Detainee cleared, but Valley home unlikely

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on June 18, 2010

Even though Town Meetings in Amherst and Leverett agreed to welcome cleared detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison to their communities, the recent decision by a federal judge ordering the release of one prisoner doesn't immediately give him an opportunity to relocate to the Pioneer Valley.

The decision that Ravil Mingazov should be released was made May 14 by U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr., who granted Mingazov's petition for a writ of habeas corpus and ordered the Obama administration to let the Russian military dancer go, since the government has no legal basis for holding him.

Both Amherst and Leverett town meetings have approved resolutions in the last year inviting detainees to their towns who have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Mingazov was one of two detainees identified by the Pioneer Valley chapter of No More Guantanamos as a candidate for relocation.

No More Guantanamos is a coalition working to ensure justice for prisoners held at the Cuban naval base, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and other offshore prison sites maintained by the CIA and Pentagon.

Ruth Hooke, a Town Meeting member who spearheaded the effort in Amherst, said that despite passage of the resolutions, a ban imposed by Congress last year is still in effect that prevents former detainees from entering the United States except for prosecution.

"I suppose there could be some kind of exception made in his case, though that is somewhat doubtful," Hooke said.

Gary Thompson, who represents Mingazov as co-counsel for Reed Smith LLP in Washington, D.C., said the government still has about a month to file an appeal to the order with the District of Columbia Circuit Court, a procedural delay that could keep Mingazov in detention.

"We're in limbo waiting to see if the government will appeal," Thompson said. "If they do not appeal, then the order to release Ravil will stand, in which case it becomes a matter of finding a diplomatic solution for his release."

Thompson said he and other attorneys are assisting government officials in trying to find another country, possibly in Europe, where Mingazov could go, because the assumption is that a congressional ban on moving cleared detainees to American cities, a ban for which Amherst and Leverett town meetings have called for repeal, will not be lifted.

"We are hopeful, working with the government, that we will identify a country that will be willing to give safe asylum to Ravil, and where he will be able to practice his religion," Thompson said.

Nancy Talanian, director of the anti-Gitmo group, said the judge's decision demonstrates that the adopted resolutions were sensible.

"This means the people who supported the resolutions in Amherst and Leverett were correct all along," Talanian said. "Ravil is one of many people who have been held wrongly for eight years at Guantanamo."

Though the ideal scenario would be to have Mingazov come to western Massachusetts, Talanian said Europe would be good alternative. Mingazov can't safely return to Russia because he fled religious persecution there in 2001; seven other detainees originally held on suspicion of being terrorists, who were previously cleared and returned to Russia, were treated poorly, with one even being killed, Talanian said. She added that Mingazov, a Muslim, recently assisted with a food drive to help victims of the Haitian earthquake.

Obama administration special envoy Daniel Fried is working to close Guantanamo by convincing other countries to take former detainees, Talanian said.

Hooke agrees that it appears more likely that Mingazov will eventually be sent to another country.

Still, the votes locally should not be seen as meaningless, Thompson said.

"The resolutions in Amherst and Leverett are inspiring," Thompson said. "I think it brings attention to the matter and it also helps to show the rest of the world that a sizable contingent in the United States agrees Guantanamo has been a mistake and that we have to be part of correcting that mistake."

The other prisoner the local chapter is working for is Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian cleared for transfer by the Bush administration in February 2007 who still remains at the base. "Being cleared doesn't mean you get to go anywhere," Talanian said.

Though no other area communities are currently considering resolutions similar to those adopted in Amherst and Leverett, Talanian said the movement is continuing to grow. The newest chapter recently formed in Burlington, Vt., joining the ones in the Pioneer Valley, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., New York, N.Y., Denver, Colo., and Tallahassee, Fla.