Alsabri v. Obama

• Decision Date: 03 February 2011
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 06–1767 (RMU).
• Citation: 764 F.Supp.2d 60
• Parties: Mashour Abdullah Muqbel ALSABRI, et al., Petitioners,v.Barack OBAMA, et al., Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

764 F.Supp.2d 60

Mashour Abdullah Muqbel ALSABRI, et al., Petitioners,

v.Barack OBAMA, et al., Respondents.

Civil Action No. 06–1767 (RMU).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Feb. 3, 2011.

Beth D. Jacob, Brian J. Neff, Donald A. Klein, Charles H.R. Peters, Michael W. Drumke, Schiff Hardin LLP, New York, NY, for Petitioners.Arthur LaVerne Rizer, Scott Michael Marconda, Sean W. O'Donnell, Jr., Stephen P. Finn, Terry Marcus Henry, Timothy Bo Stanton, Alexander Kenneth Haas, Andrew I. Warden, David Hugh White, Joseph Charles Folio, III, Julia A. Berman, Kathryn Celia Mason, Lori Buff Warlick, Patrick D. Davis, Peter James McVeigh, Robert J. Prince, Thomas A. Bednar, Douglas Ross, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondents.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RICARDO M. URBINA, District Judge.

Denying the Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the court on the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Mashour Abdullah Muqbel Alsabri (ISN 324) (“the petitioner”), a Yemeni national detained at the United States Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (“GTMO”). The government maintains that the petitioner was part of and provided material support to the Taliban, al-Qaida or associated enemy forces and is therefore lawfully detained. The petitioner asserts that he was neither part of nor supported those forces and that the court should therefore direct the government to release him from custody immediately.

In November 2010, the court held a merits hearing addressing the legality of the petitioner's detention. During the course of that hearing, which spanned four days, the parties introduced dozens of exhibits concerning the petitioner's alleged role in the Taliban and al-Qaida, including interrogation reports reflecting statements made by the petitioner and other GTMO detainees, declarations of intelligence officials and translations of documents purportedly seized from al-Qaida and Taliban facilities in Afghanistan.

As discussed below, the government has established by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner traveled from Yemen to Afghanistan in 2000 to fight with the Taliban, al-Qaida or associated forces, stayed in Taliban and al-Qaida guesthouses, sought out and received military-style training from the Taliban or al-Qaida, traveled to the battle lines in Afghanistan as part of the Taliban or al-Qaida and remained part of those forces at the time of his capture in early 2002. Thus, based on the totality of the evidence, the court is compelled to conclude that the petitioner was part of the Taliban, al-Qaida or associated forces and is therefore lawfully detained. Accordingly, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus must be denied.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Overview

The petitioner is a thirty-four year old Yemeni national who was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia to Yemeni parents. GE 1 at 1; GE 3 at 1.¹ He attended school in Saudi Arabia until approximately the ninth grade, when he dropped out and began working odd jobs, including driving a taxi. GE 1 at 2; GE 3 at 1; GE 10 at 1. During this period, the petitioner became acquainted with a Yemeni man named [redacted] GE 10 at 1; GE 43 at 1, a former mujahaddin in Bosnia, PE 115 at 2, who would later introduce the petitioner to various jihadists and members of al-Qaida, see infra Part IV.B.1.a.

In late 1998, Saudi authorities arrested the petitioner for allegedly harboring an individual wanted for passport forgery. GE 1 at 2; GE 3 at 1; GE 9 at 1. After a month-long stay in a Saudi jail, the petitioner was deported to Yemen, his country of citizenship. GE 1 at 2; GE 3 at 2. The petitioner was barred from returning to Saudi Arabia for a period of five years. GE 1 at 2; GE 2 at 2.

After arriving in Sana'a, Yemen from Saudi Arabia, the petitioner contacted and met with [redacted] GE 3 at 2–3; GE 10 at 1; GE 43 at 1. The petitioner spent a few days in Sana'a before traveling to the city of Ta'iz, GE 3 at 2–3; GE 10 at 1, where he remained for several weeks, living with extended family and working in the honey trade, GE 1 at 3; GE 3 at 3; GE 10 at 1. While in Ta'iz, the petitioner's uncle taught him how to use an AK–47 and a pistol. GE 3 at 5.

During this period in Ta'iz, the petitioner became acquainted with a twenty-five year old Saudi man named [redacted] GE 1 at 3; GE 10 at 2. [redacted] had received military training from the Taliban and had fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan two years earlier. GE 1 at 3; GE 10 at 2. The petitioner and [redacted] discussed various topics, including the local honey trade and the conflict in Afghanistan. GE 1 at 3; GE 10 at 2.

In the summer of 1999, the petitioner returned to Sana'a, purportedly in the hopes of obtaining a visa to return to Saudi Arabia. GE 1 at 3; GE 3 at 3. While his visa application was pending, [redacted] arranged for the petitioner to stay at a boardinghouse operated by [redacted] brother-in-law, [redacted] (“the [redacted] boardinghouse”). GE 3 at 3–4; GE 43 at 1. The petitioner shared the [redacted] boardinghouse with at least eight other men. GE 1 at 3–4; GE 3 at 3–5. At the time, the [redacted] boardinghouse served as the hub of a car theft ring whose aim was to violently free a Yemeni terrorist from a Sana'a prison. GE 1 at 5; GE 2 at 2. Many of the individuals who lived at or were associated with the [redacted] boardinghouse were veteran jihadists and several would later travel to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban and al-Qaida. See infra Part IV.B.1.a. One of these men would later be a suicide bomber during al-Qaida's October 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole.² See id.

Approximately two weeks after arriving at the boardinghouse, the [redacted] petitioner was arrested by Yemeni authorities, along with other individuals associated with the boardinghouse, on suspicion of involvement in the car theft conspiracy. GE 1 at 4; GE 3 at 5; GE 9 at 1. The petitioner was released from prison in December 1999 and, after briefly visiting his uncle in Ta'iz, returned to the [redacted] boardinghouse. GE 1 at 5–6; GE 9 at 2. The petitioner was re-incarcerated for a few days by Yemeni authorities for allegedly providing a cell phone to one of his imprisoned housemates from the [redacted] boardinghouse. GE 1 at 5. During this period, the petitioner socialized with [redacted], who had also been recently released from prison, and became acquainted with individuals whom the petitioner has admitted were members of al-Qaida. See infra Part IV.B.1.a.

Around this time, the petitioner decided to leave Yemen and travel to Afghanistan. GE 1 at 6; GE 3 at 5. The petitioner has stated that his decision to go to Afghanistan was influenced by a fatwa (religious decree) issued by nationally recognized religious scholars encouraging men to travel to Afghanistan to assist the Taliban. GE 3 at 5. The petitioner also stated that he was influenced by [redacted] the former Taliban fighter he had met in Ta'iz, who purportedly told the petitioner that he could find work and a better life in Afghanistan. GE 1 at 6; GE 3 at 5; GE 9 at 3. The petitioner did not tell anyone, including his family, that he was planning to go to Afghanistan. GE 1 at 6.

In August 2000, following travel instructions provided to him by [redacted] the petitioner flew from Sana'a, Yemen through Bahrain to Karachi, Pakistan and then on to Quetta, Pakistan, a city near the Afghan border. GE 1 at 6; GE 3 at 5; GE 6 at 2. In Quetta, the petitioner stayed for three days at the Daftar al-Taliban, a Taliban-run facility which arranged for him and three other men to be transported across the border to Kandahar, Afghanistan. GE 1 at 6; GE 3 at 6; GE 4 at 1; GE 6 at 2. The three men who crossed the border with the petitioner admitted that they were traveling to Afghanistan to become martyrs. GE 10 at 2.

In Kandahar, the petitioner and his companions were taken to a guesthouse known as the Haji Habash guesthouse, which was run by an individual named [redacted]. GE 3 at 6; GE 4 at 1; GE 6 at 2; GE 9 at 3. The petitioner stayed at this guesthouse for approximately two weeks. GE 4 at 1; GE 9 at 3. From there, the petitioner traveled to Kabul, where he stayed for a few days at a guesthouse operated by an individual named Hamza al-Ghamdi. GE 3 at 6; GE 4 at 2; GE 9 at 4. The petitioner requested permission from al-Ghamdi to travel to the front lines, but al-Ghamdi denied the request because the petitioner lacked weapons training. GE 9 at 4.

The petitioner then traveled on to Jalalabad, where he allegedly stayed at the home of [redacted], an individual whom [redacted] had advised the petitioner to contact once in Afghanistan. GE 4 at 2; GE 9 at 4; GE 10 at 2. After several months, the petitioner returned to the al-Ghamdi guesthouse in Kabul. GE 9 at 5–6. With al-Ghamdi's authorization, the petitioner then traveled to the battle lines manned by Taliban fighters in combat with the Northern Alliance. GE 4 at 2; GE 6 at 2; GE 9 at 6.

After leaving the Taliban battle lines, the petitioner allegedly returned to [redacted] house in Jalalabad. GE 4 at 3; GE 9 at 6. As coalition forces approached the city in late 2001, the petitioner fled Jalalabad for Pakistan. GE 4 at 2; GE 6 at 3. The petitioner was arrested by Pakistani authorities in early 2002 and transferred to the custody of the United States military. GE 6 at 3. He was subsequently transferred to GTMO, where he is currently detained. Pet. at 1.

B. Procedural History

The petitioner commenced this action in October 2006 by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.³ See generally Pet. In December 2006, the court stayed the case while the Circuit and the Supreme Court considered whether the federal district courts have jurisdiction over habeas petitions filed by individuals detained at GTMO. See Mem. Order (Dec. 4, 2006) at 2. The Supreme Court resolved this question in Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723, 128 S.Ct. 2229, 171 L.Ed.2d 41 (2008), in which ...