Faisalabad Three


The Faisalabad Three is a term used to refer to three of the Guantanamo detainees facing charges before military commissions.[1][2] Jabran Said bin al Qahtani, Sufyian Barhoumi and Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi were captured in a safehouse in Faisalabad, Pakistan, together with approximately a dozen other suspects, including a senior member of the Al Qaeda leadership, Abu Zubaydah.[3]

Barhoumi, al Qahtani, and al Sharbi have all tried to decline legal representation.

Abdul Zahir, the tenth Guantanamo detainee to face charges, was also captured in that Faisalabad safehouse.

Faisalabad is the home of Salafi University, a religious institution, supported by donations, that provides free room and board to international students — a number of these have been captured on suspicion of being tied to terrorism.

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruling and the Military Commissions Act

In the summer of 2006 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the United States President lacked the constitutional authority to set up military commissions. The Supreme Court ruled that only the United States Congress had the authority to set up military commissions. All ten captives who had faced charges before the Presidentially authorized military commissions had those charges dropped.

In the fall of 2006 Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which authorized commissions similar to those President George W. Bush had tried to set up. Just three captives faced charges before the new, Congressionally authorized military commissions.

However, in 2008, the Office of Military Commissions started to accelerate the pace at which charges were laid. Over a dozen captives who had not been charged before the Presidentially authorized commissions were charged before the Congressionally authorized commissions. Subsequently the Office of Military Commissions started to re-charge the captives who had been faced charges during the Presidentially authorized commissions.

New charges

On May 29, 2008 charges were laid against Barhoumi, al Qahtani, and al Sharbi.[4][5][6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Carol J. Williams (2006-04-30). "A Dilemma for the Defenders". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. Al Qahtani, Barhoumi and Saudi Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi -- dubbed the Faisalabad Three, for the Pakistani town in which they were arrested -- are charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism for allegedly plotting to construct remote-controlled explosive devices.
  2. ↑ "US files new charges against three Gitmo detainees". Daily Times (Pakistan). 2008-05-30. Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. Those charged on Thursday are known as the Faisalabad Three, after the town where they were captured with Al Qaeda operations director Abu Zubaydah in March 2002.
  3. ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Ghassan Abdallah Ghazi Al Shirbi'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 26-30
  4. ↑ Carol Rosenberg (May 29, 2008). "At Guantánamo, charges against `Faisalabad 3'". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  5. ↑ "Sworn charges against Ghassan al Sharbi, a Saudi" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. May 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  6. ↑ "Sworn charges against Jabran al Qahtani, a Saudi" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. May 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  7. ↑ "Sworn charges against Soufiyan Barhoumi, an Algerian" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. May 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
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