Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda
Encyclopedia
Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al Awda is a Kuwait
i citizen held in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
s, in Cuba
.
He has been detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay since 2002.
He is a plaintiff in the ongoing case, Al Odah v. United States
, which challenges his detention, along with that of fellow detainees. The case is widely acknowledged to be one of the most significant to be heard by the Supreme Court in the current term.
The US Department of Defense reports that he was born in 1977, in Kuwait City
, Kuwait.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's ruling on Al Odah's habeas corpus
petition was published on September 1, 2009.
She denied his habeas corpus petition based on the assumption that it was more likely than not that Awda was a foot soldier fighting in Afghanistan against US troops.
Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al Awda arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on February 28, 2002, and has been held there for .
, gave to Amnesty International
, Fawzi traveled in 2001 to the Pakistan
/Afghanistan
border area in order to do charitable outreach work, Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Fawzi fled Afghanistan, intending to return home to Kuwait. Fawzi successfully crossed the border into Pakistan but was then captured by Pakistani bounty hunters.
The bounty hunters handed Fawzi and eleven other Kuwaitis over to American authorities.
The Kuwaitis were then transported to Cuba.
is a writ of habeas corpus
petition on behalf of Guantanamo detainees. This consolidated case currently represents four plaintiffs: Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed, Ahmed Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, and Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah. Al Odah v. United States was originally filed April 2002 on behalf of twelve imprisoned Kuwaitis, including Al Odah, seeking the right of habeas corpus. The case was dismissed in May 2002 following a government motion to dismiss the habeas corpus petition.
On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court issued an opinion on a related Guantanamo case, Rasul v. Bush
, affirming the right of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their imprisonment in the U.S. federal court system. Under this ruling, detainees such as those represented in Al Odah would be able to file habeas corpus petitions in U.S. courts.
In April 2007, the Supreme Court declined to hear two cases challenging the Military Commissions Act
: Boumediene v. Bush
and Al Odah v. United States On June 29, 2007, the court reversed that decision, releasing an order that expressed their intent to hear the challenge. The two cases have been consolidated into one. Oral arguments were heard on December 5, 2007. The decision, striking down the Military Commissions Act, was handed down on 12 June 2008.
On July 18, 2008 David J. Cynamon filed a "PETITIONERS’ STATUS REPORT" in Al Odah, v. United States Civil Action No. CV 02-0828 (CKK) on behalf of Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmen Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah.
He wrote that they were the four remaining Kuwaiti captives in Guantanamo.
He wrote that none of the four men had been cleared for release.
He wrote that the government had completed "factual returns" for all four men—but those factual returns had contained redacted sections.
reported on a meeting between attorneys Thomas Wilner
and Kristine Huskey and their Kuwaiti clients.
According to Wilner and Huskey, al-Odah and four of his compatriots, were on a hunger strike and had lost a dangerous amount of weight. They reported that al-Odah had been force-fed and could barely sit up.
Human Rights critics argue that the detainees retain the right to give or withhold consent to all medical procedures.
According to Fawzi's lawyer, Thomas Wilner
, Fawzi wanted Wilner to file a legal request ordering the removal of his feeding tube. Wilner did file such a request because Fawzi's family was "frantic" and opposed the motion.
Wilner said that at the time, Fawzi looked "like a skeleton".
Al-Odah told his lawyers that camp authorities had warned the hunger strikers that they would start strapping them in "restraint chairs" during their force-feedings.
In an interview in Marie Claire
magazine Huskey described her surprise that when she first met with Guantanamo clients, like al-Odah, they preferred food brought from Guantanamo fast food outlets to the Arabic delicacies she and her colleagues had brought from the Continental US.
She reported that Al-Odah's favorite was MacDonald's French Fries and ice cream.
, wrote an Op-Ed
in the Washington Post, on September 2, 2006, entitled: "Put My Son on Trial -- or Free Him".
In the article Khalid argues that "hundreds of innocent men sit in prison", who could have been freed, if American authorities had granted them the protections of the rule of law and granted them a fair trial in a traditional court of law.
Al Odah's father stated that Fawzi had always been an admirer of the American system.
The Washington Post identifies Khalid Al-Odah as the founder of the Kuwaiti Family Committee
.
It states:
The New York Times editorial board has spoken out in favor of the plaintiffs in the Al Odah v. United States case, calling it "the Supreme Court showdown of the year".“Civil liberties groups — and this Editorial Board", write the editors, "believe it is important for the Supreme Court to make clear that the detainees have a constitutional right to have a judge determine whether they are being properly held.”.
On May 12, 2007, the Kuwait Times
reported that Kuwait and the USA concluded negotiations regarding the repatriation of the remaining Kuwaiti captives.
Nevertheless Khaled Al Mutayri, Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda, Fouad Mahoud Hasan Al Rabia
and Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari
continue to be held as of August 1, 2009.
US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kottely ordered the immediate repatriation of Khaled Al Mutairi on July 29, 2009.
According to The Jurist the habeas corpus cases for the other three men are expected to conclude in August and September 2009.
Kollar-Kotelly ruled on Al Odah's habeas corpus petition on August 24, 2009.
The 32 page ruling was published on September 1, 2009, after classified portions had been redacted.
She ruled that the USA could consider Al Odah was an "enemy combatant
", without regard to whether the training camp he attended was actually the al Farouq training camp, because he had acknowledged attending a training camp, for a single day.
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i citizen held in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
s, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
He has been detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay since 2002.
He is a plaintiff in the ongoing case, Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention, without charge, of Guantanamo detainees. The case is in many ways a continuation of the landmark Center for Constitutional Rights case Rasul v....
, which challenges his detention, along with that of fellow detainees. The case is widely acknowledged to be one of the most significant to be heard by the Supreme Court in the current term.
The US Department of Defense reports that he was born in 1977, in Kuwait City
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...
, Kuwait.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's ruling on Al Odah's habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
petition was published on September 1, 2009.
She denied his habeas corpus petition based on the assumption that it was more likely than not that Awda was a foot soldier fighting in Afghanistan against US troops.
Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al Awda arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on February 28, 2002, and has been held there for .
Capture
According to an interview Fawzi's father, Khalid al-OdahKhalid al-Odah
Khalid al-Odah is the father of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Fawzi al-Odah, and the founder of the Kuwaiti Family Committee, a group established in 2004 to heighten global awareness of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Over the past five years, Khalid has waged legal, media, and public relations...
, gave to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Fawzi traveled in 2001 to the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
/Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
border area in order to do charitable outreach work, Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Fawzi fled Afghanistan, intending to return home to Kuwait. Fawzi successfully crossed the border into Pakistan but was then captured by Pakistani bounty hunters.
The bounty hunters handed Fawzi and eleven other Kuwaitis over to American authorities.
The Kuwaitis were then transported to Cuba.
Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United StatesAl Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention, without charge, of Guantanamo detainees. The case is in many ways a continuation of the landmark Center for Constitutional Rights case Rasul v....
is a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
petition on behalf of Guantanamo detainees. This consolidated case currently represents four plaintiffs: Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed, Ahmed Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, and Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah. Al Odah v. United States was originally filed April 2002 on behalf of twelve imprisoned Kuwaitis, including Al Odah, seeking the right of habeas corpus. The case was dismissed in May 2002 following a government motion to dismiss the habeas corpus petition.
On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court issued an opinion on a related Guantanamo case, Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...
, affirming the right of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their imprisonment in the U.S. federal court system. Under this ruling, detainees such as those represented in Al Odah would be able to file habeas corpus petitions in U.S. courts.
In April 2007, the Supreme Court declined to hear two cases challenging the Military Commissions Act
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
: Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
and Al Odah v. United States On June 29, 2007, the court reversed that decision, releasing an order that expressed their intent to hear the challenge. The two cases have been consolidated into one. Oral arguments were heard on December 5, 2007. The decision, striking down the Military Commissions Act, was handed down on 12 June 2008.
On July 18, 2008 David J. Cynamon filed a "PETITIONERS’ STATUS REPORT" in Al Odah, v. United States Civil Action No. CV 02-0828 (CKK) on behalf of Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmen Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah.
He wrote that they were the four remaining Kuwaiti captives in Guantanamo.
He wrote that none of the four men had been cleared for release.
He wrote that the government had completed "factual returns" for all four men—but those factual returns had contained redacted sections.
Meetings with attorneys
On September 28, 2005, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported on a meeting between attorneys Thomas Wilner
Thomas Wilner
Thomas B. Wilner is the managing partner of Shearman & Sterling's International Trade and Global Relations Practice. Wilner has also represented the high-profile human rights cases of a dozen Kuwaiti citizens detained in the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Wilner earned his law...
and Kristine Huskey and their Kuwaiti clients.
According to Wilner and Huskey, al-Odah and four of his compatriots, were on a hunger strike and had lost a dangerous amount of weight. They reported that al-Odah had been force-fed and could barely sit up.
Human Rights critics argue that the detainees retain the right to give or withhold consent to all medical procedures.
According to Fawzi's lawyer, Thomas Wilner
Thomas Wilner
Thomas B. Wilner is the managing partner of Shearman & Sterling's International Trade and Global Relations Practice. Wilner has also represented the high-profile human rights cases of a dozen Kuwaiti citizens detained in the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Wilner earned his law...
, Fawzi wanted Wilner to file a legal request ordering the removal of his feeding tube. Wilner did file such a request because Fawzi's family was "frantic" and opposed the motion.
Wilner said that at the time, Fawzi looked "like a skeleton".
Al-Odah told his lawyers that camp authorities had warned the hunger strikers that they would start strapping them in "restraint chairs" during their force-feedings.
In an interview in Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
magazine Huskey described her surprise that when she first met with Guantanamo clients, like al-Odah, they preferred food brought from Guantanamo fast food outlets to the Arabic delicacies she and her colleagues had brought from the Continental US.
She reported that Al-Odah's favorite was MacDonald's French Fries and ice cream.
Media Editorials
Fawzi Al-Odah's father, Khalid al-OdahKhalid al-Odah
Khalid al-Odah is the father of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Fawzi al-Odah, and the founder of the Kuwaiti Family Committee, a group established in 2004 to heighten global awareness of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Over the past five years, Khalid has waged legal, media, and public relations...
, wrote an Op-Ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
in the Washington Post, on September 2, 2006, entitled: "Put My Son on Trial -- or Free Him".
In the article Khalid argues that "hundreds of innocent men sit in prison", who could have been freed, if American authorities had granted them the protections of the rule of law and granted them a fair trial in a traditional court of law.
Al Odah's father stated that Fawzi had always been an admirer of the American system.
The Washington Post identifies Khalid Al-Odah as the founder of the Kuwaiti Family Committee
Kuwaiti Family Committee
The is an organization that was formed in 2004 by relatives of the Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The Committee advocates for due process for the detainees.Khalid al-Odah is the founder of the Kuwaiti Family Committee...
.
It states:
- "The writer founded the Kuwaiti Family Committee four years ago to secure the legal rights of foreign nationals imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay."
The New York Times editorial board has spoken out in favor of the plaintiffs in the Al Odah v. United States case, calling it "the Supreme Court showdown of the year".“Civil liberties groups — and this Editorial Board", write the editors, "believe it is important for the Supreme Court to make clear that the detainees have a constitutional right to have a judge determine whether they are being properly held.”.
On May 12, 2007, the Kuwait Times
Kuwait Times
Founded by Yousuf Saleh Alyan in September 1961, the Kuwait Times is the first English-language daily newspaper in the Persian Gulf region, based in Kuwait...
reported that Kuwait and the USA concluded negotiations regarding the repatriation of the remaining Kuwaiti captives.
Nevertheless Khaled Al Mutayri, Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda, Fouad Mahoud Hasan Al Rabia
Fouad Mahoud Hasan Al Rabia
Fouad Mahmoud al Rabiah is a Kuwaiti, who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba from May 2002 to Dec 2009.Al Rabia's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 551....
and Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari
Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari
Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari is a Kuwaiti citizen who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. He has been charged with war crimes.The US Department of Defense reports he was born on June 3, 1975 in Kuwait City....
continue to be held as of August 1, 2009.
US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kottely ordered the immediate repatriation of Khaled Al Mutairi on July 29, 2009.
According to The Jurist the habeas corpus cases for the other three men are expected to conclude in August and September 2009.
Kollar-Kotelly ruled on Al Odah's habeas corpus petition on August 24, 2009.
The 32 page ruling was published on September 1, 2009, after classified portions had been redacted.
She ruled that the USA could consider Al Odah was an "enemy combatant
Enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an...
", without regard to whether the training camp he attended was actually the al Farouq training camp, because he had acknowledged attending a training camp, for a single day.
External links
- MPs Call For Release Of ‘Gitmos’ June 2011
- Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Three: Captured Crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan (1 of 2) Andy Worthington, September 22, 2010
- Kuwaiti Family Committee is a site with details about the Kuwaiti detainees.
- Prisoner's father hopes courts find, fix 'big mistake', USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, April 19, 2004 - Guantanamo man tells of 'torture' BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, March 3, 2006 - Guantanamo interview: full transcript, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, March 3, 2006 - Kuwait to Guantanamo Bay, Al-AhramAl-AhramAl-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
, February 27, 2005 - Guantanamo man 'wants to starve', BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, October 26, 2005