Joint Statement from a Coalition of Human Rights Organizations Re: The Case of Muhammad Rahim

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the United States government to release Muhammad Rahim.

Muhammad Rahim is an Afghan national who has spent nearly two decades in the US military detention at Guantanamo Bay, detained without charge, without trial, or any end in sight. He was captured in Pakistan in 2007, transferred into CIA black sites, and subjected to torture. Years of interrogation produced nothing of intelligence value. He has been designated, in the government's own terms, a "forever prisoner",  a label that should trouble anyone who believes in the rule of law.

He is not well. Medical examinations have found nodules in his lung, liver, and kidney. His lawyers report that he has been denied adequate medical care. He is growing old and sick in a cell, with no legal process that might change that.

His mother has written to President Trump asking for her son to finally be released. That letter deserves a real response. It is worth highlighting that when the mother of Dennis Coyle, an American held in Afghanistan, made the same plea, the Taliban released him. They called it an act of mercy. The United States, a country that defines itself by its commitment to justice and human dignity, should need no lesser motivation.

Muhammad Rahim has been imprisoned for nearly twenty years without ever being charged with a crime. Whatever threat he was once believed to pose, that is an extraordinary thing for a government that holds itself to the rule of law. His continued detention is not a security policy. It is an injustice.

We urge the United States to release Muhammad Rahim and let him go home.

Signed, 

CAGE International

​

​