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| |  | | Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul | | | context : | Afghanistan  | | judgement place : | United States | | status : | Indicted | | particulars : | Charged with Conspiracy to commit war crimes by the Pentagon of the Untited States of America | | position : | Al Qaida’s former media specialist and Usama bin Laden’s bodyguard (alleged) |
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| | | | On June 29, 2004 Al Bahlul was charged with Conspiracy, in the framework of al Qaeda, to commit such war crimes attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, murder by an unprivileged belligerent, destruction of property by an unprivileged belligerent, and terrorism.
Al Bahlul’s case will be judged by a US military commission for foreign citizens in the war on terror, whose jurisdiction is based on the President‘s determination of July 3, 2003 that Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul is subject to his Military Order of November 13, 2001, which instituted the military commission procedure for certain foreigners in the so-called war against terror.
The first pre-trial hearing plunged into confusion in August 2004 when al Bahlul demanded to serve as his own lawyer and not use lawyers assigned by the Pentagon, and admitted he was a member of al Qaeda, the network responsible for the September 11 attacks.
During his first pre-trial hearing of 11 January 2006, al Bahlul declared his intention to boycott the proceedings. The Commission’s presiding officer ordered Bahlul’s defence council to further represent al Bahlul to the best of his ability even if Bahlul won't cooperate.
On May 15, 2006, to comply with a court order from US District Court, the Department of Defense released what they described as a full list of all the Guantanamo detainees who had been held in military custody. Al Bahhlul is one of the detainees known to have been held in Guantanamo whose name is missing from this official list.
On June 29, 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (cf. profile of Salim Ahmed Hamdan in "related cases") that the US President had exceeded his authority in establishing the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay. The Court also ruled that the commissions violated U.S. military law and the Geneva Conventions.
A controversial new bill was passed by the US Senate and the House of Representatives in late September 2006. (see "spotlight").
In June 2007 a US Military Commission judges dismissed cases against Hamdan and Khadr (see "related cases"), two other Guantanamo detainees,on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. This ruling could potentially have implications for all 385 detainees currently held at the Guantanamo base.
On 7 June 2007, the US Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 in support of The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act which, if adopted, would allow Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detention in US federal courts for the first time since the Military Commissions Act of 2006 revoked that right.
On 8 February 2008, the Office of Military Commissions announced that three charges have been sworn against Guantanamo detainee Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul.
The first two charges are conspiracy and solicitation to commit: murder of protected persons, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, murder in violation of the Law of War, destruction of property in violation of the Law of War, terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism. The third charge is providing material support for terrorism.
In accordance with the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the Manual for Military Commissions, al Bahlul will be brought before the military trial judge for arraignment within 30 days of the service of charges. Within 120 days of the referred charges being served upon the accused, the military trial judge will assemble the military commission. | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | last time seen : | | | Guantanamo | | | charges : | | | War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 18.03.2008 |
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