Aamer v. Obama

58 F. Supp. 3d 16, 2014 WL 2854457, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85343
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJune 24, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 04-2215 (RMC)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 58 F. Supp. 3d 16 (Aamer v. Obama) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aamer v. Obama, 58 F. Supp. 3d 16, 2014 WL 2854457, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85343 (D.D.C. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

ROSEMARY M. COLLYER, United States District Judge

In the six years since the Supreme Court restored the federal courts’ statutory habeas corpus jurisdiction over detainees at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Judiciary has worked to map the contours of the Great Writ in these exceptional circumstances. In 2013, the D.C. Circuit decided that a military regulation providing for repatriation of de[17]*17tained medical personnel is domestic law applicable to Guantanamo detainees and that the regulation imports certain aspects of the Geneva Conventions into these unique habeas proceedings. Thereafter, the D.C. Circuit held that the Writ is available to challenge both the fact of detention and conditions of detainee confinement.

Seizing on these recent developments, Petitioner Shaker Aamer, a detainee at Guantanamo, seeks to break new habeas ground. In addition to providing for repatriation of detained medical personnel, the military regulation that the Circuit has adjudged to apply to Guantanamo detainees contemplates releasing particular military prisoners who have fallen seriously ill. Petitioner argues that the regulation should apply to him. He claims to suffer from various physical and mental ailments from which he cannot, and will not, recover while detained at Guantanamo, and contends that he qualifies as the type of prisoner under the military regulation subject to repatriation. Accordingly, he demands immediate release.

Petitioner’s argument is flawed. The Circuit’s recent expansions of habeas for detainees have turned on whether the relief sought was a constitutional or statutory right to which the detainee could claim an entitlement. Here, even if the military regulation applies to Petitioner and even if Petitioner is as gravely ill as he claims, Petitioner has made no attempt to establish his entitlement to reléase under the terms of the regulation. Because he cannot explicitly establish that the military regulation requires his release even under his view of the law and facts, Petitioner cannot invoke that regulation, or, consequently, the Geneva Conventions, as grounds for habeas relief. The Court, therefore, will deny Petitioner’s motion.

I. FACTS

The basic facts are not in dispute. Petitioner is a Saudi national and legal resident of the United Kingdom. Mot. for J. on Pet. for Writ (Mot. for J.) [Dkt. 255] at 2. Since 2002, the United States has detained him at Guantanamo, id., pursuant to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), Pub.L. No. 107-40, 115 Stat. 224 (2001). Respondents contend that Petitioner is associated with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and underscore that a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) has deemed Petitioner to be an “enemy combatant.” See Office of the Sec’y of Def. & Joint Staff, Unclassified Combatant Status Review Board Summ. of Evidence, 266-67 (Nov. 19, 2004), available at http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/operation_ and_plans/Detainee/csrt_arb/000201-000299.pdf; see also May 14, 2012 Classified Am. Factual Return [Dkt. 203].

Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in December 2004. See Pet. for Writ [Dkt. 1]. Four years later, Respondents informed the Court that the Department of Defense had cleared Petitioner for release and requested a stay while “the necessary and appropriate diplomatic arrangements to relinquish custody” were made. Consent Mot. to Stay [Dkt. 128] at 1. The Court granted the requested stay. See Dec. 19, 2008 Minute Order. Petitioner, however, was not released. Consequently, several years later, the Court granted a joint motion to lift the stay and directed the parties to proceed with discovery, see Dec. 7, 2011 Order [Dkt. 199], which currently is ongoing, see Joint Status Report [Dkt. 256] at 2.

In 2013, Petitioner hired an independent medical expert, Dr. Emily A. Keram, to conduct a physical and mental examination of him at Guantanamo over the course of five days. See Mot. for J., Ex. B (Keram Report) [Dkt. 255-2] at 1. Board certified [18]*18in psychiatry and neurology with a sub-specialization board certification in forensic psychiatry, id., Dr. Keram has rendered several medical opinions on Petitioner, all “to a reasonable degree of medical probability,” id. at 12 (emphasis added). Although Dr. Keram has remarked on Petitioner’s physical state, noting that he suffers from swelling of his lower extremities, headaches, asthma, and chronic urinary retention, id. at 18-19, her report expresses more concern about Petitioner’s psychiatric condition. Dr. Keram states that Petitioner suffers from a host of mental ailments, including depression, dysphoria, anxiety, paranoid ideation, and most importantly, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of unknown origin. Id. at 12-14. She opines that Petitioner’s psychiatric condition is grave, id. at 15, will require years of treatment, id. at 15-16, and cannot improve while confined at Guantanamo because the “conditions of detention are in themselves a constant source of stress and trauma,” id. at 17, and because of a perceived breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship there, id. at 17-18.

Dr. Keram advocates repatriating Petitioner, but only to the United Kingdom. She contends that repatriating Petitioner to his native country of Saudi Arabia will “re-traumatize” him. Id. at 17. Dr. Ker-am claims that Saudi Arabia will confine him, place him in a rehabilitation program for some period of time, and continue to separate him from his family. Id. On the other hand, physicians in the United Kingdom, according to Dr. Keram, have the resources and cultural understanding that Petitioner needs to make a complete recovery. Id.

Based on Dr. Keram’s examination, Petitioner filed a Motion for Judgment on the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. In his motion, Petitioner does not challenge the factual basis for his detention (i.e., his alleged ties to the Taliban and al-Qaeda). His sole contention here is that Army Regulation 190-8, and those provisions of the Third Geneva Convention that it incorporates, require his immediate release to the United Kingdom in light of Dr. Keram’s diagnoses.

Respondents challenge Petitioner’s legal arguments and medical contentions. See Opp’n [Dkt. 260]. They claim that Petitioner misperceives the law. Moreover, Respondents claim that even if Army Regulation 190-8 and the Third Geneva Convention apply to Petitioner, he has not established that his health is in such a poor state that he must be repatriated. Respondents submit a declaration from Navy Commander Stephen D. Hoag, M.D., who currently serves as the Senior Medical Officer for the Joint Medical Group (JMG) of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO). Commander Hoag has served in this capacity since February 26, 2014. Opp’n, Ex. 1 (Hoag Decl.) [Dkt. 260-1] ¶ 1. Commander Hoag recounts Petitioner’s physical ailments, id. ¶¶ 11 — 14 (detailing Petitioner’s medical history, noting swelling of the feet and ankles, mild anemia due to hunger strikes, common allergies, dry skin, ear infections, chronic urological issues, and possible inflammatory arthritis), and states that Petitioner has created many of these health problems by refusing nearly all diagnostic examinations and most treatment, id. ¶¶ 10, 12-14.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 F. Supp. 3d 16, 2014 WL 2854457, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aamer-v-obama-dcd-2014.