Gulet Mohamed

Gulet Mohamed (born 1991) is a naturalized United States citizen who was detained in Kuwait and placed on the no-fly list maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center.[2]

Gulet Mohamed
Born1991 (age 31–32)
Somalia
NationalityAmerican
Known forHeld in extrajudicial detention with the collusion of US officials in what has been called "rendition-lite"[1]

Mohamed was born in Somalia and immigrated in 1995.[3][4] He was raised in Alexandria, Virginia, by his immigrant parents. In March 2009, Mohamed travelled to Yemen where he stayed for three weeks and then to Somalia to stay with relatives. He stated that the purpose of his trip was to meet his extended family and to study Islam and Arabic. In August 2009, he went to Kuwait to live with his uncle.[3][5]

On December 20, 2010, Mohamed went to the Kuwait Airport to renew his visa, and was detained by two men who placed him in a car and blindfolded him.[6] He was placed in a jail cell and interrogated about whether he knew Anwar al-Aulaqi or Osama bin Laden. His interrogators insisted that Mohamed knew al-Aulaqi from the time that the cleric had preached in Falls Church, Virginia in 2001, when he was 10 years old. The interrogators demanded his e-mail and Facebook passwords and took his iPhone. He claims that he was severely beaten and deprived of sleep.[7] After a week, on December 28, Mohamed was taken to a Kuwait deportation facility where he was visited by three FBI agents, who said that his travels "raised red flags." Mohamed claimed that the FBI agents requested that he become an informant for the Bureau, but he declined.[5][7] On December 28, Mohamed used another detainee's contraband cell phone to call his family, who in turn contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).[2]

Mohamed's family sent his older brother to Kuwait to arrange for his release.[3] On January 16, 2011, the Kuwait government advised Mohamed's family to purchase a plane ticket back to Washington and drove him to the airport in an effort to deport him.[2] When he arrived at the airport, he was not allowed to board his flight because he was on the no-fly list. On January 18, 2011, Mohamed's attorney, provided by the CAIR, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia seeking his return to the United States. The federal government agreed to arrange for his return when the Judge was poised to order it.[2][8] Mohamed was allowed to leave Kuwait on January 20, 2011 and arrived at Dulles Airport on January 21.[5] Mohamed claims that he was detained and interrogated at Dulles for two hours without his lawyer present despite his request for counsel.[4][9]

References
  1. Nick Baumann (September 2011). "Locked Up Abroad—for the FBI". Mother Jones magazine. Retrieved 2017-06-25. After a week of beatings and harsh interrogation, Mohamed was transferred to a Kuwaiti deportation facility. It was here, he says, that the FBI showed up. Agents interrogated him repeatedly, asking him why he had traveled to Somalia and Yemen and whether he knew Shahzad or Zachary Chesser, an American Muslim charged in July 2010 with aiding al-Shabaab. According to Mohamed, when he requested a lawyer, one of the agents told him: 'You're here; your lawyer is not.'
  2. "Lawyers Press for Return of 'No-Fly' US Teen Stranded in Kuwait". AOL News. January 19, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  3. Mazzetti, Mark (January 5, 2011). "Detained American Says He Was Beaten in Kuwait". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  4. "Mohamed Gulet Questioned By FBI At Dulles". Associated Press. February 21, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  5. Peter Finn & Kafia Hosh (January 22, 2011). "I felt like I was getting kidnapped". Washington Post. p. A1.
  6. Baumann, Nick (January 18, 2011). "Obama Administration Sued Over "Proxy Detention"". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  7. Mazzetti, Mark (January 12, 2011). "Detained American Says F.B.I. Pressed Him". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  8. "Virginia Teen Gulet Mohamed Reunited With Family After Being Questioned By FBI At Dulles". FOX 5 TV News. January 21, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  9. Baumann, Nick (January 21, 2011). "Video: FBI Questioned Gulet Mohamed Without Counsel". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
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