USA: Saudi Detainee Abd Al-Rahman Awaydah on Hunger Strike at Guantanamo for More Than Five Years

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Many of the detainees at Guantanamo have been on a hunger strike since February 2013, demanding their release and transport back to their countries. While waiting for the American President to hold true on the promise made during his first election campaign and again in his speech on 23 May 2013 at the American National Defense University in which he emphasized that he would work to close Guantanamo, release all detainees and send them home or to third countries, though failing to give a clear answer as to how this would be done, the detainees remain steadfast until their demands are met.
 
 

On 6 June 2013, Alkarama submitted a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the situation of detainee Abd-al-Rahman Shalabi Issa Awaydah, the Saudi born in 1975 in Medina who studied at the Al Da'awah College at the University of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud in Saudi Arabia. He then immigrated to Afghanistan in 1999 to study religious science in Khost. After 2 years, he decided to return to his country, but the Pakistani authorities arrested him on 15 December 2001 on the border with Afghanistan. On 26 December he was handed over to American forces, who placed him in the American detention center in Kandahar, Afghanistan, before transferring him to Guantanamo Prison on 11 January 2002.

The American authorities have in the past released a number of Saudis following the intervention of the Saudi authorities. Mr. Awaydah and 16 other Saudi detainees remain in detention, not having been included in these deals. He was held in solitary confinement for 6 years, from the time of his arrest until the beginning of 2008, at which time he was granted, for the first time, an hour-long video call with his family every two months.

Mr. Awaydah has not had any charges brought against him, nor has he been brought to trial since his arrest in 2001. Protesting his illegal and unjustified detention, he began a hunger strike in 2005. Today, 8 years later, he continues his strike, knowing that the impact such lack of food has on his health is the only pressure he can put on the US authorities. According to Mr Awaydah, in 2009, one of the doctors at the detention center threatened him, saying "If you don't eat, we will tie you to a chair, then we will put a tube into your nose to fill your stomach with food," which is considered torture. 

Alkarama explained to the Working Group that Mr. Awaydah's situation is not the first of its kind to be raised by the Guantanamo detainees, and that complaints had been raised on the situation of Adel Hasan Hamad Al Mutlab, Hamid Ali Amanu Jadallah, and Salim Mahmud Adam Al Sudaniin, all of whom were released in 2007 without compensation and without any charges or legal action being taken against them.

Alkarama also reminded the Working Group that it had issued Opinion 5/2003 (which can be found in UN document E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.1) on the detention of Mourad Benchellali and 3 others, also held at Guantanamo without trial or charges, in which it was noted that depriving Mr. Benchellali of his liberty is contrary to what is stated in paragraph 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.

Moreover, the Fifth Amendment to the American Constitution states that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury". The United States also has international obligations, being a party to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights which states in its ninth article:

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.

2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.

3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgement.

4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.

5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

It is clear then that the detention of Mr. 'Awaydah without legal justification or procedures for more than 8 years is arbitrary. That his family did not know how he was or where he was being held until the beginning of 2008 is contrary to the US Constitution and international law. Moreover, he was never given an opportunity to challenge his detention in a fair trial.

In its submission, a copy of which was sent to the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alkarama demanded that the Working Group issue an opinion condemning the arrest of Mr. Awaydah, asking the US authorities to immediately release him and to provide him with the compensation commensurate with the damage he has endured. Alkarama also asked the Working Group to call for the immediate closure of Guantanamo, which has become a symbol to the world that the United States of American fails to respect international law.