Attorney Zachary Katznelson of the British human rights group Reprieve said bin Omar faces "grave risk" of abuse and torture in Tunisia for his involvement with Ennahdaha, which he described as a moderate, nonviolent Islamic political party.Chances are that bin Omar, who is married with eight children, will be arrested on arrival in Tunisia and sent to one of the same torture cells the US government uses for outsourced CIA renditions. And all because he joined a non-violent, democratic political party, just as the US government loudly encourages disgruntled citizens to do!
"I hope and pray Tunisia is going to do the right thing but I don't know that we can rely on that," Katznelson said in a phone interview from London. "We are truly, truly concerned for Mr. bin Omar."
He said Reprieve tried without success to persuade the U.S. to halt or delay bin Omar's transfer after his family said he had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to 23 years in prison for his involvement with a banned political group.
Katznelson said he had only been able to meet once with bin Omar, who may not have known he had been convicted.
There are still "about 375" prisoners in Gitmo. 405 have been released. "About 80" have been cleared for release but are trapped in administrative hell. David Hicks, who made a deal with the devil to escape his hellhole, remains the only detainee to have been (cough! cough!) "lawfully" processed.
