Lawyers to Visit Camp X-Ray Six

08/10/2004| IslamWeb

Lawyers have been given a date later this month for their first meeting with six Bahraini detainees, who have been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than two years. However, they are now struggling with the dilemma of how to win their clients' trust. Human rights activists in Bahrain are meeting the detainees' families to glean personal details, which only their relatives could know. The aim is to arm lawyers with credible information to convince the detainees that they are there to help them. One fear is that the six Bahrainis will assume the lawyers are US intelligence officers in disguise. "We are trying to talk to the families to get something which will make these people believe the lawyers," said human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. "Since they were sent to Guantanamo Bay they have only seen people belonging to US military or intelligence. "Then suddenly some people show up saying that they have been sent by their families. "They might not believe them - especially because the lawyers are Americans. They might think they are with the US intelligence service. "None of their relatives can go, no human rights people or Bahrainis. We are trying to find a way to convince them. "We are trying to get some special secret that no-one knows except their families to make them believe." A team of three American lawyers and an interpreter are due to visit the six Bahrainis at Guantanamo Bay on October 24. It will be their first meeting with lawyers since they were first captured and held indefinitely without charge. They are being represented for free by a legal team from the New York-based Dorsey and Whitney law firm. A major discussion point will be the US administration's reason for holding them in the first place. The US government has been given until the week of October 18 to explain the detention of 60 inmates - including the six Bahrainis. "The government has committed to providing a factual explanation as to why each individual is detained by the week of October 18," said attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, who is part of the team set up to defend the Bahraini prisoners. "We will explore the issues raised by the government in that explanation. "It will likely be one of our main areas of interest." However, it is not yet clear how much of that information will be made public. "It depends on whether the information is classified and confidential," said Mr Colangelo-Bryan. "But I believe that a good portion of the explanation offered in each case would likely be made public." The lawyers say they are willing to pass on verbal messages to detainees from their families. However, they are forbidden from passing on correspondence that hasn't gone through the usual vetting procedure. In addition, they can only take in paper that has been cleared by the government in advance. It is also understood that the meeting may be taped. "Correspondence has to go through time-consuming process," said Mr Colangelo-Bryan. "But if they have a verbal family message we would be happy to take that kind of personal message with us." However, he said it was not too late for the Bahrain government to pressure the US into releasing its citizens. He said the same tactic had worked for other nations such as Afghanistan, which won the return of some of its citizens last month. "That is an issue that should be impressed on people," said Mr Colangelo-Bryan. "Negotiations with the US government do seem to bring results." Meanwhile, Mr Rajab is due to fly to Jordan after the weekend to meet relatives of Jordanian detainees, as well as a former Jordanian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. He is accompanying a delegation of US lawyers to Jordan, where they will discuss a case being brought against the US government by the released Jordanian detainee. The six Bahraini prisoners are Juma Mohammed Al Dossary, Essa Al Murbati, Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi, Adel Kamel Hajee, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Abdulla Majid Al Naimi. They are among almost 600 men held for over two years after they were arrested by the US on suspicion of being "enemy combatants". The US government filed a motion on Monday claiming detainees have no rights to assert in the district court. This is despite a US Supreme Court ruling that says the district court has authority to hear their petitions. "We will file a response with lawyers for around 60 other represented detainees," said Mr Colangelo-Bryan. "The court will presumably rule on government motion soon after our response is filed." **PHOTO CAPTION*** Suspected Taliban and al-Qaida detainees sit in a holding area at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Jan. 11, 2002, file photo. (AP)