Adel Hamad v. Robert Gates

Adel Hassan Hamad was detained at Guantanamo Bay as an enemy combatant. He seeks damages for his detention and his treatment from former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and numerous other military and civilian officials. We conclude, however, that 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (e)(2) deprived the district court of subject-matter jurisdiction over Hamad’s claims.

I

Hamad, a citizen of Sudan, alleges that he was detained in Pakistan in 2002 by Pakistani security forces acting under the direction of an “unknown American official.” According to Hamad, he was transferred to United States military custody and detained, first at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, and then at Guantanamo Bay.

In July 2004, the Department of Defense established Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) to determine whether foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay qualified for detention as “enemy combatants.” Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , 733, 128 S.Ct. 2229 , 171 L.Ed.2d 41 (2008); Memorandum from Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz re Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal § a (July 7, 2004), available at http://www. defense.gov/news/Jul2004/d20040707 review.pdf (Wolfowitz Memo.).…