Shoddy CBS "journalism" busted:
What 60 Minutes Didn’t Tell You About Murat Kurnaz
Do you often traffic in sites called pajamasmedia? One thing we know that in addition to being a 'sleepy' website it apparently lies as well. What a surprise.....not!
"Kurnaz was one of the detainees with enough legal assistance to challenge the legality of his review in a Washington, D.C. court. Both German investigators, and United States Army investigators failed to find any evidence of a tie between Kurnaz and Al-Qaeda or any involvement in any terrorist activities. The three officers who reviewed his case asserted that they had classified evidence that established his guilt, but never disclosed this evidence to Kurnaz, his attorney's, or to the public.
Shortly before March 27, 2005, apparently through an administrative slip-up, the evidence against Kurnaz was declassified. Much of the evidence therein was exculpatory, but an unsigned, unsupported memo suggested guilt.
One allegation was that he was traveling to Pakistan with Selcuk Bilgin. Selcuk Bilgin is not a suspect in a bombing, possibly the 2003 Istanbul Bombings as is sometimes written in newspapers. During his reviews, Kurnaz was erroneously informed by the interrogators that Bilgin had been "engaged" in a suicide bombing, and asked him to describe his relationship to Bilgin. [3] Kurnaz denied having any knowledge of Bilgin's involvement in a suicide bombing, and denied knowing anybody who ever discussed committing an act of terrorism. Kurnaz's denials are supported by the fact that Bilgin is alive and living in Germany, and was never implicated in a bombing.
Kurnaz is one of the detainees who has alleged that he was subject to interrogation techniques that included suffocation by drowning, sexual humiliation, beatings, heat or cold and the desecration of his religion.
According to a German news source he had also been denied the right to return to Germany, as his 'indefinite residence permit' had expired due to his being out of the country for more than six months. (As the child of 'guest workers' he is not afforded full German citizenship, however, by being born in Bremen, is granted an 'indefinite residence permit' there) This ruling by the Foreign Office was overturned by the regional administrative court of Bremen on 30 November 2004, stating that due to his incarceration in Guantanamo he had been unable to apply for an extension of his 'leave permit' and was thus still eligible to return to Germany.
On December 14, 2005 it was confirmed that officials of the German foreign and domestic intelligence agencies (Bundesnachrichtendienst and Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) had participated in the interrogation of Kurnaz at least once during a stay at the Guantanamo Bay camps between September 21 and September 27, 2002. This is of legal significance, as German authorities are forbidden from assisting in the legal process of a foreign nation if the punishment from that process can result in the death penalty, or if the legal process fails to meet certain standards of fairness. The detainees in Guantanamo Bay were potentially capable of being executed following their trials, and debates abound regarding the fairness of the process.
According to a December 22, 2005 story by United Press International, a brief stay at a Tablighi Jamaat hostel led to the decision to capture Kurnaz.[4]
[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.[5][6] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[7]Kurnaz participated in a Combatant Status Review Tribunal on October 4, 2004.[8] The purpose of the CSRTs was to determine whether detainees had been properly determined to have been "enemy combatants". The tribunal that examined the case against Kurnaz lasted for forty minutes.
[edit] Administrative Review Board
The 520 detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal confirmed their classification as "enemy combatants" are given annual reviews, from Administrative Review Boards, which assess how much of a continuing threat they pose to the USA. These boards recommend continued detention, repatriation to the custody of their home countries, or freedom.
During March 2006 the Department of Defense started to comply with a court order from US District Court Justice Jed Rakoff.[9] They released a portable document format file that contained the transcript of Kurnaz's hearing.
The transcript from Kurnaz's hearing is 10 pages long.[10] 75 pages of evidence was classified secret and was omitted from the release,[11] 43 pages of unclassified evidence was released with the transcript of his hearing.
The unclassified evidence includes:
A letter to the Board from Baher Azmy, a professor of law at Seton Hall University.[12] This three page letter summarizes the criticisms Justice Joyce Hens Green had of Kurnaz's CSRT. Several paragraphs of this letter were redacted. And although Justice Green's judgement was enclosed, it was not included with the released transcript.
A letter from Kurnaz's mother, kid brothers and other people who had known Kurnaz for significant periods of time.[13]
An affidavit from Selcuk Bilgin, the friend who was supposed to be his connection to a suicide bomber.[14] Bilgin confirms that he was not a suicide bomber, that he didn't know any suicide bombers, or anyone with any connection to terrorism.
Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".[15]A letter from the office of the Bremen prosecutor to Bilgin's lawyer. The letter states: “I have received no question at all (either written or by telephone) from US authorities attempting to obtain confirmation that your client was involved in a suicided attack and/or lost his life in a suicide attack.”
A letter from Qamar-ul Huda to Baher Azmy.[16] Huda is a Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion at Boston College. His three page letter on the history of the Jama'at al-Tablighi, the group Kurnaz's documents list as his terrorist connection, states: “From the very beginning the Jama’at al-Tablighi has deliberately distanced itself from politics, political activities, and political controversies.”
A letter to Baher Azmy from Barbara D. Metcalf,[17] Metcalf is the Director of the Center for South Asian Studies and the Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Metcalf addressed the benevolent nature of Tablighi pilgrimages. She wrote: “I will also attempt to explain why it is implausible to believe that the Tablighis support terrorism or are in any way affiliated with other terrorist or ‘jihadi’ movements such as the Taliban or Al Qaeda.”
A letter to Baher Azmy from Jamal J. Ellias.[18] Ellias is a Professor of Religion at Amherst College. He wrote: “I must emphasize this last point, that the Tablighis formally and actively believe that traveling to engage in missionary activity fully discharges any religious obligation to engage in Jihad.”"
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