as a "Jihad against the Communists." He later clarified that he meant the pro-Soviet Afghan regime in Kabul.
2. The detainee traveled from Libya through Tanzania, Algeria, France and into Afghanistan. After arriving in Afghanistan, the detainee traveled to Jalalabad, Kabul, Lagman, and the Kunar Province.
3. After the Russians left Afghanistan, the detainee helped the Taliban fight other groups in Afghanistan.
4. The detainee was recruited and became a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group at the Quetta, Pakistan University.
5. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group is a known terrorist organization.
6. The detainee advised he was willing to fight and die for Islam.

b. Training

1. The detainee served in the Libyan military from 1983 to 1990, where his training consisted of electronics (radios/TVs), AK-47's, Belgian pistols, PK machine gun and Uzi's.
2. During the time the detainee was in Afghanistan he trained in two Libyan training camps. While at the training camps, the detainee trained on: AK-47's, pistols, a Siminoff sniper rifle, 82 mm mortars, and anti-aircraft weapons such as the Doshka.

c. Connections/Associations

1. Prior to his arrest at a guesthouse in Lahore, Pakistan, the detainee resided with personalities from a senior al Qaida member's safehouse in Faisalabad.
2. The detainee was identified by a senior al Qaida lieutenant as a member of al Qaida who subsequently joined the Libyan Group.
3. The detainee met with the leader of the Algerians in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in December 2001.
4. The network associated with the leader of the Algerians was activated and financed by Usama Bin Ladin.

d. Intent

1. The detainee stayed at a Libyan Fighting Group guesthouse where it was a requirement to be willing to fight in support of the group. The detainee remained at the guesthouse from 1999 until 2000.

e. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee was arrested with an admitted supporter of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
2. The detainee traveled to Tora Bora in December 2001.
3. The detainee suffers from psychological problems, which have been tentatively diagnosed as not being an acute psychotic disorder, but rather as an schizotypical personality disorder that manifests itself in paranoia, social anxiety, and odd behavior. The detainee describes feeling sad and uneasy in large groups, and complained of occasional demonic possession that causes him to act in a bizarre manner on occasion.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. The detainee did not believe in violence. He joined the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group out of desperation. He was broke, had no place to go, was hungry, unemployed and had no way to support himself. His family did not receive monetary support form the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, but he received food, shelter and an allowance for clothes.

b. The detainee denies ever having had any association with al Qaida or any other terrorist or extremist group. He angrily defined its leadership and members as "savages" who twist the meaning of Islam, thereby hurting all Muslims. He expressed equally negative views of the Taliban, stating he steered clear of them and lived a quiet life after getting married in 1999. The detainee did not reveal anything to suggest that he is linked to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

Transcript

Al Qusin chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.

Legal Action

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal and educational organization devoted to the protection of human rights both in the United States and abroad, is currently working on two cases on behalf of Al Qusin.

Seizure of privileged lawyer-client documents

On June 10, 2006 the Department of Defense reported that three captives died in custody. The Department of Defense stated the three men committed suicide. Camp authorities called the deaths "an act of asymmetric warfare", and suspected plans had been coordinated by the captive's attorneys—so they seized all the captives' documents, including the captives' copies of their habeas documents. Since the habeas documents were privileged lawyer-client communication the Department of Justice was compelled to file documents about the document seizures. Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita was one of the captives whose privileged documents were seized.

Zalita v. Bush

On May 1, 2007 the United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts stated. regarding Zalita v. Bush:

"The application for an injunction presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied."

The Center for Constitutional Rights and pro bono counsel filed a habeas corpus petition June 22, 2005 on behalf of Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita (aka Al Qusin) to assure him relief from unlawful imprisonment. President George Bush, the Secretary of Defense, and military commanders of the Joint Task Force – Guantanamo were listed as respondents.

This petition was dismissed by the D.C. District Court for lack of jurisdiction, and the government tried to end attorney access to Al Qusin. CCR responded by filing a motion for reconsideration of the district court’s dismissal, arguing that the Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush cases being heard by the Supreme Court reopen the jurisdiction issue (as they both address the detainees’ right to fair trial), thus attorney access should continue until the Supreme Court has passed judgment on these cases. On October 5, 2007 the motion for reconsideration was granted, dismissal was vacated, the case stayed pending the results of Al Odah and Boumediene, and counsel access restored.

Zalita v. Gates

On September 26, 2007 the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a petition to appeal Al Qusin’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. The petition was filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the respondent is Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Preventing Transfer

The Jurist reports that Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita faces torture, and possibly, summary execution, if he were returned to Libya.

Al Qusin is the first Guantánamo detainee to legally challenge intentions of the US government to transfer him to his native country. If transferred, he has reason to believe he will face human rights abuses.

A district court required the government to provide notice 30 days before any intended transfer of Al Qusin to the custody of a foreign government on July 25, 2005. Such intentions were declared by the government in December 2006 and then in February 2007. Al Qusin has expressed well-founded fears that if transferred to Libya he will face torture and persecution.

The D.C. District Court granted a motion filed by CCR on February 15, 2007 ordering the government to provide 60 days notice before Al Qusin is rendered to Libya. On February 20, 2007 the government reaffirmed its intention to transfer Al Qusin to Libya. CCR filed a motion in the D.C. District Court in April for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop his transfer, arguing that it would violate constitutional and treaty-based rights. Included in the motion Al Qusin’s sworn declaration of his fear of abuse and expert declarations confirming the risk and the ineffectiveness of diplomatic assurances that the Libyan government would not mistreat him. This motion was denied citing the court of appeal’s decision in Boumediene. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was also denied for lack of jurisdiction. An emergency application for injunction was filed in the Supreme Court, but denied on May 1, 2007.

Al Qusin has a petition for writ of certiorari that was filed on September 21, 2007 and is pending in the Supreme Court to prevent his transfer to Libya prior to the Supreme Court’s judgment on Boumediene and Al Odah, two cases that will resolve some of the questions of rights for the detainees. The petition requests review to determine if he has rights under international human rights treaties and the Fifth Amendment.

Military Commissions Act

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.

Boumediene v. Bush

On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.

On July 18, 2008 Gitanjali Gutierrez filed a "Petitioner's status report" on behalf of Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita in Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita v. George W. Bush, Civil Action No. 05-CV-1220. On January 15, 2008, Petitioner filed a Motion for Hearing for Inquiry Concerning Destruction of Evidence Related to CIA Detainee Interrogations.

External links

• Return to torture: cleared Guantánamo detainee Abdul Rauf al-Qassim fears return to Libya
• Foreign Interrogators in Guantanamo Bay
• Abandoned at Guantanamo
• The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (10) – Seized in Pakistan (Part Two) Andy Worthington

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