Sarah Havens '99 has traveled from the Van Wickle Gates to Cairo to Guantanamo Bay. Havens is a second-year associate at the New York office of British law firm Allen & Overy, which represents 14 of the approximately 550 men being held at the Camp Delta prison.
Since January, Havens and three of her colleagues have traveled twice to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to gather information for the habeas corpus petitions that Allen & Overy has filed on behalf of its clients. A third trip is planned for later this month.
The firm's clients are all Yemeni men in their 20s or early 30s who were picked up in and around Afghanistan and Pakistan beginning in January 2002.
Havens said visiting the clients and witnessing their conditions was an eye-opening experience. "You grow up in the United States, and you think the government will never do this and be willing to push aside constitution and international law like this," she said.
Havens described the conditions of the Guantanamo detainees as "poor" and "inadequate," citing unclean tap water, solitary confinement, general beatings and abuse as examples. Many of the detainees have kidney stones and inadequate access to medical treatment, according to Havens.
Allen & Overy is in the process of detailing instances of religious and sexual abuse faced by its clients. Havens said one of her clients had his hair shaved in the shape of a cross.
The shoddy conditions have led to poor morale among the detainees, according to Havens. "Their spirits were better than I expected, I guess, but overall they are still very down," she said.
She expressed her hope that the presence of neutral observers at Guantanamo Bay has led to an end of some of the worse abuses. "I think with the presence of counsel, the treatment has gotten better, because the government feels obligated to stop some of the worse abuses," Havens said.
The unique nature of the case has created some special difficulties for Havens and her colleagues. It took four months and a "very, very thorough" process for them to obtain the security clearance necessary to view classified information pertaining to the case. A protective order limits information the lawyers can provide to their clients.
The attorneys must travel to a secure facility outside of Washington, D.C., to work on the petitions. Classified material can be reviewed only at the facility, and all writing must be done on its computers. "Sometimes we've had to catch a flight down to D.C., go to the place, spend one or two nights there, and then catch a flight back to New York," Havens said.
The flight to Guantanamo Bay presents its own difficulties. Barred from flying over Cuban airspace, the plane must circle the island before landing on the southern tip of Cuba. The attorneys and their translators are then escorted to Camp Delta, where the detainees are held. "It's been very expensive to go to Guantanamo, and each time we have to bring translators with us," Havens said.
After graduating from Brown with a concentration in international relations, Havens spent a year in Cairo before attending Georgetown Uni-versity Law Center. She credits her Brown education with helping prepare her for some of the challenges the case has presented. "If it wasn't for Brown, with its open curriculum, I wouldn't have studied Arabic or studied abroad in Egypt," she said.
"I think my knowledge of Arabic has been very helpful to these clients, who have only experienced the worst of the American system. Naturally, they have some reservations, and it helps to have someone speak their language, even if imperfectly," Havens added.
The case, along with similar lawsuits related to the Guantanamo detainees, is currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal in the Washington, D.C., circuit courts. In the meantime, Allen & Overy is planning a third trip to Guantanamo Bay for the week of April 18 to gather more information.
Havens is uncertain about the fate awaiting her clients. "The government, given the flimsy evidence they have, could never have a habeas proceeding. They can't have a fair trial. What evidence they do have is produced through torture or abuse, and wouldn't stand up in court," she said.
"It's possible that the government will try to make arrangements to return them to their home countries with the agreement that they will be put in prison," Havens said.
Havens said that working on the lawsuit and witnessing the conditions suffered by detainees at the camp has made her "really disappointed in this (Bush) administration."
However, she pointed to the response of the legal field as a positive sign. "We usually represent investment banks and financial institutions, but we are taking on this case for free. It's been inspirational to see the number of people who are passionate about this issue, both conservatives and liberals. So in that sense, it hasn't been completely negative," she said.
