The Working Group notes that it was in Thailand that Amin Al-Bakry was deprived of his liberty, and that his case is a matter of the principles of international law as set out, in particular, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the United States, Afghanistan, and Thailand have all ratified. 

The Working Group recalls that Mr. Al-Bakry was “arrested in Bangkok by unidentified agents, probably from the US intelligence services or their Thai colleagues under US secret service guidance.” 

According to the Working Group, the United States government is directly responsible for this arbitrary detention.  It therefore does not hold the Thai government responsible. 

In January 2004, Mr. Al-Bakry was detained on Afghan soil; it was at this time that he was visited by the ICRC representative.  “All public information available to the Working Group indicates that the Afghan government was aware of the fact that the United States government was keeping detainees in situations similar to Mr. Al-Bakry’s at the Bagram airbase, a United States military base which has been functioning with the Afghan government’s consent since the end of international armed conflict in late 2001.” 

Since the Afghan state has ratified the Covenant, it is under an obligation to refuse “situations of prolonged arbitrary detention of people ordered by a foreign power on its soil.” 

“The Working Group can only conclude that Afghanistan too bears responsibility for the arbitrary detention of Mr. Al-Bakry.” 

The Working Group therefore demands that the US and Afghan governments take the necessary measures to remedy this situation and bring it into conformity with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

Alkarama for Human Rights recalls that Mr. Amin Al Bakry was director of a commercial organisation specialising in the import and export of precious stones.  The head offices of this organisation are in Madagascar and belong to Jamal Ahmed Khalifa, from Saudi Arabia, the husband of Osama Bin Laden’s sister. 

Mr. Jamal Ahmed Khalifa, for his part, has undergone many persecutions simply because of this family link.  He was arrested in San Francisco in the United States and then expelled to Jordan after four months’ imprisonment.  After being detained in Jordan for two months, he was expelled to Saudi Arabia. 

Yet Mr. Jamal Ahmed Khalifa was never charged or prosecuted for any crime in any of these countries, suggesting that these harassments were caused solely by his family ties with Osama Bin Laden. 

Once he was back in Saudi Arabia, the authorities refused to give him a passport, due to fears for his security if he travelled abroad.  He himself feared that he would be arrested or kidnapped again by the American secret services if he went abroad.

In mid-December 2006, Mr. Jamal Ahmed Khalifa received a passport and was able to go first to Bangkok in Thailand, where he sold part of its production, then to Madagascar, its headquarters.

Three days after his arrival, Mr. Jamal Ahmed Khalifa was killed on 30 January 2007 by a group consisting of about thirty armed people at the site of his mine holdings. His killers also injured his secretary and guard.  They took away all of his documents and his laptop.

His family is convinced that Mr. Jamal Ahmed Khalifa was assassinated by the American secret services “as part of the War on Terror.”