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Inventory of the Dorsey & Whitney Records, 1997-2008, bulk 2004-2008, and undated

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Descriptive Summary

Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
Creator
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Title
Dorsey & Whitney Records, 1997-2008, bulk 2004-2008 and undated
Language of Material
Material in English and Arabic
Extent
7.8 Linear Feet

4,875 Items
Abstract
Dorsey & Whitney LLP is a Minneapolis-based business law firm whose lawyers took on the pro bono cases of Bahraini detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention center.
The Dorsey & Whitney Records span the years 1997-2008, with the majority of the materials created between 2004 and 2008. The records consist largely of legal papers, news clippings, writings and correspondence regarding the cases of six Bahraini detainees: Jumah Al-Dossari, Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, Isa Al-Murbati, Salah Al-Balooshi, Adel Hajji and Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, kept under extra-judicial detention by the U.S. military at Camp Delta, Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. A team of three lawyers, Mark S. Sullivan, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan and Christopher G. Karagheuzoff took on the cases of Bahraini detainees pro bono in 2004. The records in this collection document the lawyers' legal motions, public campaigns and diplomatic negotiations for writ of habeas corpus and the release and repatriation of the Bahraini detainees. The records are arranged in three series: Case Files, Correspondence, and Publicity.
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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Copyright Notice
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Dorsey & Whitney Records, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Dorsey & Whitney Records were received by the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as a gift in 2009.
Processing Information
Processed by Yektan Turkyilmaz, October 2009
Encoded by Yektan Turkyilmaz, October 2009
Accession 2009-0181 is described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note

Dorsey and Whitney LLP is a business law firm which was founded in 1912 in Minneapolis, MN, where its headquarters are still located, to provide legal counseling to the First Bank of Minneapolis. A team of three lawyers, Mark S. Sullivan, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan and Christopher G. Karagheuzoff, from the New York Office of the firm took on the cases of Bahraini Guantánamo detainees pro bono in 2004. These lawyers represented the Bahraini detainees until the release and repatriation of all of them by 2008. Sullivan, Colangelo-Bryan and Karagheuzoff did not only follow the legal cases of their Bahraini detainees but also got involved in public activities in order to raise awareness about the human rights situation and abuses at the military detention center in Guantánamo Naval Base. They also initiated negotiations with Bahraini diplomats and officials regarding the release and repatriation of their clients. The team of Dorsey & Whitney lawyers also paid a visit to Bahrain to meet with the relatives of their clients.

Jumah Al-Dossari is a joint citizen of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia detained in December 2001 in Pakistan, kept under arrest by the U.S. military in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and transferred to Camp Delta military detention center in January 2002 and eventually released without facing any charges in 2007. He suffered severe psychological and physical abuse both in Kandahar and Guantánamo. Al-Dossari attempted suicide thirteen times and went on hunger strikes at least twice while under extra-judicial detention at Guantánamo. His case became an emblematic example of the abuse and torture at Guantánamo naval base and detrimental consequences of long term solitary confinement. Al-Dossari was represented by the Dorsey & Whitney LLP lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan and he was repatriated to Saudi Arabia in 2007.

Joshua Colangelo-Bryan is a Senior Attorney at the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP. He gained his law degree in 1999 from the University of Washington School Of Law. Prior to working for Dorsey, Joshua served with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, where he participated in the prosecution of criminal cases involving war crimes and terrorism. He also has participated in post-conflict humanitarian aid work in the Balkans. He practices in the areas of complex civil litigation, employment law, and securities fraud. He also represents individuals and entities before federal and state agencies. He devotes a substantial portion of his practice to pro bono cases, including the representation of Guantánamo Bay detainees.

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Collection Overview

The Dorsey & Whitney Records span the years 1997-2008, with the majority of the materials created between 2004 and 2008. The records consist largely of legal papers, news clippings, writings and correspondence regarding the cases of six Bahraini detainees: Jumah Al-Dossari, Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, Isa Al-Murbati, Salah Al-Balooshi, Adel Hajji and Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, kept under extra-judicial detention by the U.S. military at Camp Delta, Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. A team of three lawyers, Mark S. Sullivan, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan and Christopher G. Karagheuzoff took on the cases of Bahraini detainees pro bono in 2004. The records in this collection document the lawyers' legal motions, public campaigns and diplomatic negotiations for writ of habeas corpus and the release and repatriation of the Bahraini detainees, as well the surrounding issues of the Bush administration's responses to terrorism, the civil rights of prisoners of war, and the use of interrogation and torture at U.S. installations.
The records are divided into three series: Case Files, Correspondence, and Publicity. The Case Files Series (nine boxes of the thirteen in the collection) comprises petitions, filings, documents relating to the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CRST), and a wide variety of legal records regarding the six Bahrainis' and other concurrent Guantánamo detainee cases. The Correspondence Series includes exchanges between client detainees, Department of Justice officials, Bahraini diplomats and officials, U.S. senators and congressmen, law scholars, and colleagues of the Dorsey & Whitney team representing the Guantánamo detainees. The letters and writings in this series cover issues and problems related to the legal status of Guantánamo detainees, human rights violations at Camp Delta, and diplomatic efforts for the release and repatriation of the Bahraini detainees. The high-profile case of Jumah Al-Dossari, detained in 2001 and eventually released without facing any charges in 2007, is covered in depth in this series, becoming an emblematic example of the abuse and torture at Guantánamo Naval Base and detrimental consequences of long term solitary confinement. Also covered in depth in the Correspondence Series is the Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment approved by the Senate on November, 15 2005, which prohibits all habeas corpus claims by Guantánamo detainees and allows military tribunals to rely on evidence gathered by the use of torture. The Publicity Series brings together news articles regarding Bahraini Guantánamo detainees, commentaries addressing the legal process and human rights issues, and interviews with Dorsey & Whitney lawyers about the conditions at the military base and the legal and living situation of the detainees. The clippings in the collection were published by major news press and online media outlets worldwide, and include seven folders which hold many Arabic language news clippings.
The Dorsey & Whitney Records are composed of materials predominantly in the English language. There is also a considerable amount of Arabic language materials in all three series. These chiefly consist of affidavits, letters by detainees and their relatives, and news clippings. Most of the Arabic language materials have English translations, with the exception of the news clippings. The collection almost exclusively contains materials in written format with the exceptions of a twelve-minute unclassified audio recording on CD-R of the CRST hearing for Al-Murbati, and printed images of the families of the detainees.
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Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
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Related Material

Baher Azmy Papers, 1986-2007 and undated [Lawyer representing a Guantánamo detainee]
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University

List of Series in Collection
Case Files, 1997-2008 and undated
Correspondence, 2004-2007
Publicity Series, 2004-2008
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Detailed Description of Collection

Case Files, 1997-2008 and undated

(9 boxes)
Comprises petitions, filings, documents relating to the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CRST), and contains a wide variety of legal records regarding the six Bahrainis' and Guantánamo detainees' cases such as Al-Odah and Boumediene. The series documents legal efforts of their lawyers for writ of habeas corpus, writ of certiorari, amelioration of living condition at Camp Delta, and finally for the release and repatriation of their clients. The series also contain documents regarding the government's efforts to preclude attempts to attain any rights for the detainees kept extra-judicially as enemy combatants by the U.S. military at Camp Delta. The series contains extensive material related to the workings and procedures of and trials by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT), which was established by the U.S. government on July 7, 2004. Also comprehensively covered in this series are the legal records and other documents concerning the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and Military Commission Act of 2006. The Bahraini detainees Al-Dossari and Al-Murbati cases are especially well-documented. The series is composed predominantly of materials in English language, but also contains many Arabic documents some of which are also translated into English. Other items include a twelve-minute unclassified audio recording of CRST hearing for Al-Murbati (Box 4) and photographic images of the families of the detainees.
Box 1-9
Case file folders

Correspondence, 2004-2007

(1 box)
The Correspondence Series includes writings between the attorneys and client detainees, Department of Justice officials, Bahraini diplomats and officials, U.S. senators and congressmen, law scholars, and colleagues of the Dorsey &Whitney team representing the Guantanamo detainees. The writings cover issues and problems related to the legal status of Guantánamo detainees, human rights violations at Camp Delta and diplomatic efforts for the release and repatriation of the Bahraini detainees. The high-profile case of Jumah Al-Dossari is covered in depth in this series; his case became an emblematic example of the abuse and torture at Guantánamo naval base and detrimental consequences of long term solitary confinement. Also covered extensively is the Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment approved by the Senate on November 15, 2005, which prohibits all habeas corpus claims by Guantánamo detainees and allows the military tribunals to rely on evidence gathered by the use of torture. The series mostly consists of letters, but there are also photocopies of photographic images from the visit of the lawyers to detainee relatives in Bahrain and court-related material attached to letters. The written material is largely in English; all letters written in Arabic have English translations but court-related Arabic materials are not translated.
Box 10
To/From detainees, Bahraini officials, and Department of Justice, 2006 Mar. 4-2007 Jun. 14
To/from detainees, Bahraini officials, U.S. politicians, lawyers, and Department of Justice, 2005 Jun. 2-2007 Aug. 15
To/from detainees, Bahraini officials, lawyers, and Department of Justice, 2004 Jul 9-2005 Sep., 1
To/from detainees, Bahraini officials, Department of Justice, and law colleagues, 2005 Sep. 22 - 2005 Dec. 7
To/from Al-Dossari, Department of Justice, Bahraini officials, and law colleagues, re: Al-Dossari, 2005 Dec. 22 - 2006 Mar. 1
To/from U.S. politicians, law scholars, and Department of Justice, re: Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment, 2005 Dec. 9 - 20

Publicity Series, 2004-2008

(3 boxes)
Consists of news clippings - chiefly photocopies or printouts - compiled by the Dorsey á Whitney lawyers to document their clients' cases. This series brings together news articles regarding Bahraini Guantánamo detainees, commentaries addressing the legal process and human rights issues, and interviews with Dorsey á Whitney lawyers about the conditions at the military base and the legal and living situation of the detainees. The clippings in the collection were published by major news press and online media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time Magazine, The International Herald Tribune, Gulf Daily News, The Independent, The Guardian, BBC, Khaleej Times Online, gulfnews.com, Arab News and "Aljazeera" , and many others. The clippings are chiefly in English; however there are seven folders which hold many Arabic language news clippings.
Box 11-13
Publicity files, 2004-2008