Edmund Burke (human rights lawyer)

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There are multiple individuals named Edmund Burke -- see Edmund Burke (disambiguation).
Edmund Burke reports his Guantanamo captive believes he was sold to the US in return for a bounty. The caption to this wanted poster, distributed by the CIA, in Afghanistan, reads: “You can receive millions of dollars for helping the Anti-Taliban Force catch Al-Qaida and Taliban murderers. This enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life. Pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people."
Edmund Burke reports his Guantanamo captive believes he was sold to the US in return for a bounty.[1] The caption to this wanted poster, distributed by the CIA, in Afghanistan, reads: “You can receive millions of dollars for helping the Anti-Taliban Force catch Al-Qaida and Taliban murderers. This enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life. Pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people."

Edmund Burke is an American lawyer, based in Hawaii.[1][2]

Burke is notable for volunteering to serve, pro bono, for a captive held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1][2] Burke has gone on speaking tours to inform the public about the constitutional issues raised by the Bush Presidency's detainee policies. On a speaking tour in early October 2007 Burke was quoted saying:

"Congress has cast aside the Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment, Our free society is based on the rule of law, and this basic protection must be restored."

Burke's captive is a Libyan, who acknowledges serving with the Taliban -- but only until 1998, when an explosion crippled him.[1]

Because the explosion caused him to lose one leg, and damaged the other to the extent he cannot bear his weight on his remaining leg, Burke commented:

"It’s very hard to imagine him as a combatant of any kind,”

Burke said his client was captured in Pakistan, and believes he was turned over to American Forces in return for a bounty.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Jarrett Keohokalole. "Searching for answers: Why is a Honolulu lawyer representing an admitted member of the Taliban?", Honolulu Weekly, April 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  2. ^ a b "Isle lawyer to speak on Guantanamo", Maui News, Monday October 8, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
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