Yunus Rahmatullah

Yunus Rahmatullah is a citizen of Pakistan arrested in Iraq by British forces in 2004 and then rendered to a US prison in Afghanistan where he was secretly held without charge or trial for at least seven years.[3][4][5][6]

Yunus Rahmatullah
Born (1982-10-27) 27 October 1982
Arrested2004
Iraq
UK forces
CitizenshipPakistani
Detained at Bagram Theater Internment Facility
Other name(s) Salahuddin[1]
ISN1433
StatusWrit of habeas corpus granted, UK ordered to obtain his freedom until 18 January 2012 Released without charge from US detention in May 2014.[2]

The legal charity Reprieve said: "Rahmatullah had been unable to contact his family or a lawyer and was in a legal black hole".[7]

Rahmatullah's mother, Fatima, said: "Our family was shocked when we learnt that the British Government might have been behind Yunus's disappearance. My plea to the British Government is simple: Tell me whether you picked my son Yunus up, and gave him to the Americans. It is my basic right as a mother to know whether my son is still alive. I cannot bear further suspense. You have the power to help me recover my disappeared child."[7]

Request for release in Pakistani court

After seven years Rahmatullah's family asked the Lahore Court in Pakistan to secure his immediate release. Reprieve's Legal Director Cori Crider said: "We hope that tomorrow the families of seven Pakistanis languishing in Bagram may finally get some answers from Lahore's High Court. After years of grief these mothers deserve to know how and why their sons - including an innocent 14-year-old kid - have not been brought home by the government of Pakistan."[8][9]

Request for release in UK courts

The Court of Appeal by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Sullivan granted a writ of habeas corpus to Rahmatullah on December 14, 2011.[10] They determined that because he was captured in Iraq by British Forces the UK justice system had standing to rule on his detention. Lord David Neuberger, the senior judge on the three-judge panel, said there was:

a substantial case for saying that the UK government is under an international legal obligation to demand the return of the applicant, and the US government is bound to accede to such an [sic] request.[10]

The Court of Appeal agreed Rahmatullah's detention was "unlawful" and ordered Britain to pursue his release until 18 January 2012.[11][12]

Supreme Court judgment
Further information: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs v Yunus Rahmatullah

References
  1. "Yunus Rahmatullah and Amanatullah Ali". The Rendition Project. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  2. "MoD accused of refusing former detainee Yunus Rahmatullah justice". The Guardian. 30 March 2015.
  3. Casciani, Dominic (23 June 2011). "UK 'must help release detainee' in Afghanistan, High Court told". BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  4. "Habeas corpus bid to free detainee | UK news". The Guardian. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  5. "Yunus Rahmatullah - Reprieve". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  6. "Britain Shouldn't Aid a Lawless America". The New York Times. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  7. Verkaik, Robert (16 April 2010). "Family of rendition victim begins legal action against Government - Home News - UK". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  8. McGuffin, Paddy (23 June 2011). "Yunus Rahmatullah: Seven years of injustice / Britain / Home - Morning Star". Morning Star. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  9. Paddy McGuffin (21 November 2011). "Bagram detainee case reaches court". Morning Star. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011. All seven are Pakistani citizens who are being held indefinitely at Bagram without access to lawyers and without having been informed of the evidence against them.
  10. Richard Norton-Taylor (14 December 2011). "Bagram jail detainee unlawfully held, court rules: Appeal court tells British ministers to ask US to end Yunus Rahmatullah's seven-year ordeal at notorious Afghan prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2011. The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, and Lord Justice Sullivan, said the case raised important principles of law. Their court ruling is the latest in a series relating to the treatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been highly critical of the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. The judges rejected a claim by a senior MoD official, Damian Parmenter, that granting a writ for habeas corpus would be "futile".
  11. AP (21 December 2011). "UK has 4 weeks to free US-held Pakistani: Judges - World - DAWN.COM". dawn.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  12. Smith, Clive Stafford (23 February 2012). "The US has broken its promise over Yunus Rahmatullah". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
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