Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch
Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch
Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
than two dozen of the seventy cases we uncovered, the government did not provide a<br />
detention hearing for three or more days following arrest. In ten of these cases,<br />
witnesses never received any kind of judicial detention hearing at which they could<br />
contest their detention.<br />
U.S. law also requires that a court issue a written statement explaining the reasons why a<br />
material witness was ordered detained. 150 Yet our research indicated that judges routinely<br />
failed <strong>to</strong> issue such written findings. For example, Albader al-Hazmi was not taken <strong>to</strong> a<br />
court for seven days after his arrest. During this time, he was held in solitary<br />
confinement in New York. When he finally appeared in court, he was kept in restraints.<br />
The court proceeding lasted less than five minutes, and the court never issued a written<br />
statement. 151<br />
One of the most egregious delays we uncovered was that of material witness Ayub Ali<br />
Khan. He was not taken before a judge for fifty-seven days following his arrest, nor was<br />
he provided an at<strong>to</strong>rney, despite his requests. During this period, the government<br />
interviewed him at least six times without counsel. Khan was never found <strong>to</strong> have any<br />
terrorist connections nor was he criminally charged with terrorism-related crimes. 152<br />
In addition <strong>to</strong> the delays in presenting witnesses <strong>to</strong> judges, the requirement that material<br />
witnesses be present when federal officials made status reports <strong>to</strong> the court was routinely<br />
ignored. 153<br />
Failing <strong>to</strong> Provide <strong>Witness</strong>es with Warrants or Reasons for Arrest<br />
In almost all of the material witness cases investigated by HRW/ACLU, the Department<br />
of Justice has sought at every opportunity, from the moment of arrest through release,<br />
<strong>to</strong> prevent him from obtaining information about the government’s suspicions or<br />
reasons for arrest that might allow him <strong>to</strong> respond and possibly secure his release. For<br />
example, as one witness described:<br />
deprived of a liberty interest, the Fifth Amendment right <strong>to</strong> Due Process guarantees a prompt hearing,<br />
conducted at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. Barry v. Barchi, 443 U.S. 55 (1979).<br />
150<br />
18 U.S.C. § 3142(i)(1), In re Grand Jury Material <strong>Witness</strong> Detention, 271 F. Supp. 2d 1266 (D. Or. 2003).<br />
151<br />
Interview with Dr. Albader al-Hazmi. See also Pierce, “Coming Home.”<br />
152<br />
Interview with Ayub Ali Khan; HRW/ACLU telephone interview with Mohammad Azmath, Hyderabad, India,<br />
April 2, 2004 (Interview with Mohammad Azmath).<br />
153<br />
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 46(h).<br />
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G) 48