Mamdouh Habib (born 3 June 1955) is an Egyptian and Australian citizen with dual nationality, best known for having been held for more than three years by the United States as an enemy combatant, by both the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military authorities. He was sent by extraordinary rendition from Pakistan to Egypt after his arrest. He was held the longest at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as an enemy combatant. Finally released without charges in January 2005, Habib struggled to have his account of his experiences believed, as he alleged he had been tortured by the CIA, Egyptians, and US military, at times with Australian intelligence officers present. For some time, each of the governments denied his allegations, but they have gradually been confirmed.
Arrested after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 during a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Habib was interrogated there by Pakistani and United States CIA agents before being shipped to Egypt, where he was held for six months and interrogated under torture. The CIA transferred him back to a black site in Afghanistan for more torture and interrogation, then to US military custody. In 2002, Habib was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He continued to be held without charges and suffered coercive interrogation.
The United States accused Habib of having had knowledge of the 11 September 2001 attacks, training the hijackers, staying at an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan, conducting surveillance, helping to transfer chemical weapons, and planning to hijack the aircraft used in the 11 September attacks. He confessed to many acts under torture, but there was no evidence to support these claims.
With legal support, Habib filed for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge his detention. His case of Habib v. Bush was one of two consolidated under Rasul v. Bush (2004). The United States Supreme Court ruled in it that US courts had jurisdiction over Guantanamo and that detainees had the right to challenge their detentions in US courts. Following an article in The Washington Post about Habib's being taken by extraordinary rendition and held secretly in Egypt, the United States decided to release him without charges in January 2005. After Habib returned to Australia in January 2005, officials eventually acknowledged that he "knew nothing about terrorism".
Habib filed suit against the Australian government for cooperating with the United States in his detention and coercive interrogations. In November 2008, Habib published a memoir co-written with Julia Collingwood, My Story: The Tale of a Terrorist Who Wasn't, detailing his experiences. In December 2010, an Egyptian official confirmed Habib's account of his torture in Egypt having been witnessed by an Australian officer, whom he named. The Australian government made an out-of-court settlement in the suit by Habib.
Life Mamdouh Habib was born on 3 June 1955 in Alexandria, Egypt, where he grew up in a Muslim family. He moved at the age of 24 to Australia in 1980, to join his older brother and sister, who had settled there and urged him to come.Julia Baird, "Mamdouh Habib: Australia's Guantanamo Bay survivor" , Sunday Profile, ABC, 9 April 2006, accessed 26 January 2013 He lived and worked in Sydney and became a citizen.
Through his brother's wife, he met her sister, Maha. They married and have had four children, including twin sons.
He worked running a coffee shop and also taught classes and students in Islam.Mayer, Jane, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, 2008. p. 125 He is a dual citizen of Egypt and Australia."Mamdouh Habib: Who Knew What and When""World Today, 2005, ABC He also worked as a taxi driver.
In the fall of 2001, Habib was arrested in Pakistan. He was held for what was a total of more than three years. After being released in January 2005 without charge by the United States and returned to Australia, Habib encountered difficulties: his passport was revoked and even in 2006, he could not obtain one. The government advised him he would be under surveillance and was still considered a risk.
Habib told his account numerous times to media: he said that he had been interrogated about supposed terrorist activities while under torture in Pakistan, taken to Egypt and interrogated under torture there, transferred to United States military custody in Afghanistan, and transported to Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where he suffered extended solitary confinement, more interrogation and torture. He said that Australian officers had been present at some of these occasions. After the Australian government was notified of his detention in Guantanamo, he was interrogated there by an ASIO agent, who he says threatened him and his family. The torture and Australian witness were denied by the respective governments, and Egypt denied he had been held in the country.
He filed suit against the Australian government for cooperating in his detention and treatment. In December 2010, an Egyptian officer confirmed his story of coercive interrogation in Egypt, with an Australian witness, and said the sessions had been videotaped. Soon after that, the Australian government settled with Habib in a confidential settlement out-of-court, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in February 2011.
Later, in 2007, Habib entered politics. He ran as an independent political candidate in the 2007 New South Wales state election. Receiving less than 5% in his electorate in a secure Labor district, he did not gain a seat.
1990s When Habib's case was being heard by the US Supreme Court, in 2004 the ABC current affairs program, Four Corners, featured him as the subject of a program."Worst of the Worst?" , Four Corners, ABC TV, retrieved 29 April 2008 It said that in the 1990s, the Australian Defence Housing Authority took out an "apprehended violence" order against him. DHA claimed that Habib had made a threatening phone call following the cancellation of a contract with the organisation. Habib says this was nothing more than an argument over a contract. In court his psychiatrist had testified that Habib was suffering from major depression at the time and was being treated with Prozac, but that he was not prone to violence. A witness described his irritability and sadness but said he was not aggressive or violent.
According to Four Corners, in early 2001, at a meeting with police, Habib was described by them as showing "signs of hostility towards government organisations and the community generally". Asked to do "a detailed threat assessment," the Protective Services Group concluded there was no evidence to support concerns that Habib might commit an act of violence. The police decided Habib was "a repetitious and vexatious complainant" with "little credibility."
2001 to 2005 imprisonment: Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Cuba Habib claims he became disaffected with Australia, and traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001 to find an Islamic school to educate his children. He was arrested in Pakistan in October 2001 while traveling by bus to Karachi, Pakistan. The bus was stopped by local police who arrested Habib and two Germans. The two German citizens were released shortly thereafter. The Four Corners program stated that the two Germans were asked whether they had seen Habib, and whether he had told them that he had been in Afghanistan. They said nothing that incriminated Habib; one replied; "No. I didn't see him in the camps I was in. Nor did he tell us that he had been in a training camp."
After questioning by Pakistani and CIA officers, Habib was transported in custody by extraordinary rendition to Egypt, his country of origin. There he was held for 5 months and questioned before being transferred to US military custody and imprisoned in Afghanistan. A Pentagon spokesman said at the time that Habib was a terrorist who had spent his time across the border in Afghanistan, "either supporting hostile forces, or on the battlefield fighting illegally against the U.S." following its entry in the fall of 2001.
Australian government authorities alleged that while Habib had been in Afghanistan, he took an advanced al-Qaeda training course in a camp near Kabul. It claimed that the course included surveillance and photographing facilities, the establishment and use of safe houses, covert travel and writing secret reports. Australian authorities say that several other men who took part in the course identified Habib as having been there. Evidence to support these claims was not made public.
The CIA sent Habib back to Egypt by extraordinary rendition, where he claims he was held and interrogated under torture for five months. He claims his Egyptian captors allegedly shocked him with high-voltage wires, hung him from metal hooks on walls, and beat him. In 2005 an Egyptian official said that he could not comment on these specific allegations, but added that accusations that the Egyptian government was torturing people "tend to be mythology". The claims have been substantiated by other witnesses and Moazzam Begg, a British citizen and former detainee at Guantanamo who founded Cageprisoners, an organization representing detainees.
"They outsource torture," said Stephen Hopper, Habib's Australian lawyer, referring to the practices of the United States. "You get your friends and allies to do your dirty work for you." Habib has said that some of his interrogators in Pakistan had recognizable American accents, and that one had a tattoo of an American flag on his arm.
In 2002, the US transported Habib from Egypt to Guantanamo Bay, where he was detained for two years. During detention, Habib confessed to a litany of terrorism-related crimes, including teaching martial arts to several of the September 11 hijackers and planning a hijacking. After release, in 2005 Habib insisted that his confessions were false and given under "duress and torture."
Mamdouh Ibrahim Ahmed Habib v. George Bush A writ of habeas corpus, Mamdouh Ibrahim Ahmed Habib v. George Bush, was submitted on Mamdouh Ibrahim Ahmed Habib's behalf. In response, on 1 October 2004, the Department of Defense released 63 pages of unclassified documents related to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. On 20 September 2004, his "enemy combatant" status was confirmed by Tribunal panel 6.
2005 on: release and post-release On 11 January 2005, the day before his charges were scheduled to be laid by the military commission, Dana Priest at The Washington Post published a front-page article of Habib's account of his experiences, including his extraordinary rendition to Egypt and torture there and at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Later that day, the United States government announced that it would not be charging Habib, and would release him to Australia. The Australian Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock announced that Habib would be repatriated within days.
The Australian government chartered a special plane (for approximately $500,000) to fly Habib home because the US would not allow him to travel on a regular commercial flight. US officials insisted he be shackled during the flight."US wants Habib shackled on flight", Sydney Morning Herald, 21 January 2005 Habib returned to Australia on 28 January 2005.
Return to Australia After his return, in January 2005, Habib filed suit against the Australian government for its cooperation with the United States, alleging that he was beaten and humiliated in Pakistan after his arrest. He also alleged that an Australian official was present at some of these interrogations, but the Australian Government denied this.Australian official saw Habib tortured: report, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January 2005 Habib claims to have been suspended to a ceiling by his arms, standing atop a barrel drum, and that when he gave an answer his Pakistani interrogators didn't believe, they would jolt him with electricity until he fainted.