Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch

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I was not allowed to take a copy of the affidavit. I could only see it in court and I had to write it out. Everything was secret-the warrant was filed under seal. The courtroom was closed. It didn’t matter whether they had agreed to cooperate. 177 • Susan Otto, representing material witness Mujahid Menepta in Oklahoma, only was able to view the affidavit briefly in court in the presence of the government and the judge. “I only was able to see the warrant and affidavit in open court. A number of FBI and cops were sitting at the table with the government.” Menepta was permitted to view the affidavit with Otto while she was in court but was not given his own copy. 178 Denial of Right to Counsel Everyone has the right to an attorney when subjected to “custodial” interrogation, i.e., when he or she is not free to leave, or when government agents seek to question him about suspected criminal conduct. 179 Material witnesses are guaranteed the right to counsel at their court appearance by statute and by the Fifth Amendment right to due process. 180 If a material witness appears in court without counsel, the presiding judicial officer is required to inform the witness that he or she has the right to counsel. If a witness cannot afford an attorney, he or she has the right to court-appointed counsel. In the material witness context: “Counsel is required so that the material witness may know precisely what is happening, so that he is aware of the prospect of incarceration, and so that he is treated fairly by the prosecution.” 181 Despite these clear requirements, federal authorities have sometimes failed to inform material witnesses they were interrogating about their right to counsel. Moreover, even when witnesses have requested counsel, government agents have sometimes delayed for days in providing counsel, or they have discouraged witnesses from obtaining counsel, suggesting that the presence of counsel would simply delay the witnesses’ release. 177 HRW/ACLU telephone interview with J. Fredrick Sinclair, attorney for Mohammad al-Qudhaieen, Alexandria, Virginia, August 17, 2004. 178 Interview with Susan Otto. 179 See, e.g., U.N. Body of Principles, principle 17(1): “A detained person shall be entitled to have the assistance of a legal counsel. He shall be informed of his right by the competent authority promptly after arrest and shall be provided with reasonable facilities for exercising it.” 180 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(1)(g); In re Class Action Application for Habeas Corpus ex rel. ll Material Witnesses, 612 F.Supp. 940, 943-44 (W.D. Tex. 1985). 181 Ibid. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G) 56
Federal agents have also refused to allow a number of witnesses to call lawyers or their family after their arrest. Some witnesses have reported being held for days or weeks before they were permitted to contact anyone. Mujahid Menepta, detained as a material witness in October 2001, described his frustrations to HRW/ACLU: [When they arrested me] they didn’t tell me I had a right to a lawyer. They didn’t allow a phone call. I asked repeatedly and was denied. There were two agents who interviewed me. I was still in handcuffs while being questioned. I asked again why I was being arrested. They said there were no charges—their only response was that you’re just under arrest. Then they took me to county jail. They still refused to allow me to make a phone call. The next day I got no phone call. … I finally got angry; I kept wondering where I am and what country I am in. This isn’t the United States. Where is my phone call? 182 Lawyers also have had a difficult time locating their clients. Patrick Joyce, lawyer for material witness Omar Bakarbashat, was told by the FBI that Bakarbashat was being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. According to Joyce: I was not able to gain access to my client for days. I was first told he was at MCC in the Special Housing Unit. I waited six to seven hours at MCC and never got to see Omar. Then I was told he was moved to MDC Brooklyn. 183 The friends and family of Hussein al Attas hired a lawyer to represent al Attas after he was arrested as a material witness and visa violator in September 2001. The lawyer, however, had no success in locating him: I couldn’t track him down. … He was picked up on September 11— they got to him pretty fast. It was very confusing when I contacted the INS. They asked whether I had a G-28 [an immigration form designating an attorney]. It was like a dog chasing its own tail at that 182 Interview with Susan Otto. 183 HRW/ACLU telephone interview with Patrick Joyce, New York, New York, March 2004. 57 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G)
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Human Rights Watch June 2005 Vol. 1
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Summary After I got in the cell I w
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were almost all the witnesses Musli
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Page 9 and 10: Recommendations The recommendations
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Page 27 and 28: Jose Padilla On May 8, 2002, the Ju
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Page 37 and 38: sentencing. The judge finally got a
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Page 103: Human Rights Watch and the American
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Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch

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