NO WAR, NO CASE?
Gitmo suspect's lawyer argues
Legal proceedings have again started against a Guantanamo Bay detainee who allegedly planned the attacks that killed three Petawawa-based soldiers in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.
But the lawyer for Abd al Hadi al Iraqi argues that, since the war in Afghanistan is over, the charges against him should be dropped.
Al Hadi, an Iraqi national, was captured in Turkey in October 2006 and held for 170 days by the CIA. He was brought to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in April 2007 and has been detained there ever since.
In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Defense announced that numerous charges had been laid against al Hadi. The U.S. alleges that he was a senior member of al-Qaida and that he conspired with and planned with others on a series of attacks in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2004.
The United States alleges that al Hadi financed the building of the explosive device that killed Canadian Forces soldiers Sgt. Robert Short and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger while they were on patrol in Kabul in October 2003. Short was originally from Fredericton and Beerenfenger was from Ottawa. Three other Canadian soldiers were injured in that blast.
In addition, the U.S. alleges that al Hadi provided the suicide bomber and funding to another individual that led to suicide attacks on coalition forces in Kabul in January 2004. Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, originally from Conception Harbour, N.L., was killed in one of those attacks and three other Canadians were injured.
Short, Beerenfenger and Murphy were members of the Royal Canadian Regiment in Petawawa, Ont. Other allegations against al Hadi say he was involved in planning attacks on German, British, Estonian and U.S. military members in Afghanistan.
The legal proceedings against the alleged al-Qaida operative have been plagued by delays. They also were put on hold for the past 500 days because of the COVID -19 pandemic. The pretrial hearing into his case restarted in mid-July and is expected to continue into the fall.
But al Hadi's lawyer, Susan Hensler, is arguing that the recent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan should prompt the end of legal proceedings against her client.
“The case is essentially the litigation of the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Afghanistan is now over,” she told journalists, who under strict rules, were allowed to view the pretrial hearing. “My client should be released and sent home.”
The Afghan government collapsed last month after the U.S. and other coalition nations withdrew their forces. The country is now ruled by the Taliban. Hensler also called for the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to be shut down.
Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier said Thursday that the Canadian military had been monitoring al Hadi's legal proceedings, but did not have legal personnel at Guantanamo Bay. He noted the Canadian Armed Forces continued to mourn the loss of the three soldiers “and stand with their families in these trying times.”
An August 2013 DND document noted that the Canadian National Investigative Service conducted probes into the attacks that killed the three soldiers. “The CFNIS investigations had not led to any suspects being identified,” noted the document, obtained by the Citizen through the Access to Information law. Al Hadi has said his real name is Nashwan al Tamir.
The Pentagon says he was captured as he was travelling to Iraq to “advise and assist” al- Qaida in that country. A U.S. Senate intelligence committee concluded that he was not subjected to any torture while he was held by the CIA.
Al Hadi has a spinal condition and uses either a wheelchair or walker. His lawyers have said poor medical treatment at Guantanamo Bay has made the condition worse.