Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness

Attorney General Eric Holder
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder:

I write to you out of concern for Mohamed el-Gharani. Mr. el-Gharani is in Guant¡namo Bay. He is of Chadian nationality but had lived in Saudi Arabia. As a teenager he left Saudi Arabia for Pakistan in 2000 or 2001 to learn English and develop computer skills. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 at a mosque by local police, and turned over to United States forces in 2002. He was one of the first Guant¡namo Bay detainees and also one of the youngest and one of the first the Guant¡namo Bay detainees. He allegedly was tortured by the Pakistanis, by the US military while being held at Bagram in Afghanistan, and at Guant¡namo Bay. Mohamed tried to commit suicide twice in 2006 while at Guant¡namo Bay.

As you may know Federal Judge Richard Leon, on 14 January 2009, ordered the military to release Mohamed. Mohamed was 14 when detained and is now a 21-year-old.

The military accused Mohamed of being part of al-Qaida, working for the Taliban and fighting American forces in Afghanistan. Judge Leon said those accusations were based on testimony from other Guant¡namo Bay detainees, which he found unreliable. He is also accused of being a member of an al-Qaida cell based in London in 1998. But as his attorneys point out, he would have been only11 years old in 1998.

I ask you give your attention to a speedy resolution of Mohamed el-Gharani's situation. Mohamed has been in illegal detention without due process for years.

I also urge there be a full and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Mohamed el Gharani while in US custody, and all those found responsible be brought to justice.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,


Cc: Gregory Craig, Counsel to the President, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20500
Honorable Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301