Al-Mithali v. Bush

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA __________________________________________ ) HAYAL AZIZ AHMED AL-MITHALI, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 05-cv-2186 (ESH) ) GEORGE W. BUSH et al., ) ) Defendants. ) __________________________________________)

ORDER

Upon consideration of respondents’ motion to clarify or reconsider two case management

order provisions and to stay those obligations pending resolution of this motion and any appeal

[142], petitioner’s memorandum in opposition [148], petitioner’s cross-motion for adoption of

Judge Hogan’s January 15, 2009 Alsawam Order and production of the unclassified statement of

facts [147], and for the reasons stated in a court proceeding held on January 30, 2009, it is hereby

ORDERED that respondents’ motion to clarify or reconsider is GRANTED IN PART

AND DENIED IN PART insofar as this Court’s previous Orders are amended as follows:

1. The phrase “or any evidence within its actual knowledge” is deleted from section 3 of

the Court’s December 19, 2008 Order and page 1 of the Court’s January 9, 2009

Order, and the scope of discovery regarding exculpatory evidence is defined in Judge

Hogan’s Order of November 6, 2008, as amended on December 16, 2008.

2. The discovery ordered in paragraph 1 of the Court’s January 9, 2009 Order shall be

limited to documents that reflect or refer to statements made by petitioner to either

foreign or domestic authorities between September 11, 2002 and October 28, 2002.

1 3. The discovery ordered in paragraph 2 of the Court’s January 9, 2009 Order shall be

confined to evidence of abuse, torture, or coercion that occurred between September

11, 2002 and October 28, 2002.

4. The scope of search for the evidence described in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall include the

DOJ attorneys who are litigating the habeas corpus petitions filed by detainees at

Guantanamo Bay, the three databases of the Department of Defense, and the agency

identified by the Court.

5. All other provisions of the Court’s December 19, 2008 and January 9, 2009 Orders

shall remain in effect. It is further

ORDERED that the government’s motion for certification for interlocutory appeal is

DENIED. It is further

ORDERED that petitioner’s cross-motion for adoption of Judge Hogan’s January 15,

2009 Alsawam Order and production of the unclassified statement of facts is GRANTED IN

PART:

6. On or before February 13, 2009, the government shall produce an unclassified version

of the narrative section of the Statement of Facts, which was filed as a classified

document on December 31, 2008.

7. On or before February 13, 2009, the government shall undertake declassification of

all statements made by petitioner that are contained within the three documents

identified by petitioner’s counsel during the court proceeding held on January 30,

2009.

8. The Court will apply Judge Hogan’s Order, dated January 15, 2009, as clarified on

January 30, 2009, in Alsawam v. Obama, 05-cv-1244, to this action.

2 SO ORDERED.

_________/s/______________ ELLEN SEGAL HUVELLE United States District Judge

Date: February 2, 2009