DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
HEADQUARTERS, JOINT TASK FORCE GUANTANAMO
U.S. NAVAL BASE, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA
APO AE 09360
August 12, 2007
Mr. Clive Stafford-Smith
636 Baronne Street
New Orleans, LA 70113
Re: Discovery of Contraband Clothing in the Cases of Shaker Aamer, Detainee
ISN 239, and Muhammed Hamid al-Qareni, Detainee ISN 269
Dear Mr. Stafford Smith,
Your client Shaker AAmer, detainee ISN 239, was recently discovered to be wearing UnderArmor briefs and a Speedo bathing suit. Neither item was issued to the detainee by JTF-Guantanamo personnel, nor did they enter the camp through regular mail. Coincidentally,Muhammed Hamid al-Qareni, detainee ISN 269, who is represented by Mr. Katznelson of Reprieve, was also recently discovered to be wearing Under Armor briefs. As with detainee ISN 239, the briefs were not issued by JTF-Guantanamo personnel, nor did they enter the camp through regular mail.
We are investigating this matter to determine the origins of the above contraband and ensure that parties who may have been involved understand the seriousness of this transgression. As I am sure you understand, we cannot tolerate contraband being surreptitiously brought into the camp. Such activities threaten the safety of the JTF-Guantanamo staff, the detainees, and visiting counsel.
In furtherance of our investigation, we would like to know whether the contraband material, or any portion thereof, was provided by you, anyone else on your legal team, or anyone associated with Reprieve. We are compelled to ask these questions in light of the coincidence that two detainees represented by counsel associated with Reprieve were found wearing the same contraband underwear.
Thank you as always for your cooperation and assistance, Sincerely, Commander , JAGC, U.S. Navy Staff Judge Advocate
29th August. 2007
Commander
Staff Judge Advocate
Headquarters. Joint Task Force Guantanamo
U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo. Cuba
APO AR 09360
Re: The Issue of Underwear ("Discovery of 'Contraband Clothing ' in the Cases of
Shaker Aamer (ISN 239) and Mohammed al Gharani (ISN 269) ")
Dear Cmdr. :
Thank you very much for your letter dated August 12. 2007. which I received
yesterday. In it. you discuss the fact that Mr. Aamer was apparently wearing 'Under Armor briefs' and some Speedo swimming trunks and that, by coincidence, Mr. el Gharani was also sporting "Under Armor briefs".
I will confess that I have never received such an extraordinary letter in my entire career. Knowing you as I do. I hope you understand that I do not attribute this allegation to your personally. Obviously, however. I take accusations that I may have committed a criminal act very seriously. In this case, I hope you understand how patently absurd it is. and how easily it could be disproven by the records in your possession. I also hope you understand my frustration at yet another unfounded accusation against lawyers who are simply trying to do their job - a job that involves legal briefs, not the other sort.
Let me briefly respond: first, neither I, nor Mr. Katznelson, nor anyone else
associated with us has had anything to do with smuggling 'unmentionables' into these men. nor would we ever do so.
Second, the idea that we could smuggle in underwear is farfetched. As you know, anything we take in is searched and there is a camera in the room when we visit the client. Does someone seriously suggest that Mr. Katznelson or I have been stripping off to deliver underpants to our clients?
Third, your own records prove that nobody associated with my office has seen Mr. Aamer for a full year. Thus, it is physically impossible for us to have delivered anything to him that recently surfaced on his person. Surely you do not suggest that in your maximum security prison, where Mr. Aamer has been held in solitary confinement almost continuously since September 24, 2005, and where he has been more closely monitored than virtually any prisoner on the Base, your staff have missed the fact that he has been wearing both Speedos and "Under Armor" for 12 months?