Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08DOHA838
2008-12-01 11:04:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Doha
Cable title:
RELEASE AL-MARRI, EDITOR ASKS AMBASSADOR
how-toVZCZCXRO2854 RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR DE RUEHDO #0838/01 3361104 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 011104Z DEC 08 FM AMEMBASSY DOHA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8487 INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000838
SIPDIS, SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC KPAO QA
SUBJECT: RELEASE AL-MARRI, EDITOR ASKS AMBASSADOR
--------------
KEY POINTS
--------------
-- Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud, Chief Editor of Arabic-language daily "Al
Arab," published a letter to Ambassador on November 29 asking him to
"help release Ali al-Marri or guarantee him a fair trial."
-- Al-Marri is a Qatari citizen being held at the Naval brig in
Charleston, South Carolina. In his letter, the Chief Editor quotes
al-Marri's attorney as alleging abuse, torture, and mistreatment.
--------------
COMMENTS AND REQUEST
--------------
-- (SBU) Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud is a well-respected media
professional among Qataris, and hails from a family that is
considered to be pious. For that reason, his writings on issues
such as human rights conditions in Qatar often carry a great deal of
weight with Qatari readers.
-- (SBU) Embassy welcomes any Washington views on if, and how, to
respond -- especially if the USG has responded publicly to similar
letters about other foreign citizens under detention.
--------------
FULL LETTER TEXT
--------------
Following is the full text of the letter, published as an op-ed, as
translated by Open Source Center's Doha bureau:
Dear Ambassador ... I Will Kiss Your Head, If You Will Do It
Dear U.S. Ambassador,
Lawyer Andrew Savage's eyes are always on the verge of filling with
tears whenever he explains how his client Ali Salih al-Kahlah
al-Marri is being tortured and pressured in order to crush his
morale and dignity. The Lawyer speaks quietly, using hand gestures
to explain every situation he wants us to understand.
Mr Savage did his best to explain the circumstances of Al-Marri's
detention. Moreover, he has volunteered to defend Al-Marri, which he
has been doing for years. He is spending a lot of time and money
defending him; he even buys halal [permissible according to Islamic
law] meat for his client while his wonderful wife cooks it and takes
it to him, along with some dessert. Al-Marri now has a family in the
United States, from where he least expected.
I was about to cry when Andrew Savage was telling me about the
detained young man. However, I kept on taking deep breaths and tried
thinking of something else. The lawyer noticed this and was changing
the subject every now and then to defuse the tense atmosphere.
Ali Salih al-Kahlah al-Marri flew to the United States a day before
11 September 2001 - that ill-fated day which turned the world
up-side-down and caused bloodshed with and without reasons.
Al-Marri's tragedy began when a group of US security personnel
knocked on his door on 12 September 2001. He was taken into custody,
leaving behind his wife and five children - of whom the youngest was
six months old. Since then, Al-Marri has been detained without any
charge or trial. Al-Marri was transferred from one detention center
to another under different pretexts and was subjected to various
kinds of torture and interrogation methods. He was not allowed to
contact anyone and he became susceptible to hallucination,
suspicion, and lack of concentration. His morale was broken and he
was forced into a kind of isolation because he was not allowed to
talk to his jailors, read newspapers, listen to the radio, or watch
TV.
Al-Marri spent years without wearing shoes. He does not know what
warmth is, and has not slept on a comfortable bed. He has been
surviving on dry cold food and no longer has a sense of time, date,
or directions, to the point that some of his jailors felt sorry for
him.
Dear Ambassador,
I hope you will read my letter and sympathize with this young man,
who has never been a terrorist. He has never killed anybody. He was
not found guilty of terrorism, murder, or of planning anything
either. Is it logical for a murderer to take his family - his wife
and five children - to carry out a terrorist operation? Was Ali
Salih al-Marri made of steel to withstand all this torture without
being able to obtain a single piece of information that could
incriminate him? What are the terrorist activities that he has done
to deserve such isolation from the world without a trial?
Dear Ambassador,
DOHA 00000838 002 OF 002
I have lived in the United States for a while, and left behind
friends, colleagues, and loved ones whom I still remember. I loved
your country's freedom, laws, opportunities, and dreams. In the
United States, I loved everything a free man would love in a
country. So why, dear ambassador, would such values be scattered and
distorted in the minds of those who love the United States. Ali
al-Marri has a family that awaits him. His children have grown up
without knowing him. He has a wife, a mother, brothers, sisters, and
relatives who long for his return to end their sadness with tears of
joy. They look at the clothes he will wear, and the bed that is
being prepared every day in anticipation for his return. His shoes
are at the door waiting for him to wear. These things have become
strange to him now after seven years.
Al-Marri's family dream of him playing with his young ones and
laughing with them. They dream of seeing him at the door to his
home. Can you help us fulfill this d ream?
Sir, I plead to you with all the values you believe in, to do your
best to help release Al-Marri or guarantee him a fair trial. Under
which law or jurisdiction could an individual be detained with no
trial for so many years? Which legal text allows whomever to do
whatever they want with people's lives?
Sir, I have never met Ali Salih al-Marri, but I saw him in the eyes
of his lawyer who assured me that he is innocent. Sir, do you think
that Andrew Savage would voluntarily defend a terrorist, who
intended to destroy his country? Would he ask his wife to prepare
food for a terrorist or pay visits to his detention center?
I am ready to kiss your head, in a gesture of gratitude to your
generosity and efforts, if Al-Marri returns home. We want Ali
Bin-Salih al-Marri back as an active member in our society, and as
an advocate of freedom and human dignity - values which he is about
to forget if he has not already done so.
LEBARON
SIPDIS, SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC KPAO QA
SUBJECT: RELEASE AL-MARRI, EDITOR ASKS AMBASSADOR
--------------
KEY POINTS
--------------
-- Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud, Chief Editor of Arabic-language daily "Al
Arab," published a letter to Ambassador on November 29 asking him to
"help release Ali al-Marri or guarantee him a fair trial."
-- Al-Marri is a Qatari citizen being held at the Naval brig in
Charleston, South Carolina. In his letter, the Chief Editor quotes
al-Marri's attorney as alleging abuse, torture, and mistreatment.
--------------
COMMENTS AND REQUEST
--------------
-- (SBU) Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud is a well-respected media
professional among Qataris, and hails from a family that is
considered to be pious. For that reason, his writings on issues
such as human rights conditions in Qatar often carry a great deal of
weight with Qatari readers.
-- (SBU) Embassy welcomes any Washington views on if, and how, to
respond -- especially if the USG has responded publicly to similar
letters about other foreign citizens under detention.
--------------
FULL LETTER TEXT
--------------
Following is the full text of the letter, published as an op-ed, as
translated by Open Source Center's Doha bureau:
Dear Ambassador ... I Will Kiss Your Head, If You Will Do It
Dear U.S. Ambassador,
Lawyer Andrew Savage's eyes are always on the verge of filling with
tears whenever he explains how his client Ali Salih al-Kahlah
al-Marri is being tortured and pressured in order to crush his
morale and dignity. The Lawyer speaks quietly, using hand gestures
to explain every situation he wants us to understand.
Mr Savage did his best to explain the circumstances of Al-Marri's
detention. Moreover, he has volunteered to defend Al-Marri, which he
has been doing for years. He is spending a lot of time and money
defending him; he even buys halal [permissible according to Islamic
law] meat for his client while his wonderful wife cooks it and takes
it to him, along with some dessert. Al-Marri now has a family in the
United States, from where he least expected.
I was about to cry when Andrew Savage was telling me about the
detained young man. However, I kept on taking deep breaths and tried
thinking of something else. The lawyer noticed this and was changing
the subject every now and then to defuse the tense atmosphere.
Ali Salih al-Kahlah al-Marri flew to the United States a day before
11 September 2001 - that ill-fated day which turned the world
up-side-down and caused bloodshed with and without reasons.
Al-Marri's tragedy began when a group of US security personnel
knocked on his door on 12 September 2001. He was taken into custody,
leaving behind his wife and five children - of whom the youngest was
six months old. Since then, Al-Marri has been detained without any
charge or trial. Al-Marri was transferred from one detention center
to another under different pretexts and was subjected to various
kinds of torture and interrogation methods. He was not allowed to
contact anyone and he became susceptible to hallucination,
suspicion, and lack of concentration. His morale was broken and he
was forced into a kind of isolation because he was not allowed to
talk to his jailors, read newspapers, listen to the radio, or watch
TV.
Al-Marri spent years without wearing shoes. He does not know what
warmth is, and has not slept on a comfortable bed. He has been
surviving on dry cold food and no longer has a sense of time, date,
or directions, to the point that some of his jailors felt sorry for
him.
Dear Ambassador,
I hope you will read my letter and sympathize with this young man,
who has never been a terrorist. He has never killed anybody. He was
not found guilty of terrorism, murder, or of planning anything
either. Is it logical for a murderer to take his family - his wife
and five children - to carry out a terrorist operation? Was Ali
Salih al-Marri made of steel to withstand all this torture without
being able to obtain a single piece of information that could
incriminate him? What are the terrorist activities that he has done
to deserve such isolation from the world without a trial?
Dear Ambassador,
DOHA 00000838 002 OF 002
I have lived in the United States for a while, and left behind
friends, colleagues, and loved ones whom I still remember. I loved
your country's freedom, laws, opportunities, and dreams. In the
United States, I loved everything a free man would love in a
country. So why, dear ambassador, would such values be scattered and
distorted in the minds of those who love the United States. Ali
al-Marri has a family that awaits him. His children have grown up
without knowing him. He has a wife, a mother, brothers, sisters, and
relatives who long for his return to end their sadness with tears of
joy. They look at the clothes he will wear, and the bed that is
being prepared every day in anticipation for his return. His shoes
are at the door waiting for him to wear. These things have become
strange to him now after seven years.
Al-Marri's family dream of him playing with his young ones and
laughing with them. They dream of seeing him at the door to his
home. Can you help us fulfill this d ream?
Sir, I plead to you with all the values you believe in, to do your
best to help release Al-Marri or guarantee him a fair trial. Under
which law or jurisdiction could an individual be detained with no
trial for so many years? Which legal text allows whomever to do
whatever they want with people's lives?
Sir, I have never met Ali Salih al-Marri, but I saw him in the eyes
of his lawyer who assured me that he is innocent. Sir, do you think
that Andrew Savage would voluntarily defend a terrorist, who
intended to destroy his country? Would he ask his wife to prepare
food for a terrorist or pay visits to his detention center?
I am ready to kiss your head, in a gesture of gratitude to your
generosity and efforts, if Al-Marri returns home. We want Ali
Bin-Salih al-Marri back as an active member in our society, and as
an advocate of freedom and human dignity - values which he is about
to forget if he has not already done so.
LEBARON