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Behind Prison Walls
said that al-Haj helped secure a visa to the United Arab Emirates,
not for Salim, but for Salim’s relatives, again at the
behest of his employer.
He said that the military has disclosed so little about
the corporate document allegation that he can’t respond
substantively. “I really don’t know what they are saying and
neither does Sami,” Stafford Smith said. “We haven’t seen
anything on this. Sami has no idea and can’t respond.”
In all, he said, the accusations are pernicious because—
without evidence, witnesses, or even a statement of what
crime was committed—they cannot be rebutted. “It is
impossible to defend against ‘charges’ that are not real,” he
said. “I could charge you with being unpleasant to your
mother, and you would have a hard time disproving it.”
Most of Stafford Smith’s information has come from his
eight interviews with al-Haj at Guantanamo, information
and documentation al-Haj has provided, and from recently
declassified documents.
Stafford Smith cites shifting allegations against his
client as evidence of the flawed justice system at Guantanamo.
U.S. authorities have dropped at least three original
accusations against al-Haj—that he had disseminated
terrorist propaganda on the Internet; that he traveled
extensively throughout the Middle East and Eastern Europe;
and that he had arranged to transport shoulder-fired
Stinger missiles from Afghanistan to Chechnya. The missile
charge, the lawyer said, appeared to be based on a badly
garbled conversation in which another detainee talked
about an attempt to sell the weapons.
But for Stafford Smith, the most persuasive evidence
that the case is a sham is that al-Haj’s interrogators hardly
seem interested in the allegations themselves. Virtually all
of the roughly 130 interrogations al-Haj has been subjected
to have focused on Al-Jazeera, Stafford Smith said. He said
military officials have appeared intent on establishing a
relationship between Al-Jazeera and al-Qaeda, questioning
al-Haj about prominent network journalists, the station’s
finances, and how it pays for airline tickets.
At one point, U.S. military interrogators allegedly told
al-Haj that he would be released if he agreed to inform U.S.
intelligence authorities about the satellite news network’s
activities. Al-Haj refused. Bush administration officials
have made no secret of their distaste for Al-Jazeera, repeatedly
labeling its programming inflammatory and accusing
the station of working with terrorists.
Al-Haj professed his innocence during a 40-minute
hearing before the Administrative Review Board on August
12, 2005. Although he refused to answer questions about
the accusations on the advice of his lawyer, a transcript of
the hearing includes an impassioned plea to the review
board. The transcript quotes al-Haj as saying that he misses
his family deeply and that he does not understand how he
could be considered an enemy combatant.
“With all due respect, a mistake has been made because
I have never been a member of any terrorist group and I
never took part in any terrorist or violent act,” he told the
board. “I can say without hesitation that I am not a threat to
the United States or to anyone else. I strongly condemn any
Al-Haj professes his innocence during his 2005 Administrative Review Board hearing at Guantanamo, a
recently declassified transcript shows.
act that is taken against innocent people, and I strongly
condemn the tragic attack on the World Trade Center in
New York. Islam properly understood would never allow
the killing of innocent people in this way.”
U
.S. officials have described the detainees at Guantanamo
Bay as “the worst of worst,” but colleagues and
relatives find it difficult to reconcile that description with
the shy, unassuming man they knew. Stafford Smith calls
him “one of the most cheerful and upbeat people—always
smiling—that I have ever met.”
“He loved his wife and son—he always spoke about
them,” said Al-Jazeera’s Youssef al-Shouly, who remembers
al-Haj as a practicing Muslim not given to extremist statements.
“He is a gentle person,” said al-Haj’s wife, Asma. “He
never did anything and the Americans realize that, but the
Americans put themselves in a bind, and they cannot get
out of it.”
The review board has singled out al-Haj for very good
behavior, and, according to hearing transcripts, he frequently
leads prayers in cellblocks and teaches inmates
English and the Quran.
Al-Haj’s supporters maintain that his case has been hampered
by bad publicity—or no publicity at all. Falling squarely
in the first category is a purported audiotape from Osama
bin Laden in which he called for the release of al-Haj and others
by name. Although the authenticity of the May 23, 2006,
message has been questioned by some experts, it said Guantanamo
detainees “have no connection whatsoever to the
events of September 11 and even stranger is that many of
them have no connection with al-Qaeda in the first place.”
Al-Jazeera staffers also criticize the station’s initially
meek show of public support for al-Haj, which contrasted
with the outpouring for its star reporter, Taysir Allouni, who
was jailed in Spain in 2003 on terrorism charges. “The fact it
took them so long to intervene harmed him immensely,” said
Stafford Smith, who added that he didn’t want to be “too critical
of Al-Jazeera because it is in a difficult position.”
Was al-Haj a knowing or unwitting conspirator with terrorist
groups Or is he entirely innocent—a journalist
plucked from the field while covering the world’s biggest
story What crime has he committed What is the evidence
against him Only a fair and transparent legal process can
provide those answers.
“The rule of law should prevail,” said colleague al-
Bushra, who said he reserved final judgment on the case.
“He’s spent five years now without a trial.” ■
Reuters/Joe Skipper
Detainees are interviewed in interrogation rooms such as
this one at Guantanamo. An eye bolt on the floor is used to
chain detainees if needed.
60 Fall | Winter 2006
Dangerous Assignments
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