IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION

Filing 280

STATUS REPORT by MONSOOR MUHAMMED ALI QATTAA. (Witmer-Rich, Jonathan)

IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION

Doc. 280

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) ) IN RE: ) ) GUANTANAMO BAY ) DETAINEE LITIGATION ) ____________________________________)

Misc. No. 08-442 (TFH) Civil Action No. 08-1233

STATUS REPORT BY PETITIONER MANSOOR MUHAMMED ALI QATTAA Pursuant to Judge Hogan's Order entered August 15, 2008 (Docket Entry 9), undersigned counsel for petitioner states that the status of the case is as follows: 1. This case began with a "Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus" filed on July 17, 2008, by Sami Al Hajj on behalf of petitioner Mansoor Muhammed Ali Qattaa. The petition states that Mr. Qattaa is from Saudi Arabia and has been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for four to five years without access to legal counsel. Mr. Qattaa has been assigned Internment Serial Number (ISN) 556. 2. This Court appointed the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio, to represent Mr. Qattaa on August 8, 2008. 3. To date counsel have had no contact with Mr. Qattaa. Likewise, counsel have not yet had any contact with Sami Al Hajj (who filed the petition on behalf of Mr. Qattaa) to determine his relationship with Mr. Qattaa.

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4.

Undersigned counsel obtained ECF registration August 21, 2008, and promptly entered a notice of appearance. Mr. Ivey and Mr. Hart are engaged in the process of obtaining the necessary security clearance to be permitted to visit Mr. Qattaa in Guantanamo Bay. One or more of the undersigned counsel intend to travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to visit with Mr. Qattaa as soon as possible, and will pursue an express authorization of the petition in compliance with this Court's order of July 29, 2008 (Docket Entry 210 in Case No. 08-mc-442). In the event counsel, for reasons beyond their control, are unable to obtain the necessary security clearance and travel to Guantanamo Bay before the deadline imposed by that order, counsel will seek leave of Court for additional time to pursue an authorization.

5.

Through a Department of Defense website, counsel have obtained two documents appearing to pertain to Mr. Qattaa: (1) a Combat Status Review Board Tribunal memorandum dated October 13, 2004, which contains eight sentences of allegations regarding Mr. Qattaa's alleged "association" with Al Qaida and the Taliban; and (2) a DOD memorandum dated November 10, 2005, containing an unclassified summary of evidence for Administrative Review Board regarding Mr. Qattaa. This is the extent of the information undersigned counsel have obtained to date regarding Mr. Qattaa.

6.

Counsel will confer with the relevant attorneys from the Department of Justice representing Respondents in this case about access to discovery and other caserelated issues.

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August 21, 2008

Respectfully submitted, /s/Edward G. Bryan___________________ EDWARD G. BRYAN (LCvR 83.2(e)) Assistant Federal Public Defender Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio 1660 West Second Street, Suite 750 Cleveland, Ohio 44113 [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] /s/Carlos Warner__________________ CARLOS WARNER (LCvR 83.2(e)) Assistant Federal Public Defender Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio 2 South Main Street, Suite B3-56 Akron, Ohio 44308 [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] /s/Jonathan Witmer-Rich__________________ JONATHAN WITMER-RICH (LCvR 83.2(e)) Attorney at Law Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio 1660 West Second Street, Suite 750 Cleveland, Ohio 44113 [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] Counsel for Petitioner Monsoor Muhammed Ali Qattaa

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