I was not aware of the fate of this young man from Bremen, who evidently had the misfortune of beining in the wrong place at the wrong time, and got caught up in the US-led "war on terror." But the US government keeps information about these "enemy combatants" under tight secrecy. I am grateful to the New York Times in making the case of Murat Kurnaz public:
Though no link to Mr. Atta was ever found, Mr. Kurnaz was sent to the
American prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he has been held
for about three years now as an enemy combatant, specifically accused
of being a member or ally of Al Qaeda or its terrorist network. The
evidence against him is that, while he was traveling in Pakistan, he
was the guest of a militant Islamic group said to have supported
terrorist acts against the United States.
(…)But an investigation of Mr. Kurnaz’s case reveals no evidence that he ever fought against the United States or planned to.
Though
Mr. Kurnaz was born in Bremen he has remained a Turkish citizen because
his parents, who came to Germany as guest workers from Turkey more than
three decades ago, never became German citizens.
This is outrageous and unacceptable – but is a common situation at Guantanamo. Maybe be could support his legal case with a concerted publicity Aktion by both German and American bloggers?
In any event, the prison facility at Guantanamo is a disgrace and should be shut down immediately. Kudos to Senator Biden for demanding that this happen now.
Der demokratische US-Senator Joseph Biden verwies auf die weltweite
Empörung über das Lager und sagte, Amerikaner seien dadurch in Gefahr.„Wir sollten es schließen und die Gefangenen verlegen. Die, bei
denen ein Grund für Inhaftierung besteht, sollten wir festhalten, die
anderen sollten wir freilassen“, sagte der ranghöchste Demokrat im
Auswärtigen Ausschuss des Senats.
