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Summary of Mr. Haji's Statements

This is a summary of the statements made by Mr. Adel Kamel Abdulla Haji to his lawyers. It is taken, verbatim, from p. 18 of Guantanamo Bay Detainee Statements, a document produced in May 2005 by attorneys Mark Sullivan and Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, of the firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

Pursuant to an order entered by the U.S. District Court in the habeas corpus litigations initiated by a number of prisoners, all notes taken during client interviews with Guantánamo prisoners must be reviewed by the Department of Defense and deemed unclassified by them. The statements on which the Sullivan and Colangelo-Bryan summary are based have been reviewed by the Department of Defense and deemed unclassified.


Summary of Mr. Haji's Statements


Mr. Haji was seized in Pakistan in or around December 2001. Pakistani authorities detained him for several days and then transferred him to the custody of U.S. forces; the Americans subsequently told Mr. Haji that he had been sold to them by the Pakistanis.

U.S. forces flew Mr. Haji to Kandahar. U.S. soldiers beat Mr. Haji in the face and stomach as he was led from the plane at Kandahar. Mr. Haji remained in Kandahar for several weeks before being transported to Guantanamo.

Upon his arrival in Guantanamo, Mr. Haji was herded onto a bus with other detainees and beaten and kicked by U.S. soldiers. He lived in a cage at Camp X-Ray for three months.

In Camp Delta, MPs frequently treated the Koran in a manner that Mr. Haji felt was disrespectful. Mr. Haji decided that to avoid having his Koran so treated, he would not keep it in his cell. Therefore, he attempted to hand his Koran to an MP, but the MP handed it back. A similar exchange or two ensued. The MP then called an IRF. The IRF entered Mr. Al Haji's cell and beat him, including punching him in the face, twisting his knee and knocking him to the ground.

As a result, Mr. Haji injured his knee. He requested treatment but received none. He also experienced trouble breathing as the result of being pushed to the ground and being hit in the chest. He asked to have his heart examined, but has not been seen by medical personnel. He also experienced ear pain that he believed to be an ear infection. He requested treatment, but received none for ten days at which point he was given a Tylenol.

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