Latest in Detention
The French foreign minister has made a trip to Iraq to attempt to make a deal to try foreign fighters in the country. The plan faces diplomatic obstacles abroad and opposition at home.
Chelsea Manning, held in civil detention since her refusal in March to comply with a grand jury subpoena in Virgina federal court, has filed a motion for release pending appeal of her civil contempt charge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The motion is available here and below.
The New York Times reports that Adham Amin Hassoun has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his current detention in an immigration facility in Buffalo, New York. Hassoun, a Palestinian who later moved to Florida, was detained in 2002 for overstaying his visa and convicted on material support charges in 2007. After serving his criminal sentence, he was then held in immigration detention.
On Jan. 9, the People’s Defense Units (YPG) announced the capture of eight individuals, ostensibly foreign fighters for the Islamic State, in a series of operations conducted by the group near the town of Deir-ez-Zor in eastern Syria. Reportedly among the captured are fighters from seven different countries.
On Dec. 5, counsel for Guantanamo detainee Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Al-Alwi is a Yemeni citizen who was captured in Pakistan in 2001 and has been detained at Guantanamo Bay since 2002.
His name, it turns out, is Abdulrahman Ahmad Alsheikh.
More than 600 Islamic State fighters from a variety of countries are being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria, but no one thinks this situation can last. Frantic diplomatic negotiations have borne little fruit so far, and it appears a two-pronged stopgap solution may be in the works. Buckle up.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a motion for an initial en banc hearing in Qassim v. Trump. Judge David Tatel issued an extended concurrence, questioning the Circuit Court’s adherence to habeas precedent. The full order, with the concurrence, is below.
A joint status report is expected Monday in Doe v. Mattis, in which the United States and the ACLU are locked in legal battle over the fate of an unnamed U.S.-Saudi dual citizen whom the U.S. alleges to be an enemy combatant captured in Syria. The case presents lots of interesting legal issues, many of which Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck have covered with their usual insight and attention to detail (available here).
The Doe v. Mattis saga has taken a significant turn, as the U.S. government continues to attempt to rid itself of the dual U.S.-Saudi citizen it has held in military custody in Iraq since last September (following his capture in Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces): In a filing late this afternoon in the D.C.