A Plea to Obama from Father of Detainee

[sabra]

Source: WP

The father of a detainee at a U.S. military prison in Afghanistan sent a letter (PDF) this week to President Obama pleading for his son's release, writing that "my heart aches when I consider the terrible and degrading treatment he has been forced to endure."

The letter comes a week after a federal judge ruled that the man, Amin al-Bakri, may challenge his detention in a federal lawsuit. Bakri, 39, is a Yemeni who was captured by U.S. authorities in Thailand in 2002, his lawyers say. He is being held at the U.S. military prison at Bagram air base.

Two other Bagram detainees, a Yemeni and a Tunisian who were captured in Pakistan, were also granted the right to challenge their imprisonments. The men have been in U.S. custody for at least six years, according to U.S. District Judge John D. Bates. The U.S. government has not said whether it will appeal the ruling and has released few details about those held at the secretive prison.

In his letter to Obama, Mohammed al-Bakri wrote that his son was on a business trip to Thailand as a gem trader when he was "abducted." Al-Bakri has three children, and the family only learned he had been detained by the Americans six months after his capture, Mohammed al-Bakri wrote.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/08/a_plea_to_obama_from_father_of.html?wprss=44

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Letter here (PDF): http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/pdf/bakriletter_040809.pdf

[liberalmuse]

1. He was captured in Thailand?

What the fuck??? :mad:

[Igel]

2. Yes.

And the letter was sent on cue. And, yes, it's almost certain that the detainee's lawyer was in touch with his father and asked him to (or suggested that he) write such a letter, and then made sure that it was released to the press. The lawyer probably even told him what to say.

Now, my suspicion is that rather than exclaiming, "What the fuck," a better course of action would be to ponder what he was doing in Thailand that got him arrested, if anything. Ultimately that is going to determine whether or not he's released.

Was he there en route to meeting with a SE Asian JI affiliate or member? Was he in S. Thailand and involved down there? Was he simply in Bangkok because he can find little boys for less money than in Yemen? Was he there simply doing an above-board, completely legal and (more importantly) ethical business deal or seeing the sights?

For that, it's unlikely we can trust either him or his father. They might tell the truth, they might tell part of the truth, they might tell what they'd rather have be seen as the truth.