Bisher Amin Khalil Al-Rawi (Arabic: بشر أمين خليل الراوي, Bišr Amīn Ḫalīl ar-Rawī) (born 23 December 1960) is an Iraqi citizen, who became a resident of the United Kingdom in the 1980s.
The two men, along with two others, were taken into custody by the Gambian National Intelligence Agency on their arrival at Banjul airport in Gambia on 8 November 2002, purportedly on suspicion of alleged links to al-Qaeda and advice from British security authorities.
They were not detained in a Gambian jail, but rather in a CIA "snatch team" safe house, which was provided by American security officials.
The two men were illegally "rendered" to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan where they were imprisoned underground in total darkness for weeks.
[5] In March 2003, Jamil al-Banna and Bisher al-Rawi were transferred to United States military custody at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
[6] Following the United States Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush (2004) that detainees had the right to habeas corpus challenge of their detention before an impartial tribunal, the Bush administration quickly set up a system of Combatant Status Review Tribunals to review each detainee's case, to be followed when warranted by military commissions to try prisoners on charges.
When Al Rawi was subject to extreme temperatures and was kept in a very cold cell, his prayer rug was confiscated when he tried to use it as a blanket.
The Guardian reported, on 20 April 2006, that the British Foreign Office had formally requested that Bisher al-Rawi be released to return to Britain.
[15][16] On 3 October 2006, The Times reported that the United States had agreed, in confidential talks in June 2006, to return all nine of the British residents held in Guantanamo—but only under stringent conditions.
[18] According to The Times, "Although the men are accused of terrorist involvement, British officials say that there is not enough evidence to justify the level of surveillance demanded by the US and that the strict conditions stipulated are unworkable and unnecessary.
[19][20] According to the Associated Press, Beckett issued a statement to Parliament which said: We have now agreed with the U.S. authorities that Mr. al-Rawi will be returned to the U.K. shortly, as soon as the practical arrangements have been made.
As happy as I am to be home though, leaving my best friend, Jamil el-Banna, behind in Guantanamo Bay makes my freedom bitter-sweet.
[22] [23][24][25][26] Al Rawi was joined with four other men, Abou Elkassim Britel, Binyam Mohamed, Ahmed Agiza, and Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah, in suing Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary which had arranged the extraordinary rendition flights by which the men had been illegally transported.