Yaser Hamdi, Held for Three Years Without Trial, Released to Saudi Arabia

NEW YORK – The United States government flew Yaser Hamdi to Saudi Arabia on October 10, finally ending his nearly three years of incommunicado detention as an "enemy combatant." In accordance with his agreement with the United States, Mr. Hamdi renounced his U.S. citizenship upon arrival in Saudi Arabia. The agreement also calls for strict travel restrictions and imposes certain monitoring requirements. The release had been scheduled for late September but Saudi Arabia balked at the restrictions, contending they were unfair since Mr. Hamdi had been charged with no wrongdoing. It is unclear whether any conditions in the agreement were altered.

"I think we now have to ask whether this was a three-year mistake," said Deborah Pearlstein, Director of the U.S. Law and Security Program at Human Right First. "It took the Supreme Court to force the issue, and when push came to shove, the President wasn't actually ready to let Mr. Hamdi have his day in court."

Yaser Hamdi was turned over to the U.S. military in Afghanistan by Northern Alliance forces in late 2001 and initially transported by the United States for detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When U.S. authorities at Guantanamo realized he was an American citizen, Mr. Hamdi was transferred to military detention facilities in the United States. He had been held in military prison ever since, barred until earlier this year from communicating with his lawyers, and barred from communication with others in the outside world.

In June, the Supreme Court held by a vote of 8-1 that the U.S. government must permit Mr. Hamdi a meaningful opportunity to challenge his detention, including notice of the factual allegations against him and an opportunity to rebut those allegations in court. The Court stated that 'a state of war is not a blank check for the President," rejecting the President's argument than any interference by the courts would hamper the President's ability to wage war.

"The release calls into question the government's vigorous insistence that Mr. Hamdi ever posed a significant threat," added Pearlstein. "Most important, it's another lesson in why the United States has always relied on courts to test the truth of its accusations."

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