Tortured Guantánamo Detainee Is Freed in Belize - The New York Times

BELIZE CITY — A tiny Central American nation, known for its obstruction reef and ecotourism, has taken successful a erstwhile violent turned U.S. authorities informant whose communicative of torture by the C.I.A. moved a subject assemblage astatine Guantánamo Bay to impulse the Pentagon to assistance him leniency.

U.S. forces released Majid Shoukat Khan, 42, to the custody of the authorities successful Belize after a two-hour formation from the U.S. Navy basal successful Cuba.

It was the archetypal resettlement of a detainee since President Barack Obama’s medication and culminated months of concealed diplomacy. All different prisoners released successful the intervening years were repatriated. But Mr. Khan, who completed his situation condemnation astir a twelvemonth ago, had obscurity to go.

“I person been fixed a 2nd accidental successful life, and I mean to marque the astir of it,” Mr. Khan said successful a connection successful which helium pledged to go “a productive, law-abiding subordinate of society.”

“I proceed to inquire for forgiveness from God and those I person hurt,” helium said.

The circumstances of his resettlement were not instantly known. But helium was expected to beryllium joined by his woman and teenage daughter, who was calved aft his seizure successful Pakistan successful 2003.

Mr. Khan was among the better-known prisoners of Guantánamo Bay, successful portion due to the fact that helium went to precocious schoolhouse successful Maryland, past near his migrant household for his autochthonal Pakistan to articulation Al Qaeda aft the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

From 2003 to 2006, helium was held incommunicado successful secret C.I.A. prisons overseas and kept successful dungeonlike conditions that included beatings, nudity, brutal forced feedings, waterboarding and different carnal and intersexual abuse.

In 2012, helium agreed to attest against different prisoners. He besides pleaded blameworthy to plotting a never-realized termination bombing years earlier of Pakistan’s president astatine the time, Pervez Musharraf, and to delivering $50,000 that was utilized to concern a deadly onslaught successful Indonesia.

His merchandise successful Belize was noteworthy for respective reasons.

He was the archetypal captive to beryllium freed from Guantánamo Bay who had been held determination arsenic a “high-value detainee,” the quality community’s word for a former prisoner of a C.I.A. black tract who was subjected to the Bush administration’s concealed torture programme of “enhanced interrogation.”

A damning 2014 Senate investigation of the covert programme disclosed what the C.I.A. did to Mr. Khan erstwhile helium went connected a hunger onslaught successful his 2nd twelvemonth of detention: His captors “infused” a purée of pasta, sauce, nuts, raisins and hummus into his rectum. His lawyers called it rape.

At his sentencing successful 2021, Mr. Khan expressed remorse for his crimes and related his story to a U.S. subject assemblage astatine Guantánamo, which followed warfare tribunal guidelines and sentenced him retroactively to 26 years successful prison. Seven of the jurors past urged granting him clemency.

“This maltreatment was of nary applicable worth successful presumption of intelligence, oregon immoderate different tangible payment to U.S. interests,” they said successful a handwritten letter from the assemblage room. “Instead, it is simply a stain connected the motivation fibre of America; the attraction of Mr. Khan successful the hands of U.S. unit should beryllium a root of shame for the U.S. government.”

A U.S. official, who spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that of diplomatic sensitivities, said Belize’s authorities received Mr. Khan arsenic a humanitarian act, to assistance him question a caller start. Details of the resettlement woody were not disclosed, but officials person described akin arrangements arsenic a big state fundamentally granting a detainee asylum.

The transportation statement was reached past twelvemonth successful talks betwixt elder Belize authorities officials and Ian C. Moss, a lawyer who had helped support Mr. Khan astatine Guantánamo Bay during the Trump administration, and past was appointed arsenic a lawman counterterrorism coordinator astatine the State Department, the authoritative said.

“This resettlement required sizeable diplomatic creativity and perseverance,” said Lee S. Wolosky, who served arsenic peculiar envoy for the closure of the Guantánamo situation during the Obama administration. Mr. Moss was his main of staff.

On Thursday, Mr. Courtenay told reporters: “Mr. Khan is not coming to Belize arsenic a detainee. He has served his condemnation and is simply a escaped man. He is being resettled connected humanitarian grounds, conscionable arsenic our state has done for thousands of migrants and refugees passim the years.”

Mr. Courtenay said the United States had provided funds to bargain Mr. Khan a location and furnish it, arsenic good arsenic a car, a laptop and a phone.

He added, however, that Mr. Khan had agreed to person his activities monitored and to conscionable with the police, and that helium understood that helium would not beryllium escaped to question overseas for immoderate time.

The lawsuit had been of involvement to the planetary instrumentality and quality rights assemblage successful portion because, adjacent though Mr. Khan’s condemnation had ended, helium was imprisoned successful the aforesaid razor-wire ringed compound astatine Guantánamo for astir a year. His lawyers asked a national tribunal successful a habeas corpus petition to bid his merchandise onto the basal until a state could beryllium recovered for him.

Mr. Moss said successful a tribunal filing this summertime that diplomats had approached 11 countries successful an urgent effort to find a spot for Mr. Khan.

“We are thrilled that Majid is free,” J. Wells Dixon of the Center for Constitutional Rights said successful a statement. He has represented Mr. Khan successful national and subject courts since his accomplishment astatine Guantánamo successful 2006.

Katya Jestin, a lawyer astatine Jenner & Block, who joined the lawsuit pro bono successful 2009, called his merchandise “a historical triumph for quality rights and the regularisation of law, but 1 that took acold excessively agelong to reach.”

With this week’s transfer, the Pentagon present holds 34 prisoners astatine the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Of them, 11 person been charged successful the subject commissions, including six who are awaiting superior trials. Three others, each erstwhile C.I.A. prisoners, are being held arsenic indefinite detainees successful the warfare connected coercion — not accused of immoderate crimes but considered excessively unsafe to release.

The different 20 men, fractional of them Yemenis, person been approved for transportation to different countries with information agreements that fulfill the caput of defense, arrangements that person required acold much analyzable diplomacy and astatine times chartless enticements by the United States.

The Biden medication has repatriated 5 cleared prisoners, and the Trump medication sent 1 antheral to service a condemnation successful his autochthonal Saudi Arabia. But the past resettlement occurred successful the last days of the Obama administration, erstwhile Oman accepted 8 Yemenis and 2 Afghan prisoners who could not safely beryllium returned to their location countries.

Belize is the nearest federation to Guantánamo that has received a prisoner. Obama-era envoys arranged settlements successful Bermuda, El Salvador and Uruguay. But astir person been successful Europe and the Middle East, and a fewer successful Africa.