As is well known, Mr El Hajj is a Sudanese journalist for Aljazeera television. During the course of his work he was apprehended on the Pakistani border at the end of December 2001. He was held as an “enemy combatant” at Guantanamo Bay and was the only known journalist to be held there from December 2001 – May 2008, some 6 ½ years.

As part of its programme of assistance to those interned at Guantanamo, Alkarama had submitted his case to the mechanisms for the protection of UN human rights for his situation and to recognize the arbitrary nature of his detention.

Sami El Hajj’s visit coincided with the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June. The visit was also in the wake of the Supreme Court of the United States, recognising, in its judgement on 12 June 2008, the right of prisoners at Guantanamo to challenge the legality of their detention before U.S. courts under the legal writ of habeas corpus. Commenting on this historic decision, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 majority, recalled that: "The Laws and the Constitution are designed to survive and remain in force in times of emergency”.

Goals of Sami El Haj’s visit

Mr Al Hajj visited Geneva to talk to relevant organisations and individuals about his experiences as a detainee in Guantanamo Bay. Mr Al Hajj came primarily to discuss these experiences as a human rights defender, rather than as a victim, as he wished to:

increase awareness and understanding about the situation experienced by prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay prison in relation to the deprivation of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms; increase awareness regarding all of the thousands of other prisoners held in secret prisons created due to the “War on Terror”, many of which are in Iraq and Afghanistan; consider the issue of moral and legal reparations for victims of these measures; consider the serious issues concerning asylum and repatriation of the detainees still being held.

Meetings and activities

Sami El Haj had a busy programme during his week in Geneva, meeting from early morning until the evening with key human rights officials, NGOs, organisations and diplomats in Geneva. Sami’s programme also included numerous media interviews, a press conference and a public meeting on Friday evening, 27 June 2008 (further details below).

Throughout the week, Sami El Haj testified about his long years of arbitrary detention and torture which he suffered in the U.S. military base where he was detained without charge or legal procedure for nearly seven long years. In protest against his conditions of detention and the absence of legal proceedings he had initiated several hunger strikes. He answered numerous questions about the conditions and procedures in Guantanamo Bay being suffered by the prisoners detained there, and discussed ways forward.

Sami also talked of his next project which is being responsible for a newly formed Human Rights desk at Al Jazeera television.

Meetings with NGOs and other human rights organizations

• Amnesty International (International Secretariat);
• Human Rights Watch (US):
• Association for the Prevention of Torture;
• World Organisation Against Torture;
• International Commission of Jurists;
• International Committee of the Red Cross (including colleagues who had visited Sami in Guantanamo Bay);
• Cage Prisoners

Meetings with UN Human Rights Officials

• UNHCR – to discuss protection issues for detainees who cannot even be returned safely to their home country;
• Special Rapporteur for Fundamental Freedoms and Human Rights while Countering Terrorism ;
• Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression;
• Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and members of its office;
• Officers for Special Rapporteurs for Torture and Freedom of religion, Independence of Judges and Lawyers;
• OHCHR Coordinator for Middle East and North Africa Unit;
• Human Rights Officer for Counter-Terrorism, Rule of Law and Democracy Unit

Press conference

A press conference was held on Thursday afternoon, 26 June 2008 at the Swiss Press Club. Sami spoke about this experiences and answered questions. Statements were also made by Mtre. Rachid Mesli of Alkarama for Human Rights and Violette Daguerre for the Arab Commission for Human Rights as well as Hassan Elmogummer for Civic Aid International Organization.

Public meeting

A public meeting was held on Friday evening, 27 June 2008 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva (CICG) and chaired by Dr Abbas Aroua of Alkarama. As well as Sami El Hajj, there were the following speakers:

• Hassan Elmogummer (Civic Aid International Organization)
• Juliette de Rivero (Human Rights Watch)
• Peter Splinter (Amnesty International)
• Reprieve (a statement was read from Clive Stafford-Smith, Sami’s US attorney)
• Adnan Siddiqui (Cage Prisoners)
• Violette Daguerre (Arab Commission for Human Rights)
• Rachid Mesli (Alkarama for Human Rights)
• Deborah Manning (Alkarama for Human Rights)

The meeting was well attended and there was a question and answer session between the public and the panel of speakers.

This busy week was an important first step for Sami who is dedicated to working on behalf of the detainees who remain in Guantanamo Bay and the thousands of others who are detained in secret prisons and who need to be released or at least charged and subject to a fair trial.

Sami El Haj is committed to working on human rights expressed his desire to support the work of the UN Human Rights system and all NGOs and individuals working in human rights. He surely has a good opportunity to do so in his new position as head of the human rights desk in Al Jazeera television.