Yunus Rahmatullah Explained

Yunus Rahmatullah
Birth Date:1982 10, df=yes
Arrest Date:2004
Arrest Place:Iraq
Arresting Authority:UK forces
Citizenship:Pakistani
Detained At:Bagram Theater Internment Facility
Id Number:1433
Alias:Salahuddin[1]
Status:Writ of habeas corpus granted, UK ordered to obtain his freedom until 18 January 2012

Released without charge from US detention in May 2014.[2]

Yunus Rahmatullah (born 27 October 1982) is a citizen of Pakistan arrested in Iraq by British forces in 2004 and then rendered to a US prison in Afghanistan where he was secretly held without charge or trial for at least seven years.[3] [4] [5] [6]

The legal charity Reprieve said: "Rahmatullah had been unable to contact his family or a lawyer and was in a legal black hole".[7]

Rahmatullah's mother, Fatima, said: "Our family was shocked when we learnt that the British Government might have been behind Yunus's disappearance. My plea to the British Government is simple: Tell me whether you picked my son Yunus up, and gave him to the Americans. It is my basic right as a mother to know whether my son is still alive. I cannot bear further suspense. You have the power to help me recover my disappeared child."[7]

Request for release in Pakistani court

After seven years Rahmatullah's family asked the Lahore Court in Pakistan to secure his immediate release. Reprieve's Legal Director Cori Crider said: "We hope that tomorrow the families of seven Pakistanis languishing in Bagram may finally get some answers from Lahore's High Court. After years of grief these mothers deserve to know how and why their sons - including an innocent 14-year-old kid - have not been brought home by the government of Pakistan."[8] [9]

Request for release in UK courts

The Court of Appeal by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Sullivan granted a writ of habeas corpus to Rahmatullah on December 14, 2011.[10] They determined that because he was captured in Iraq by British Forces the UK justice system had standing to rule on his detention.Lord David Neuberger, the senior judge on the three-judge panel, said there was:

The Court of Appeal agreed Rahmatullah's detention was "unlawful" and ordered Britain to pursue his release until 18 January 2012.[11] [12]

Supreme Court judgment

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Yunus Rahmatullah and Amanatullah Ali . . The Rendition Project . 23 October 2019.
  2. Web site: MoD accused of refusing former detainee Yunus Rahmatullah justice . . 30 March 2015.
  3. Web site: Casciani . Dominic . UK 'must help release detainee' in Afghanistan, High Court told . . 23 June 2011 . 2011-11-23 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110901033142/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13893181 . 2011-09-01 .
  4. Web site: Habeas corpus bid to free detainee | UK news . . 2011-05-13 . 2011-11-23 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160313080833/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9644163 . 2016-03-13 .
  5. Web site: Yunus Rahmatullah - Reprieve. 10 November 2016.
  6. Web site: Britain Shouldn't Aid a Lawless America. 13 February 2012. The New York Times. 10 November 2016.
  7. Web site: Verkaik . Robert . Family of rendition victim begins legal action against Government - Home News - UK . . 16 April 2010 . 2011-11-23 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110901070926/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/family-of-rendition-victim-begins-legal-action-against-government-1946453.html . 2011-09-01 .
  8. Web site: McGuffin . Paddy . Yunus Rahmatullah: Seven years of injustice / Britain / Home - Morning Star . . 23 June 2011 . 2011-11-23 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120614171545/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/106232 . 2012-06-14 .
  9. News: Bagram detainee case reaches court . . 2011-11-21 . 2011-11-29 . All seven are Pakistani citizens who are being held indefinitely at Bagram without access to lawyers and without having been informed of the evidence against them. . Paddy McGuffin . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120614171734/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/112226 . 2012-06-14 .
  10. News: Bagram jail detainee unlawfully held, court rules: Appeal court tells British ministers to ask US to end Yunus Rahmatullah's seven-year ordeal at notorious Afghan prison. The Guardian. 2011-12-14. 2011-12-15. The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, and Lord Justice Sullivan, said the case raised important principles of law. Their court ruling is the latest in a series relating to the treatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been highly critical of the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. The judges rejected a claim by a senior MoD official, Damian Parmenter, that granting a writ for habeas corpus would be "futile".. Richard Norton-Taylor.
  11. Web site: AP . 21 December 2011 . UK has 4 weeks to free US-held Pakistani: Judges - World - DAWN.COM . dawn.com . 10 November 2016.
  12. News: The US has broken its promise over Yunus Rahmatullah. Clive Stafford . Smith. 23 February 2012. 10 November 2016. The Guardian.

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