1 - Introduction...............................................................................................................12 - Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali ........................2Arrests in Indonesia and Jordan.................................................................................2Torture in Jordan........................................................................................................3Transfer to unknown locations run by US officials ...................................................5“Disappearances” – a human rights violation and an international crime .................7Psychological abuse and interrogations .....................................................................8Detained in Yemen at behest of the USA..................................................................93 - Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi..................................................114 - Other secret detentions, illegal transfers and possible “disappearances”...............145 - The need for rehabilitation......................................................................................166 - Recommendations ...................................................................................................18

USA/Jordan/YemenTorture and secret detention: Testimony of the‘disappeared’ in the ‘war on terror’1 - IntroductionOn 20 June 2005, Amnesty International delegates visited two Yemeni detainees saidto have recently been transferred from the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay inCuba. However, their accounts described another US detention regime just as sinister,yet more secretive, than Guantánamo. The men appear to have been victims of theUS administration’s policy of secret detentions around the world. For over a year anda half they had effectively “disappeared”.This document, which relays the accounts of the two men, calls on the USadministration to:- provide full information about these cases- disclose the whereabouts of its secret detention facilities around the world andopen them up for scrutiny;- disclose the identity and nationality of detainees;- take immediate steps to end secret detentions once and for all.Muhammad Faraj Ahmed BashmilahandSalah Nasser Salim ‘Aliare friendsfrom the Yemeni city of Aden. They described to Amnesty International their arrestand subsequent four-day detention in Jordan where they say they were tortured. Forover a year and a half, the two men were then detained incommunicado withoutcharge or trial in unknown locations, held and interrogated by guards they say camefrom the USA. Neither was ever told why they were detained. They said they wereheld in solitary confinement for the duration of their detention with no access tofamily, lawyers, diplomatic representatives or visits from the International Committeeof the Red Cross (ICRC) or other detainees.Although they are no longer held in solitary confinement, both Muhammad FarajAhmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali remain in detention in Yemen, eventhough the Yemeni authorities admit they have no legal reasons to hold them. Yemeniofficials told Amnesty International delegates that the men are in continued detentionat the request of US authorities.

Amnesty International calls upon both the US and Yemeni authorities to ensure thatMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali are releasedimmediately if they are not to be promptly charged with recognizably criminaloffences. Both men must also be offered appropriate medical treatment andrehabilitation immediately.This document also describes the plight of Yemeni nationalWalid MuhammadShahir Muhammad al-Qadasiwho was returned to Yemen from Guantánamo Bayat the beginning of April 2004. He too remains detained in Yemen without charge ortrial despite the admission by the Yemeni authorities that they have no legal reason todetain him. In this document, Amnesty International is calling for the US and Yemeniauthorities to ensure that he is released immediately if he is not to be promptlycharged with a recognizably criminal offence.

He said that he was held there for four days handcuffed, blindfolded and without food.His requests to make telephone calls to his family were refused. He later discoveredthat his wife had been calling the centre continually to find out what had happened tohim. On 22 August she was told that he was being held by immigration authoritiesand was asked to pay some money to secure his release. After the initial four days ofdetention, during which his passport expired, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali was told that hewould be deported to Yemen, via Thailand and Jordan.Amnesty International 4 August 2005AI Index: AMR 51/108/2005

Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, aged 37, also lived in Indonesia. In October2003 he travelled to Jordan with his wife Zahra to be with his mother who was aboutto have medical treatment there. On arrival at Amman airport, Jordanian immigrationauthorities took his passport and told him to collect it three days later on 19 October.However, when he tried to collect it he was detained by theDa'irat al-Mukhabarat al-‘Amah(General Intelligence Department (GID)) and asked whether he had evertravelled to Afghanistan. He answered “yes”. From that moment, he didn’t seeanyone except Jordanian and US prison guards and interrogators, until he wastransferred to custody in Yemen more than a year and a half later.When his mother contacted Jordanian officials she was told simply “your son is aterrorist”. The first time she tried to visit him in detention, she was refused access.The second time she was told that he had been removed from the country.On 22 April 2005 Amnesty International wrote to the Jordanian Minister of theInterior and Head of the GID in Jordan, seeking information about Muhammad FarajAhmed Bashmilah and assurances that if he was not held by the Jordanian authorities,an investigation would be carried out into the exact circumstances of his apparent“disappearance”. To date, Amnesty International has not received a response to theseletters.Torture in JordanSalah Nasser Salim ‘Ali was not returned to Yemen in 2003 as Indonesian authoritieshad said he would be. Instead, he was detained on arrival at Amman airport in Jordan.His personal belongings were handed to Jordanian security forces and he was told hewould be taken to a hotel.The hotel, however, turned out to be the detention facilities of the Jordanianintelligence service, where he says he was tortured repeatedly for four days. He saysthat he was routinely beaten by Jordanian officials, spat on, verbally abused andthreatened with sexual abuse and electric shocks. He also describes in detail beingsubjected to the torture technique known asfalaqa(beatings with sticks on the solesof the feet). He states that two guards tied him so that he was suspended upside down,hands and feet tied, whilst the guards beat his feet.On other occasions during the four days he says that he was surrounded by 15 guardsin a circle. The guards would make him run around in the circle until he wasexhausted. At this point the guards would run after him, beating him with a stick.

When he was so tired that he could run no longer, the guards lay him down in thecentre and all took turns to beat him.He also says the guards attempted to abuse him sexually. On one occasion they triedto force him to sit on a bottle so that it would penetrate his anus. It was only when hethreatened to hit the guards with the bottle that they backed off.Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali says that he was only interrogated at the beginning of hisdetention in Jordan and then only asked questions about his presence in Afghanistan.At no point was he told why he had been detained, offered contact with lawyers orallowed to make telephone calls.Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah was unable totalk in detail about the torture he says he sufferedduring his four days of detention in Jordan, statingonly that his treatment was ‘inappropriate’ beforebreaking down in tears. He suggested that AmnestyInternational ask Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali to describethe torture.

Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah � AI

Amnesty International delegates heard from one Yemeni official that the tortureMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah described in private was far worse than has beendescribed above.Both men are in need of medical treatment and rehabilitative measures. Instead theyremain detained in Yemen without charge or trial.Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concerns about Jordan’s apparentcontinued use of incommunicado detention by the GID where torture and other cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment (ill-treatment ) is known to have happened. Thoseheld incommunicado over the years have included people arrested on suspicion oflinks with Islamist groups. Maher Arar (see below), a Canadian citizen of Syrianorigin, was deported to Syria from the USA in October 2002 on suspicion ofinvolvement with “terrorist” groups. This transfer took place without the Canadianauthorities being informed.On his way to Syria he was taken to the airport of Jordan’s capital where he said hewas collected by Jordanian officials, blindfolded and put into a van. He was then

beaten. Afterwards, he was detained and questioned before being sent on to Syriawhere he was held in a secret location and tortured. He was finally released withoutcharge one year later and has returned to Canada. A Commission of Inquiry wasestablished by the Canadian authorities in 5 February 2004 to investigate and reporton the actions of Canadian authorities in relation to the case. The inquiry is pending.Transfer to unknown locations run by US officials“You have nothing on me. Why are you keeping me if you have nothing on me?”Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali to US officials.Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali describedseparately to Amnesty International the next stages of their detention. Their accountswere remarkably similar in the descriptions of the places of detention, the presumednationality of the guards and their treatment and interrogations. Neither the men norAmnesty International know the location of the detention facilities, althoughMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah stated clearly tha t he was not held atGuantánamo Bay.After approximately four days of solitary confinement in Jordan, both men state thatthey were blindfolded and shackled before being transported in what they described asa small plane for between three and a half to four and a half hours to a second location.Both men state that the guards during the transfer were from the USA.The place they were held for the next six to eight months was described as an old-style underground facility with high walls. The cells were approximately 1.5m x 2mwith buckets instead of toilets. Western music was piped into the cells 24 hours a day.As before, the men were given no reason for their detention, nor were they informedabout their rights. They describe being interrogated by US officials about people theymight have known and about their activities in Afghanistan and Indonesia. Apartfrom the guards, the interrogators and translators, the men did not speak to or see anyother people during this stage of detention. Neither knew the other was detained.Each was held in solitary confinement, “disappeared” as far as the rest of the worldwas concerned.After this, the men describe being transferred once more. Again in shackles andblindfolded, they were taken in a small aircraft and flew for around three hours. Theywere then transferred to what they believed was a helicopter and flown for a furthertwo hours. Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah stated that he believed there wereother detainees on both flights.

The next, unknown place of detention was described by the men as a modern purpose-built detention facility, run by US officials. Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali stated that theplace of detention was not Guantánamo Bay and from the descriptions given AmnestyInternational would conclude that it was another place of detention.Both men stated that they thought the facility was underground because they entered itdown stairs and when they left they climbed stairs. It was fully air-conditioned withmodern toilets and surveillance cameras in the cells. Both men describe being givenIslamic books and copies of the Qur’an as well as watches and prayer schedules. Inaddition they were given Arabic and Western films to watch. Salah Nasser Salim ‘Alistates that a doctor came to check on him once a fortnight. They were held in thisfacility for over a year and a half in solitary confinement, mostly shackled and inhandcuffs.Senior US administration officials have recently attempted to justify US detentions inGuantánamo Bay by describing the supposedly good conditions of detention. "Theygot a brand new facility down at Guantánamo", according to US Vice-President DickCheney "We spent a lot of money to build it. They're very well treated there. They'reliving in the tropics. They're well fed. They've got everything they could possiblywant."1. Congressional Representative Duncan Hunter, told reporters recently that the"inmates have never eaten better ... they've never been treated better, and they'venever been more comfortable in their lives."2Perhaps the same logic is used by USofficials to justify the use of “modern” secret detention facilities.While the US is obliged under internationa l law to hold all detainees in humaneconditions, with these and other statements US officials attempt to divert attentionfrom concerns that the detentions in Guantánamo and elsewhere are illegal, thatdetainees have been tortured and ill- treated and that their long-term physical andpsychological welfare is at risk. They also ignore the suffering of the families of thedetainees.While Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali may havebeen given books to read, films to watch and modern toilet facilities, they were still“disappeared”, held in underground cells for over a year and a half in solitaryconfinement, frequently shackled and in handcuffs, never given a glimpse of the sunfor the entire period. They were not able to communicate with their families, much12

less challenge the lawfulness of their detention in court. Do US officials consider thatthese men too had everything they could possibly want?“Disappearances” – a human rights violation and an international crime“Enforced dis appearances” are described in the 3rdpreambular paragraph of the UNDeclaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances as takingplace when,“…people are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprivedof their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or byorganized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support,direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusalto disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal toacknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside theprotection of the law.”The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines the crime againsthumanity of “enforced disappearance of persons” as,“the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, supportor acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal toacknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate orwhereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protectionof the law for a prolonged period of time.”3The UN Human Rights Committee has determined that “disappearances” may amountto torture, in theEl-Megreisicase.4Following Mohammed el-Megreisi’s arrest inLibya in 1989, he “disappeared.” In the words of the Human Rights Committee,“[T]he family could not trace him for approximately three years and feared that hehad been tortured or killed, which is said to be the usual fate of political detainees inLibya.”5The Human Rights Committee concluded the following:

“...the Committee notes, from the information before it, that Mohammed El-Megreisiwas detained incommunicado for more than three years, until April 1992, when hewas allowed a visit by his wife, and that after that date he has again been detainedincommunicado and in a secret location. Having regard to these facts, the Committeefinds that Mr. Mohammed Bashir El-Megreisi, by being subjected to prolongedincommunicado detention in an unknown location, is the victim of torture and crueland inhuman treatment, in violation of articles 7 and 10, paragraph 1, of theCovenant.”6Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali were, according totheir testimonies, detained by US officials incommunicado in an unknown location, intotal isolation for over a year and a half, without any information provided to them, totheir lawyers, to their family, to the ICRC or to any other relevant persons or bodieson their detention or whereabouts. The acts described by Muhammad Faraj AhmedBashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali were clearly acts of “disappearance.”Psychological abuse and interrogations“I couldn’t bear it any longer…even if I was an animal I wouldn’t put up with it”Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali speaking about his secret detention by US authoritiesThe descriptions of treatment in the “modern” secret US detention facility suggest theuse of psychological ill- treatment to obtain information. As with the previous facility,western music was piped into the cells 24 hours a day making it impossible for themen to concentrate on reading or prayers or to sleep properly.Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali says that at times the guards brought him chocolate and cakeand children’s games and a guard would sometimes “play with him”. The detaineeswere also intermittently taken individually to an underground sports hall for tennis,football or other sports, given a ball or a racket and then left in the hall to play on theirown. However, at no point did either of them have contact with other detainees.They could not hear noise from the other cells because of the loud music, althoughMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah estimated from the timing of the showers - theywere only allowed to shower once a week - that there were at least 15 or 20 othersdetained in the same facility.The two detainees were interrogated every day. At no point were they offered legalcounsel. Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah described the guards and interrogatorsas being fully covered “like Ninjas”. He stated that all spoke English and that there6

were female guards. They were regularly shown photographs of other people, somedead, and were asked to confirm whether or not they knew them. If they recognizedanyone they would be taken for further interrogation. At one point Muhammad FarajAhmed Bashmilah described how he was consumed with anxiety and unable to sleepfor days after interrogators accused him of knowing someone in a photo who was a“big fish”. He said interrogators later apologised after saying they had made amistake and that the person was not the ‘big fish’ they were seeking after all.Detained in Yemen at behest of the USA“In Yemen I thought they would open their hearts to me, but instead they opened theprisons. I thought they would appreciate the suffering I have been through”Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah from prison in Aden 20 June 2005On or around 5 May 2005, without explanation, Muhammad Farah Ahmed Bashmilahand Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali were released from secret detention and transferred backto Yemen. They were detained in the central prison of Aden when AmnestyInternational interviewed them. Recent reports suggest that they may have since beentransferred to Sana’a. Both men assert that others were transferred from the sameplace on the same day. Neither has been charged or tried with any offence and neithercan understand the reason for their continued detention.Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali has a daughter who was born nearly two years ago after hewas detained and who he has never seen. His wife says she has been traumatised bywhat happened and is struggling to bring up her daughter alone. Since AmnestyInternational’s visit, she has been able to telephone him in prison and is also in regularcontact with his family in Aden.Authorities in Yemen told Amnesty International that they have no reason for holdingthe two men except that their transfer from US detention was conditional upon thembeing held in Yemen. One official complained: “now we are running prisons for theAmericans”. Another stated that they have finished questioning the men and foundthey have nothing against them, it is “just a matter of telling the US authorities that wewill set them free”.Arbitrary arrest and detention without charge or trial is a long standing pattern ofhuman rights violations in Yemen which has been exacerbated by the events of 11September 2001. Under Yemeni law, suspects have the right under Article 76 of theCode of Criminal Procedures and Article 47(c) of the Yemeni Constitution to see ajudge or prosecutor within 24 hours of being detained, and they have the right to

challenge the legal basis of their detention7. Articles 73 and 77 of the Code establisha suspect’s right to seek prompt legal assistance. Furthermore, Article 7 of the Codeprovides that detention is not permitted except for acts punishable by law.However, none of the detainees returned from Guantánamo or elsewhere has beengiven the opportunity to challenge the lega lity of their detention or been charged witha recognizably criminal offence and brought to trial.“I am in Yemen, but I am still a prisoner of the Americans”Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah from prison in Aden, 20 June 2005

Rules of international law, binding on all states concerned – Indonesia,Jordan, the USA, Egypt and Yemen8•Prohibit arbitrary detention•Provide that all detainees must be brought promptly before a judgeand be able to challenge the legality of their detention9•Provide that all detainees must be held in humane conditions•Provide that all detainees must have prompt access to lawyers andbe allowed visits from family members•Prohibit “disappearances”•Prohibit prolonged incommunicado detention•Prohibit detention in secret locations•Prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment•Prohibit the return or transfer of persons to places where they are atrisk of torture or other ill-treatment7

3 - Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-QadasiYemeni national Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi was returned toYemen from Guantánamo Bay at the beginning of April 2004. On his arrival he wasdetained in the Political Security Prison in Sana’a. An Amnesty Internationaldelegation met him there 11 days later.The delegation asked why he was in detention as he had been released without chargefrom Guantánamo Bay. The prison staff said that they were investigating him, andthat he would be released as soon as they had finished.When the delegation met Walid al-Qadasi, he had no access to a lawyer, a judge or hisfamily. He said that his family had not been informed of his arrival in Yemen. Thedelegation asked prison staff why the family had not been informed of hiswhereabouts, but the only response it received was that Walid al-Qadasi had forgottenhis telephone number but that “we will inform them”.More than a year later Amnesty International returned to Yemen to discover thatWalid al-Qadasi remains held in Yemen without charge or trial or even theopportunity to challenge his detention. He was moved to Ta ’iz prison where a lawyerfrom the US non-governmental organization Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR)met with him on 21 June 2005. Recent reports suggest tha t he may have since beentransferred to Sana’a. Amnesty International also met with his father who is able tovisit him twice a week.As with Walid al Qadasi, many post-11 September detainees held by the PoliticalSecurity in Yemen are subjected to a prolonged initial period of detention wherecommunication with the outside world is denied. In many cases, family membershave to wait weeks or months before they learn where their relatives are being held.8

These standards are embodied in many international human rights standards, particularly theConvention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Egypt is a state party to CATsince 1987 and to the ICCPR since 1982. Jordan is a state party to CAT since 1991, and to the ICCPRsince 1975. Indonesia is a state party to CAT since 1998, but has not ratified the ICCPR. The USA is astate party to CAT since 1994 and to the ICCPR since 1992. Finally, Yemen is a state party to CATsince 1991 and to the ICCPR since 1987. Jordan is the only state party to the Rome Statute of theInternational Criminal Court which considers torture and enforced disappearance as crimes againsthumanity.9With the exception of internment regimes such as those within the Geneva Conventions (prisoners ofwar and civilian internees)

The Head of the Political Security in Sana’a told Amnesty International that Walid al-Qadasi and other returned Guantánamo detainees were being held at the request of theUS authorities and would remain detained in Yemen pending receipt of their filesfrom the US authorities for investigation.When Amnesty International representatives met with Walid al-Qadasi in April 2004,he described his arrest in Iran in late 2001. He said he was held there for about threemonths before being handed over with other detained foreign nationals to theauthorities in Afghanistan who in turn handed them over to the custody of the US.There they were held in a prison in Kabul."TheAmericans interrogated us on our first night which we coined as ‘the blacknight’. They cut our clothes with scissors, left us naked and took photos of usbefore they gave us Afghan clothes to wear. They then handcuffed our handsbehind our backs, blindfolded us and started interrogating us. The interrogatorwas an Egyptian. He asked me about the names of all members of my family,relatives and friends. They threatened me with death, accusing me of belonging toal-Qa’ida.They put us in an underground cell measuring approximately two metres by threemetres. There were ten of us in the cell. We spent three months in the cell. Therewas no room for us to sleep so we had to alternate. The window of the cell wasvery small. It was too hot in the cell, despite the fact that outside the temperaturewas freezing (there was snow), because the cell was overcrowded. They used toopen the cell from time to time to allow air in. During the three-month period inthe cell we were not allowed outside into the open air. We were allowed access totoilets twice a day; the toilets were located by the cell."Walid al-Qadasi said that in Kabul the prisoners were only fed once a day and thatloud music was used as "torture". He said that one of his fellow detainees “wentinsane”. Walid al-Qadasi said that when the ICRC visited the prison, his cell wasinitially not opened for ICRC inspection. When one of the detainees started shoutingto alert the ICRC of their presence, the ICRC official reportedly demanded to see thecell. However, according to Walid al-Qadasi, the prison authorities only opened thecell after some of the detainees were secretly moved to another cell away from ICRCinspection.Walid al-Qadasi was eventually transferred to Bagram, where he faced a month ofinterrogation. His head was shaved, he was blindfolded, made to wear ear muffs and a

mouth mask, handcuffed, shackled, loaded on to a plane and flown out toGuantánamo. There, he said he was held in solitary confinement for the first month ofwhat would become a two-year detention. He told Amnesty International that theflight to Guantánamo lasted around 24 hours. He said he was drugged for his transferback to Yemen in April 2004.In its 2004 annual human rights report, the US State Department reported thatconditions in Yemeni prisons were:“…poorand did not meet internationally recognized standards, and the Governmentpermitted limited visits by independent human rights observers. The Governmentallowed limited access to detention facilities by parliamentarians and somenongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Prisons were extremely overcrowded,sanitary conditions were poor, and food and health care were inadequate tononexistent.”10Amnesty International delegates were allowed to visit and speak freely withMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Walid al-Qadasi indetention in Yemen. In stark contrast, the organization does not even know in whichcountry Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali weredetained in the custody of US personnel and, despite repeated requests, have neverbeen granted access to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.While Amnesty International is well aware of the changes in the international politicalclimate and the pressures brought on Yeme n, particularly from the USA, it does notbelieve this can be used by the Yemeni authorities to justify human rights violations.On the contrary, Amnesty International believes that it is at times of particular threatsto security that human rights need more, not less, protection. In the name of“security” suspects are currently being subjected to indefinite detention withoutcharge or trial, without access to lawyers and the judiciary and in conditions whichfrequently constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.The UN Human Rights Committee which examined Yemen’s compliance with theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) said:“Whileit understands the security requirements connected with the events of 11September 2001, the Committee expresses its concern about the effects of this10

campaign on the human rights situation in Yemen… It is concerned, in this regard, atthe attitude of the security forces, including the Political Security, proceeding toarrest and detain anyone suspected of links with terrorism, in violation of theguarantees set out in the Covenant (Article 9)...”The Committee further requested the Yemeni government to “ensure that the fear of11terrorism does not become a source of abuse”.Whilst the return of the three men to Yemen has, to some extent, alleviated thesuffering of their families and provided the opportunity for lawyers and NGOrepresentatives to meet with them, their continued detention without charge or trial isunlawful and unacceptable. Conditions of detention are also a major additionalconcern.

4 - Other secret detentions, illegal transfers andpossible “disappearances”Thousands of detainees remain held in US custody in Iraq and hundreds remain in UScustody in Afghanistan, some of them having been detained without trial and virtuallyincommunicado for more than a year. Several thousand other detainees are believed tobe held in the custody of other governments at the behest of the USA. The ICRC hasaccess to some of these detainees.In addition, however, the USA is holding an unknown number of detainees in secret,incommunicado custody in unknown locations and unknown conditions. AmnestyInternational has received reports that in the context of the ‘war on terror’ the USAhas established secret detention facilities in a number of countries. These couldinclude Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, Thailand and Afghanistan, and in the US base on theBritish Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia.Canadian citizen Maher Arar has said that he was flown out of the USA on a jet by ateam that called themselves the "Special Removal Unit".12Federal aviation recordssupport his contention that he was transferred on 8 October 2002 aboard a Gulfstreamjet, and that he was flown via New Jersey, Washington DC, Maine, and Rome to11

Jordan, from where he was driven to Syria. The Gulfstream III jet’s registrationnumber is reported to have been N829MG, records for which show that it also went toGuantánamo Bay in December 2003. Evidence of other aircraft allegedly used tocarry out secret transfers has also come to light, using civil aviation records andsightings by "planespotters".Between June 2002 and January 2005, a Gulfstream IV jet, registration numberN227SV (previously N85VM), reportedly flew to Afghanistan, Morocco, Dubai,Jordan, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, as well as stops in US airbases in Maryland and Germany, 82 stops at Dulles International Airport outsideWashington DC, and 51 visits to the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay.On 18 February 2003, the jet was in Cairo, Egypt. That was the day after Egyptiannational Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan was abducted on a street in Milan and allegedlydriven to the US air base in Aviano, Italy, interrogated, drugged and taken to the USmilitary base in Ramstein in Germany. From there he was flown to Egypt, where hewas allegedly tortured, including with electric shocks.13He is reported to have beenreleased in mid-2004, but rearrested shortly afterwards after he made a phone call tohis wife. He is believed to remain in custody in an unknown location, although it hasbeen suggested that he may be currently held in the Damanhour prison, outsideAlexandria, Egypt. Amnesty International fears that he may be subject to furthertorture or ill-treatment. On 24 June 2005 an Italian judge ordered the arrest of 13 CIAagents for their alleged involvement in his abduction.The widespread and systematic practice of torture in Egypt has persisted despite itsprohibition under domestic and international law. For well over a decade, specializedUN expert bodies, including the Committee against Torture and international andnational human rights organizations have been documenting cases of torture and ill-treatment, including deaths in custody in Egypt.This particular Gulfstream jet has also flown to Azerbaijan. Amnesty Internationalbelieves this plane may have been used to transport Yemeni national ‘Abd al-Salamal-Hiyla. As Amnesty International reported in June 2004, his family lost contact withhim after he travelled to Egypt on a 15-day business trip from 9 September 2002. Hisfamily said that the Egyptian embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, told the m that he had leftEgypt on "a special American plane that took him to Baku, Azerbaijan"14‘Abd al-

Salam al-Hiyla is currently held in Guantánamo Bay, having been taken there viacustody in Bagram air base in Afghanistan.In its recent report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the UN Working Groupon Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances stated that it was “deeply concerned” bythe reports of the USA’s use of secret detentions.15It reminded the US governmentthat secret detention facilities are “typically associated” with the phenomenon of“disappearance”. Article 10 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Personsfrom Enforced Disappearance states:"Anyperson deprived of liberty shall be held in an officially recognized place ofdetention and, in conformity with national law, be brought before a judicial authoritypromptly after detention…Accurate information on the detention of such persons andtheir place or places of detention, including transfers, shall be made promptlyavailable to their family members, their counsel or to any other persons having alegitimate interest in the information unless a wish to the contrary has beenmanifested by the persons concerned… An official up-to-date register of all personsdeprived of their liberty shall be maintained in every place of detention…"Amnesty International fears that the testimonies of Muhammad Faraj AhmedBashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali are just one small part of the much broaderpicture of US secret detentions around the world. As the US administration, mediaand opinion formers in the USA continue to discuss the future of detentions atGuantánamo, US detention policies beyond Guantánamo must not be forgotten.All secret and incommunicado detentions must end. Access to lawyers, relatives, theICRC and national and international human rights (including UN) monitors should begranted and maintained. All detainees must be treated humanely in full accordancewith international laws and standards. They should be released unless they are to becharged and tried in accordance with international standards.

“The victims often feel forgotten, but we will not forget them. America supportsaccountability and treatment centers for torture victims…We stand with the victims toseek their healing and recovery, and urge all nations to join us in these efforts torestore the dignity of every person affected by torture.”The US administration did not “stand with” Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah andSalah Nasser Salim ‘Ali to seek their healing and recovery following their allegedtorture in Jordan. Instead, according to the men’s accounts, they detained them insolitary confinement in secret underground cells for over a year and a half.The US administration is not making any “efforts to restore the dignity” ofMuhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Walid al-Qadasi.Instead they appear to be making every effort to ensure they remain imprisoned inYemen without access to of medical treatment, reparation or justice.President Bush must transform his words into action. There are countless victims ofthe US administration’s “war on terror” who have been held in incommunicado, secretdetention and subjected to torture or ill- treatment at the hands of, or with thecomplicity of, US officials. Many hundreds, like Muhammad Faraj AhmedBashmilah, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Walid al-Qadasi remain detained inGuantánamo, Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere without any recourse to justice. Theymust be released unless they are charged with a recognizably criminal offence andtried in court proceedings which fully meet international standards and withoutrecourse to the death penalty. On release they should be given appropriate medicalcare and rehabilitation.

Clarify where Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim‘Ali were held; disclose information about others detained there and ensureaccess to outside bodies such as the ICRC to any and all such detainees still incustody;Clarify the fate and whereabouts of all detainees reported to be or to have beenin US custody or under US interrogation in the custody of other countries, towhom no outside body including the ICRC are known to have access, andprovide assurances of their well-being;End immediately the practices of incommunicado and secret detentionwherever it is occurring, and under whichever agency. Hold detainees only inofficially recognized places of detention with access to family, lawyers andcourts;Either charge and bring to trial, for internationally recognizable offences, infull accordance with international standards of fairness and without recourse tothe death penalty, all detainees held in US custody in undisclosed locations, orelse release them.

Charge or trialThe Yemeni authorities should:•Release Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali andWalid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi immediately from detentionunless they are to be promptly charged with internationally recognizablecriminal offences and brought to trial in a reasonable time in full accordancewith international standards;Ensure that all detainees are given prompt access to lawyers and to thejudiciary to challenge the legality of their detention;Ensure that no statement coerced as a result of torture or other ill- treatment,including long-term indefinite detention without trial, or any other informationor evidence obtained directly or indirectly as the result of torture or ill-treatment, is admitted as evidence against any defendant, except theperpetrator of the human rights violation in question.

Other recommendations:The US, Jordanian, Yemeni and Indonesian authorities should:-Ensure that human rights laws and standards are strictly adhered to in thecooperation between their security forces, and any other country particularly inthe arrest and questioning of detainees, and detention;In particular, ensure that torture and other ill-treatment, incommunicadodetentions and “disappearance” play no part in such cooperation;Grant UN human rights monitoring bodies, Amnesty International and otherhuman rights organizations regular access to detainees and officials inGuantánamo Bay and in Yemen, Jordan and any other location.

Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali � AI

Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah � AI