US plans to move American prisoner to foreign country

An American citizen languishing in a US detention facility without charge in Iraq since September last year is going to be transferred to another country, the Guardian reported yesterday.

The prisoner, John Doe surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters last year after fighting as a member of an armed group in Syria. Doe is suspected of having fought for Daesh. Previous court documents have shown that although Doe is a US citizen, he also holds a Saudi passport.

A heavily blacked-out court document released yesterday tells of the US’ intention to move the prisoner after “extensive diplomatic discussions”. The name of the country is undisclosed but it may actually be Saudi Arabia, if so it may occur “quickly and smoothly”. Any delay in the transfer would “undermine the Unites States’ credibility with an important foreign partner that has agreed to this request”, the document read.

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But lawyers in the US defending Doe’s right to a trial claim any transfer plan would be “forcible rendering”. The US is no stranger to renditions and the use of secret prisons around the globe, as seen shortly after the inception of the war on terror in 2001.

“The Trump administration has been detaining this American citizen unlawfully for more than seven months, and forcibly rendering him to another country would be an unconscionable violation of his constitutional rights.”

The government has no legal authority to detain this US citizen in the first place, and it clearly lacks any legal authority to transfer him to the custody of another government

Jonathan Hafetz,  American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said regarding the case.

Doe’s case not only challenges the US’ legal action of detaining a prisoner without trial for some seven months, but also the legality over military action in Syria and Iraq. A hearing on the transfer of the prisoner is to be held tomorrow.