In the most recent habeas decision handed down by a D.C. District Court judge, the court ruled that Gitmo detainee Adham Mohammed Ali Awad is properly held in U.S. custody.
The judges’ habeas rulings have been remarkably uneven, frequently leaving out key facts or applying inconsistent or unreasonable standards for weighing evidence.
For example, the court’s ruling in the Uighur detainees’ habeas case did not even mention Abdul Haq — a key al Qaeda terrorist who the detainees admitted was the head of their group and responsible for overseeing their training. The result is that courts frequently ignore or downplay evidence that should count heavily against the detainees’ favor. That is why, in my view, a significant number of habeas decisions have gone against the government thus far.
I’ll have more to say on the courts’ habeas rulings in the future. Regardless, judging by the U.S. government’s evidence and allegations against Awad, it certainly appears the courts got it right in this instance. In addition, consider some of the statements Adham (aka “Waqas”) Mohammed Ali Awad has reportedly made while in U.S. custody. According to a memo prepared by the U.S. government:
[Awad] called all Americans evil, men without testicles, and game players. The detainee said interrogators do not interrogate, they just meet with detainees to beautify themselves.
The habeas decision in Awad’s case is still classified, so we cannot tell the precise reasons the judge decided he was properly detained. It is unlikely that any of Awad’s inflammatory comments weighed against him because the courts have not put much weight on them in previous decisions. It is more likely that Awad’s time training at Osama bin Laden’s Tarnak Farms, a pre-9/11 training facility for elite al Qaeda terrorists, and other troubling pieces of evidence weighed heavily against him.
For instance, Awad was arrested after hunkering down in a hospital in Afghanistan with other al Qaeda terrorists for a lengthy siege that was only ended after U.S. Special Forces stormed the building. Five al Qaeda members were killed in the process and U.S. servicemen uncovered a significant arms cache. Awad was initially taken to the hospital after he was reportedly involved in a car crash while fleeing the American invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Awad lost a leg in the process.
Awad’s reported comments are not atypical of the Gitmo detainees. At times, even the most hardened detainees feign passivity. But then again, sometimes they just can’t keep themselves from lashing out at the “infidels.”
