NGO Observers

Scheduled to Fly to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Next Week

Pentagon approved sketch by court artist Janet Hamlin, depicting Mr. Nashwan / Mr. Hadi at his Guantanamo arraignment on 18 June 2014.

In one week, on 3 June 2022, I am scheduled to fly from Indianapolis to Washington D.C., and fly the next day from Joint Base Andrews (formerly Andrews Air Force Base) to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On Friday, I plan to stay at a Maryland hotel near Andrews, and Uber to the base and be ready to check in at 6 a.m., Saturday for the 10:00 a.m. flight.

My destination is Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), and my mission is to monitor a U.S. military commission pre-trial hearing in the case against Nashwan al-Tamir / Hadi al-Iraqi, who is charged with war crimes allegedly perpetrated in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2003 and 2004. For clarification, the prosecution refers to the defendant as “Hadi al Iraqi” while defendant has stated that his name is “Nashwan al Tamir”. Hereinafter, I will refer to him as “Mr. Nashwan / Mr. Hadi”.

It was reported in the New York Times that Mr. Nashwan / Mr. Tamir was picked up in Turkey in 2006 and held by the C.I.A., before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2007. He was arraigned at Guantanamo in 2014 and charged with the following war crimes: denying quarter; attacking protected property; using treachery or perfidy; and attempted use of treachery or perfidy. Proceedings in his case have been reportedly delayed multiple times due to his declining health. He underwent five surgeries for a pre-existing spinal disease.

About Me

I work as a clinic assistant at Indiana University McKinney School of Law, and I support nine live client clinics and four full-time faculty members. I joined the Law School in late 2021.

Our nine clinics include the Appellate Clinic, Child Advocacy Law Clinic, Civil Practice Clinic, Criminal Defense Clinic, Health and Human Rights Clinic, Immigration Clinic, Intellectual Property Clinic, Re-Entry Clinic, and the Wrongful Conviction Clinic.

The clinics provide students the opportunity to work on real cases for real people under the supervision of clinical faculty. I support the work of the students and faculty, including but not limited to corresponding with clients, handling inquiries, and providing other administrative support. To date, I have been able to attend two expungement hearings, a full day of housing court, and two “second chance” outreach days, and I watched an appeals trial. I believe my experience at Guantanamo Bay will be vastly different from the hearings I have experienced considering I have not yet witnessed a criminal hearing.

I have a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Purdue University. I had an opportunity to intern with Purdue Marketing and Media for a year. While I was an intern, I developed an interest in writing. I worked as an editorial intern and wrote hundreds of articles and press releases. I became interested in the legal field after taking a course on Constitutional Law when I was a Purdue student. I see this experience — being able to blog and attend the hearings— as an opportunity to combine my interests of law and writing.

I recently learned that I am the first staff member of IU McKinney School of Law to be nominated to travel to Guantanamo Bay to monitor hearings. The dozens of other IU Affiliates who have been nominated for Guantanamo travel have been faculty, students, and graduates. I’m honored to be the first staff member to be nominated and hope that my experience sparks an interest in other staff members.

My Mission for this Guantanamo Bay trip

My mission has been laid out for me as an NGO observer affiliate. NGO stands for “non-governmental organization”. The NGO I am affiliated with is the Military Commissions Monitoring Project (MCMP), which is part of the Program in International Human Rights Law of the IU McKinney School of Law. The Pentagon granted the Program in International Human Rights Law the status of “Observer”, and that Program in turn created the MCMP, which nominates IU McKinney faculty, staff, students and graduates to travel to Guantanamo to “observe” or “monitor” hearings. IU McKinney affiliates also travel to Ft. Meade, Maryland where Guantanamo hearings are broadcast live from the Guantanamo courtroom into a secure room at Ft. Meade via CCTV. They also travel to other installations where Guantanamo hearings occur, mostly via CCTV, but at times live, and include sites such as Ft. Devin, the Washington Naval Yard, Andrews, and the Pentagon.

As a representative of our IU McKinney NGO, my mission is to attend, observe, be seen, analyze, critique, and report my observations. I plan to be independent, objective, neutral, unbiased, and open-minded. It is my responsibility to be an impartial observer for myself, the other stakeholders of the proceedings, including future observers.

From the Beginning

I became aware of the MCMP, like many others at IU McKinney, through the emails sent out by Professor Edwards, the Law School’s Guantanamo Program Director. The emails are sent out monthly to law students, faculty, and staff to seek individuals interested in traveling to Guantanamo Bay and the other sites. Professor Edwards is also the Founding Faculty Director of the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL) and has been involved with Guantanamo since 2003. The opportunity sounded like a once in a lifetime experience, but I did not think I would be selected as a new hire, having joined the law school only 6 months earlier. I pushed the idea of applying away until my supervisor forwarded the same email to me. In it, she encouraged me to apply. I took her encouragement as a sign and submitted an application.

The next day, I interviewed with Professor Edwards. The following week, I received the news that I was nominated by the MCMP to travel to Guantanamo to monitor these pre-trial hearings.

The next steps were to complete paperwork for the Pentagon, Indiana University, and the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL).

The paperwork for the Pentagon included 6 forms: a Hold Harmless Agreement, an acknowledgment of the NGO Ground Rules for Observation of Military Commissions, an Invitational Traveler Worksheet, a form requesting temporary access to NSGB, an acknowledgment of NGO Representative procedures for observation of military commissions, and a bio about myself.

I began communicating with other IU affiliates scheduled to travel in June, and we helped one another in completing the forms.

Preparing for Travel

To prepare, I have been given a multitude of resources, including the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual and the Know Before You Got to Guantanamo Bay: A Guide for Human Rights NGOs & Others Going to Gitmo to Attend U.S. Military Commissions or For Other Purposes.

The Fair Trial Manual gives an overview of the history of Guantanamo Bay, presents the rights of the detainees and all stakeholders, and provides precedents for why the detainees should be given a fair trial. The Know Before You Go Manual provides useful information from dress codes in the courtroom to fun activities for travelers when they aren’t observing or preparing for the hearings.

Both the Manual and the Guide can be found on the Gitmo Observer website.

Travelers are also provided a “Guantanamo Checklist” which lists what to do before, during, and after travel. The Checklist is an approximately 30-page document that comprehensively lists requirements for all participants. It also includes samples of how to complete the paperwork for the Pentagon.

Another great resource is the blog posts on the Gitmo Observer. Thanks to previous travelers’ blogs, I read that plans can change frequently regarding the proceedings at Guantanamo Bay. Travelers must remain flexible and be attentive to communication incoming from the Program Director and the Pentagon.

Booking my flight to DC

I booked my flight to D.C. two weeks ago. The day after I booked my flight, I received notice from the Pentagon that the military judge who presides over the case I am scheduled to monitor ruled that the pre-trial hearings my proposed week at Guantanamo will be “closed”, meaning that for the entire week I would be at Guantanamo, all the hearing sessions would relate to classified matters, and NGO representatives (like myself) would not be able to attend. Thus, there was a possibility that I could travel to Guantanamo for the week, and not have an opportunity to sit in on any courtroom hearings.

The Pentagon sent me an e-mail asking me if I still wanted to go to Guantanamo, given the judge’s ruling about the hearings. I learned that there is still the possibility the “closed” hearings will be “opened”, so I decided to continue to travel. Also, I learned that there are many aspects of monitoring / observing that take place outside the hearings, for example, briefings by U.S. military commission lawyers.

My next blog post

This is a photo of me…
I plan to post more photos of my journey to Guantanamo — including at the airports in Indianapolis and DC, on the planes, the hotel, and of course at Andrews and Guantanamo.

My next blog posting is expected to include any updates I receive from the Pentagon this last week before the scheduled travel, my journey from Indianapolis to DC, and my arrival at Andrews.

Madison Sanneman

Clinic Assistant

NGO Monitor / Observer, Military Commission Monitoring Project (MCMP)

Program in International Human Rights

Indiana University McKinney School of Law

Going to Guantanamo – Overnight at Andrews Air Force Base

Outside Andrew Air Force Base from my hotel.

I flew from Indianapolis to Washington DC to a beautiful 30 degrees. My hotel for the night is just across the street from Andrews Air force Base, where I’m to report at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow for my flight to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to monitor the case against al Nashiri, who is charged with being a mastermind of the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 US sailors in 2000.

On this trip, I will be joined by ten other Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Observers, some of whom have already expressed interest in the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual, that we at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law have been researching and writing.

Flying to DC

My trip was uneventful, save for the look on all who tried to lift my carry-on luggage containing the Manuals, which at this point are in two Volumes, totaling over 400 pages. More about the Manuals later.

On my flight from Indianapolis there was an ‘interesting’ conversation going on behind me. I was sitting in front of the loudest three on this very small plane. Their conversations spanned from blue-collar job variations by state, Hoover Dam documentaries, Benghazi and then, Guantanamo! I held my breath.

Their biggest and only complaint was that US taxpayer money was paying for top-notch medical care “for those 9-11 prisoners down there in Cuba” while people here cannot afford it.

The pilot came on the intercom, and voices behind me were lowered for the remainder of the flight. I am still a little shocked that three people on that small plane going from Indiana to the East Coast would talk about Guantanamo Bay, on the eve of my first trip to that U.S. detention center on a remote Caribbean Island.

Preparing for my mission to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Hot off the press! Guantanamo Fair Trial Manuals

As an NGO observer, I am tasked with evaluating whether the all stakeholders are being afforded the rights and interests to which they are entitled through the Military Commission process. Yes, I will be examining rights of the defendants. Also I will examine rights of victims and their families, rights of the prosecution, rights of the press, and rights and interests of others who have a stake in the proceedings.

To help prepare for this mission, I have familiarized myself with the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual, which at this point I find to be of ‘biblical’ importance. As I mentioned, it is now in two Volumes. Volume I is the main body of the Manual, and identifies the international and domestic U.S. law that governs the Military Commissions. It provides a good idea of what a fair proceeding should look like, so that NGO Observers will have a good point of reference. It also contains a number of extensive, comprehensive “checklists” that Observers can use to give an idea of what to look for when they are observing.

Volume II contains the Appendices, which include hard copies of many important legal documents, such as parts of the Military Commission Act, Rules of Procedure, and International Documents, including parts of the Geneva Conventions.

Both Volumes have been instrumental in helping me prepare for my role as an observer. I have done background readings on blogs from other participants who have attended the hearings, as well as from the Military Commission Website and other resources. The Gitmo Observer Blog also contains Briefing Books under Research and Resources, which have been very helpful in orienting myself with the details of the hearings.

March 2 – 6 Hearings

Vaughn Ary - https://www.linkedin.com/pub/vaughn-ary/3b/644/b7

Retired Major General Vaughn Ary

This week, the al Nashiri court dealt with Unlawful Influence (AE 332, Defense Motion to Dismiss for Unlawful Influence and Denial of Due Process for Failure to Provide an Independent Judiciary). See Alleged Unlawful Influence over Guantanamo Bay Judges. It is argued that a high ranking military official, retired Marine Major General Vaughn Ary, engaged in “unlawful influence” over the judges of the Military Commission by ordering them to relocate to Guantanamo Bay to help speed up the proceedings.

The defense argued that no military official should be able to order a Military Commission judge to take such actions, since the judges are supposed to be free from outside influence.

The Learned Counsel for al Nashiri’s made a statement about who “can be trusted to act impartially” (Pentagon scraps judges’ Guantánamo move order; 9/11 case unfrozen, Miami Herald). The order of Major General Ary was reversed at the end of this past week, after Ary testified from the Pentagon.

Motions scheduled to be argued next week while I am present as per the second amended Docketing Order are:

AE 334 – Defense Motion for Appropriate Relief to Allow Mr. AI Nashiri to Groom Prior to Court Sessions and Meetings with his Defense Team.
AE 272D – Government Motion for Reconsideration and Clarification of AE 272C- Ruling- Defense Motion for Appropriate Relief: Inquiry into the Existence of a Conflict of Interest Burdening Counsel’s Representation of the Accused Based on Ongoing Executive Branch Investigations;
AE 331 A – Government Motion To Amend the Docketing Order (February 2015 Hearing) To Allow The Government To Determine The Manner In Which It Presents Its Evidence Relating To The Admissibility Of Government-Noticed Hearsay And Evidence Identified In AE 207;
AE 319I – Defense Motion to Continue the Evidentiary Hearings Related to AE 166 et seq and AE TI 9 Until Preliminary Matters are Resolved;
AE 319J – Defense Motion to Continue Further Hearings on the Government’s Motion to Admit Hearsay Until the Court of Military Commissions Review Renders a Final Judgment on Appeal;
AE 328 – Defense Motion for a Fair Hearing on the Admissibility of Evidence as Noticed in AE 166 and AE 166A; 3 (8) AE 319F, Defense Motion to Compel Discovery Related to AE166/166A/166B and Seeking Further Appropriate Relief;
AE 319G – Defense Motion to Compel Witnesses to Testify at the Hearing on AE166/166A/166B/319;
AE 256D, Defense Motion to Strike AE 256C: Government Notice of Bill of Particulars (Defining Civilian Population as Used in Aggravating Factor #5);
AE 257D, Defense Motion to Strike AE 257C: Government Notice of Bill of Particulars (Defining Civilian Population as Used in Aggravating Factor #5).

Tomorrow (Sunday), we are scheduled to leave for Guantanamo from Andrews. I plan to post again once I cross the street and enter the base.

I look forward to meeting the other NGO observers.

Aside from the hearings, all that is ringing in my head is ‘banana rats’ – these animals that are supposedly running around pretty freely on Guantanamo Bay. They say that they have to keep the temperature in our GTMO tents very low to keep these rats out at night.

Also, I hear there is a Jamaican shack with the best food on the GTMO base!

Seriously, I am very keen on furthering the goals of the Indiana University Military Commission Observation Project, which include to attend, observe, analyze, critique and report on the Military Commissions. This is a very important project that I believe serves all stakeholders in the Military Commission process.

Avril Rua Pitt, Across the Street From the Andrews Air Force Base Entrance, 28 February 2015

Preparations to Attend Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri Hearings at Guantanamo Bay, 1 – 7 March 2015

Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri

I am scheduled to travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to monitor the Al Nashiri Hearings at U.S. Military Commissions from 2 – 7 March 2015. This is the case against a man, al Nashiri, who is charged in these proceedings with having being a masterminded of the October 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole, docked off the coast of Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors and wounding dozens more.

At Guantanamo Bay, I will be representing Indiana University McKinney School of Law’s Program in International Human Rights Law, which has received NGO Observer status by the Pentagon. This human rights program created the Military Commission Observation Project, and the Project nominated me for this mission.

Background

I have a Bachelor of Law from Moi University based in Eldoret Kenya (’09). I also hold a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in International Human Rights Law (’11) from IU McKinney, which is how I primarily got involved with the Program in International Human Rights Law. In 2010, I was an intern in this human rights program, working in Vienna Austria in. As an International Human Rights Law student in Prof. Edwards’s classes, I gained valuable gainful insight into international criminal law, and the Guantanamo Bay case of David Hicks, on which IU McKinney students worked and on which Professor Edwards served as an expert witness.

I am currently studying International Research Ethics, but have not lost my interest in international law.

Experiences

I have had an interest in international law for many years now, but certain events heightened my desire to understand international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

On August 7, 1998, the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed, killing over two hundred person, wounding countless people, and causing significant property damage. There was a similar terrorist attack in neighboring Tanzania. The blast rocked our notions of the relative peace and security we had experienced as a nation. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility, and terrorism was at doorstep of my East African home.

Al Nashiri was a suspected mastermind of those East African bombings, and one of the suicide bombers, the driver of the truck carrying explosives who attacked the Embassy, was his cousin, Azzam (pg. 152, 9-11 Commission Report). It was purely coincidental that I was approved for the Al Nashiri hearings. Although as a nation we lost family and friends, I naturally was inclined to seeing all those involved pay for their crime. At the same time, reading about the torture that alleged masterminds and perpetrators were subjected to left me conflicted as a human being, and a continued believer in the universality and inalienability of human rights.

With this background and my academic experience in international law, I am eager to attend the hearings and apply what I have learned to assess whether the accused are accorded fair trials, and whether the rights and interests of all other stakeholders are being fully afforded to them.

Reason for Applying to be an Observer

I admired the work of the IU McKinney PIHRL before I even joined McKinney School of Law. In 2009, I was fortunate to meet Prof. Edwards in Eldoret, Kenya, and had a chance to work with interns from PIHRL who did their internships in the legal office where I worked in Kenya just after I completed my law degree. As an affiliate of Professor Edwards’ program, I was very proud when it earned United Nations ECOSOC Special Consultative Status, and very proud when the Pentagon granted the PIHRL NGO Observer Status to the Military Commissions.

Courtroom sketch of al Nashiri by artist Janet Hamlin.

Al Nashiri

As mentioned, al Nashiri is charged with masterminding an attack on USS Cole in October 2000 and on. He faces charges in perfidy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism, conspiracy, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, and hazarding a vessel.

Personal Thoughts on the Hearings

I look forward to attending the hearings. I am however conflicted. The purpose of allowing observers is to ensure free and fair trials are conducted before the Military Court at Guantanamo, yet the process is riddled with torture and gross human rights abuses. I have received countless of emails from human rights based organizations, to sign petition for the closure of Guantanamo Bay. I cannot say that I have made any active advocacy efforts towards this end. I find it unsettling after claims and evidence of illegal detention and a flagrant violation of rights, there is an interest in the right to a fair trial. At the same time, terrorist continue to launch attacks against innocent human beings. I have witnessed this in Kenya, and continue to witness it with the constant threats from the militant group Al- Shabaab. I desire justice for the victims of terrorism, and respect for human rights for those accused.

Travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

My journey to Guantanamo begins March 1, and will return to the country on March 7. I will be posting my observations on this blog as I continue to prepare, and updating on the hearings on a daily basis. I look forward to meeting other NGO Observers who will be there, attending the hearings and applying the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual to give an objective and personal view of the proceedings.

Avril Rua, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 21 February 2015

Gitmo Observer Provides NGO Observer Resource Centre

The remaining copies of the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual and other resources and supplies are set up in the NGO Observer lounge and ready for use by the NGO Observers.

Gitmo Observer NGO Resource Centre

This trip has nine NGO Observers. The NGO Observers represent the law schools of Duke University, Seton Hall, and Georgetown University. The other NGO Observers represent Amnesty International, National Institute for Military Justice, New York City Bar Association, Judicial Watch, and Pacific Council on International Policy. Everyone has been uniformly impressed by the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual. Hopefully we will get some good feedback!

Earlier today the prosecutor provided the updated 9/11 court filings on cds. They also provided two dvd/cd drives for those NGO Observers whose laptops no longer have dvd/cd drives! Technology sure has a way of complicating things on days.

(Catherine Lemmer, Guantanamo Bay, 9/11 hearings, February 9-13, 2015)