Zachary Philip Katznelson
Encyclopedia
Zachary Philip Katznelson is a British
lawyer and senior counsel for the human rights
group Reprieve
.
Katznelson and his colleagues have represented thirty-seven Guantanamo captives.
Katznelson has been invited to write multiple op-ed
s, and has been frequently quoted in the UK press.
quoted Katznelson's comments following the release of Bisher Al Rawi:
On September 6, 2009 Zachary Katznelson made what The Guardian
characterized as "extraordinary claims" on behalf of his client Shaker Aamer
.
Katznelson repeated accounts Aamer had offered him of severe abuse during his initial interrogations in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility
.
Aamer had told him some of the interrogators who abused him in Bagram, in early 2002, represented themselves as MI5
officers.
Aamer told him about feeling terrified as he recovered from one stunning beating that his interrogators had left him alone in a room with a pistol on the table.
Aamer told him that the interrogators who represented themselves as MI5 officers offered him a choice.
If he agreed to spy on suspected jihadists living in the UK he could be released to the United Kingdom. Alternatively he could remain indefinitely American custody.
Commenting on Aamer's report that he had been left alone with a gun Katznelson said:
Commenting on Aamer's report that MI5 had tried to recruit him as a spy Katznelson said:
On 2008-07-09 Zachary Katznelson filed a "STATEMENT REGARDING HEARING OF JULY 8, 2008" in Civil Actions: 05-CV-748 (RMC), 05-CV-764 (CKK), 05-CV-1347 (GK), 05-CV-1504 (RMC), 05-CV-2215 (RMC), 05-CV-2349 (RMC), 05-CV-2386 (RBW), 06-CV-1766 (HHK).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "STATUS REPORT" with regard to Jihad Dhiab, Shaker Aamer
in Civil Action No. 05-cv-1457 (GK).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status Report" with regard to Ahmed Belbacha (ISN 290) in Civil Action No. 05-cv-2349 (RMC).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status report" with regard to Shaker Abdurraheem Aamer (ISN 239) in Civil Action No. 04-cv-2215 (RMC).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status report" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764 (CKK) on behalf of Younis Shakur and Abdullatif Mohammed Nasser.
On 2008-08-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF APPEARANCE" on behalf of Ahmed Omar (ISN 30) in Civil Action No. 05-cv-2386 (RBW).
On 16 August 2008 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF AUTHORIZATION" in Mohammed Omar v. George W. Bush Civil Action No. 05-2386 (RBW) on behalf of Mohammed Omar
.
On 2008-08-29 Zachary Katznelson filed a "CONSENT MOTION FOR ENTRY OF PROTECTIVE ORDER" with regard to Mohammed Abdulmalik in Civil Action No. 08-cv-1440 (CKK).
On 2008-09-09 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF JOINDER IN PETITIONERS’ RESPONSE TO RESPONDENTS’ REQUEST FOR RELIEF FROM SCHEDULING ORDER" with regard to Mohammed Abdulmalik in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764, 05-cv-1504, 05-cv-2349, 05-cv-748, 04-cv-2215, 05-1457, 05-cv-270, 08-cv-1440, 05-cv-2386]] (CKK, RMC, GK, JR, RBW).
Petitioners Abdullatif Nasser, Nabil Hadjarab
, Ahmed Belbacha, Mohsen Ahbdrub Aboassy, Said Salim Bin Salman, Samir Najy Mukbel, Shaker Aamer
, Jihad Dhiab, Sherif El-Mashad, Adel Fattough Al Gazzar, Mohammed Abdulmalik, Sayf Bin Abdullah and Ahmed Omar, join in Petitioners’ Response to Respondents’ Motion for Relief from Scheduling Order, filed with the Court Security Officer on September 8, 2008. The Notice of Filing of this Response was filed as Misc. Docket Number 357.
On 2008-09-12 Zachary Katznelson filed a "MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764, 05-cv-1504, 05-cv-2349, 05-cv-748, 04-cv-2215, 05-1457, 05-cv-270, 08-cv-1440, 05-cv-2386]] (CKK, RMC, GK, JR, RBW).
On 2008-09-27 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Notices of authorization by petitioners to pursue this action" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-329, 05-cv-2349 (PLF, RMC).
On September 27 2008 Zachary Katznelson and Cori Crider of Reprieve
filed a "NOTICE OF AUTHORIZATION BY PETITIONER SAIFULLAH PARACHA TO PURSUE THIS ACTION" on behalf of Saifullah Paracha
in Civil Action No. 04-2022. (PLF).
On 2008-11-10 Zachary Katznelson filed a "MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION" in Civil Action No. 08-cv-1789 (RWR).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
lawyer and senior counsel for the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
group Reprieve
Reprieve
Reprieve can refer to:* In criminal proceedings, the act of postponing the enforcement of a sentence, particularly a death sentence, to allow an appeal* Reprieve , a group of organisations working against the death penalty...
.
Katznelson and his colleagues have represented thirty-seven Guantanamo captives.
Katznelson has been invited to write multiple 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...
s, and has been frequently quoted in the UK press.
Comments on Guantanamo captives' cases
The BBC NewsBBC News
BBC 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...
quoted Katznelson's comments following the release of Bisher Al Rawi:
|
On September 6, 2009 Zachary Katznelson made what The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
characterized as "extraordinary claims" on behalf of his client Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer is a Saudi Arabian citizen and the last British resident currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was arrested in Afghanistan in January 2002 and as of today, Aamer has been held at Guantánamo for...
.
Katznelson repeated accounts Aamer had offered him of severe abuse during his initial interrogations in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility
Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility , also called the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, is a United States-run prison located next to Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.It was formerly known as the Bagram Collection Point...
.
Aamer had told him some of the interrogators who abused him in Bagram, in early 2002, represented themselves as MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officers.
Aamer told him about feeling terrified as he recovered from one stunning beating that his interrogators had left him alone in a room with a pistol on the table.
Aamer told him that the interrogators who represented themselves as MI5 officers offered him a choice.
If he agreed to spy on suspected jihadists living in the UK he could be released to the United Kingdom. Alternatively he could remain indefinitely American custody.
Commenting on Aamer's report that he had been left alone with a gun Katznelson said:
Commenting on Aamer's report that MI5 had tried to recruit him as a spy Katznelson said:
Cases Katznelson has been involved with
Katznelson has filed documents for the following captives:On 2008-07-09 Zachary Katznelson filed a "STATEMENT REGARDING HEARING OF JULY 8, 2008" in Civil Actions: 05-CV-748 (RMC), 05-CV-764 (CKK), 05-CV-1347 (GK), 05-CV-1504 (RMC), 05-CV-2215 (RMC), 05-CV-2349 (RMC), 05-CV-2386 (RBW), 06-CV-1766 (HHK).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "STATUS REPORT" with regard to Jihad Dhiab, Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer is a Saudi Arabian citizen and the last British resident currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was arrested in Afghanistan in January 2002 and as of today, Aamer has been held at Guantánamo for...
in Civil Action No. 05-cv-1457 (GK).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status Report" with regard to Ahmed Belbacha (ISN 290) in Civil Action No. 05-cv-2349 (RMC).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status report" with regard to Shaker Abdurraheem Aamer (ISN 239) in Civil Action No. 04-cv-2215 (RMC).
On 2008-07-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Status report" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764 (CKK) on behalf of Younis Shakur and Abdullatif Mohammed Nasser.
On 2008-08-18 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF APPEARANCE" on behalf of Ahmed Omar (ISN 30) in Civil Action No. 05-cv-2386 (RBW).
On 16 August 2008 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF AUTHORIZATION" in Mohammed Omar v. George W. Bush Civil Action No. 05-2386 (RBW) on behalf of Mohammed Omar
Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
.
On 2008-08-29 Zachary Katznelson filed a "CONSENT MOTION FOR ENTRY OF PROTECTIVE ORDER" with regard to Mohammed Abdulmalik in Civil Action No. 08-cv-1440 (CKK).
On 2008-09-09 Zachary Katznelson filed a "NOTICE OF JOINDER IN PETITIONERS’ RESPONSE TO RESPONDENTS’ REQUEST FOR RELIEF FROM SCHEDULING ORDER" with regard to Mohammed Abdulmalik in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764, 05-cv-1504, 05-cv-2349, 05-cv-748, 04-cv-2215, 05-1457, 05-cv-270, 08-cv-1440, 05-cv-2386]] (CKK, RMC, GK, JR, RBW).
Petitioners Abdullatif Nasser, Nabil Hadjarab
Nabil Hadjarab
Nabil Hadjarab is a citizen of Algeria, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on July 21, 1979, in Ain-Taya, Algeria....
, Ahmed Belbacha, Mohsen Ahbdrub Aboassy, Said Salim Bin Salman, Samir Najy Mukbel, Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer
Shaker Aamer is a Saudi Arabian citizen and the last British resident currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was arrested in Afghanistan in January 2002 and as of today, Aamer has been held at Guantánamo for...
, Jihad Dhiab, Sherif El-Mashad, Adel Fattough Al Gazzar, Mohammed Abdulmalik, Sayf Bin Abdullah and Ahmed Omar, join in Petitioners’ Response to Respondents’ Motion for Relief from Scheduling Order, filed with the Court Security Officer on September 8, 2008. The Notice of Filing of this Response was filed as Misc. Docket Number 357.
On 2008-09-12 Zachary Katznelson filed a "MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-764, 05-cv-1504, 05-cv-2349, 05-cv-748, 04-cv-2215, 05-1457, 05-cv-270, 08-cv-1440, 05-cv-2386]] (CKK, RMC, GK, JR, RBW).
On 2008-09-27 Zachary Katznelson filed a "Notices of authorization by petitioners to pursue this action" in Civil Action No. 05-cv-329, 05-cv-2349 (PLF, RMC).
On September 27 2008 Zachary Katznelson and Cori Crider of Reprieve
Reprieve
Reprieve can refer to:* In criminal proceedings, the act of postponing the enforcement of a sentence, particularly a death sentence, to allow an appeal* Reprieve , a group of organisations working against the death penalty...
filed a "NOTICE OF AUTHORIZATION BY PETITIONER SAIFULLAH PARACHA TO PURSUE THIS ACTION" on behalf of Saifullah Paracha
Saifullah Paracha
Saifullah Paracha is a citizen of Pakistan currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.The Department of Defense reports that Paracha was born on August 17, 1947,in Mongwal, Pakistan....
in Civil Action No. 04-2022. (PLF).
On 2008-11-10 Zachary Katznelson filed a "MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION" in Civil Action No. 08-cv-1789 (RWR).