Tate Zeigler (202-224-5972) or Kevin Bishop (864-250-1417)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) released the following statement regarding the Administration’s decision to bring alleged al Qaeda operative Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun to the United States for trial in civilian court:

“We are deeply concerned that this Administration’s pattern of rushing to indict foreign enemy belligerents like Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun in civilian court – rather than detaining them in military custody at Guantanamo – has undermined our nation’s intelligence collection efforts and made our country less safe.

“Harun is a foreign member of al Qaeda who has allegedly attempted to kill U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan and participated in planning or carrying out an attack against Americans in Nigeria.  As such, he should be treated as a foreign enemy belligerent at war with our country – not a common criminal.

“Based on Section 1022 of the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, there is no doubt he should be placed in military custody at Guantanamo.

“It is important to remember that law of war detention, under which our intelligence community can easily return to question detainees months or even years later, helped connect the dots that ultimately led to Osama bin Laden.

“When we place individuals like Harun and Sulaiman abu Ghayth in our civilian legal system, read them their Miranda Rights, and focus on prosecution rather than intelligence collection, we miss valuable information that will prevent future attacks.”

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