The Baher Azmy Papers span the years 1986-2007, and consist of legal papers, correspondence, writings and press clippings. Materials pertain to the 2001 arrest in Pakistan of Turkish citizen and legal resident of Germany Murat Kurnaz, and his subsequent detention at the U.S. military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan and eventually at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. His detention was related to the Bush administration's responses to the September 11, 2001 air attacks in the U.S. He was released in 2006 and became the first former Guantánamo detainee to testify before Congress in 2008 about his experiences of detention, including military abuse and interrogation. The papers consist almost exclusively of written documents with the exception of a few printed images, and electronic files of legal documents, notes, media releases, and correspondence. The material documents Baher Azmy's legal motions and public efforts for writ of habeas corpus and the release and repatriation of his client, Mr. Kurnaz. Legal papers are composed of filings and petitions; correspondence comprises letters from and to Baher Azmy, Murat Kurnaz, his family and friends, diplomatic officials and U.S. government offices; writings include Azmy's personal notes pertaining to the case and notes of his interviews with Murat Kurnaz; press clippings consist of media coverage regarding the Murat Kurnaz case in the U.S. and German press. There are also several files concerning the religious group Jama¯at Tapli¯k (sometimes referred to as Jama'at al-Tabligh or Tablighi Jamaat). While the Baher Azmy papers contain material chiefly in English, the collection also holds German language materials, some of which are not translated into English. There is only one document written in Arabic to which an English translation is attached. Collection folders are arranged in alphabetical order by title within each box.
Baher Azmy is an Egyptian-American lawyer and Professor of Law at Seton Hall University Law School Center for Social Justice, specializing in constitutional law. Azmy gained his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Aside from his academic pursuits, he takes pro bono publico cases. He took on the high-profile case of Guantánamo detainee Murat Kurnaz in July 2004. He is one of the first attorneys who were allowed to visit the Camp Delta military detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Azmy discussed legal concerns and human rights issues regarding the status of and practices in Guantánamo in various national and international academic and human rights platforms, also testifying before Congress. Some of his publications include Epilogue to Murat Kurnaz Five Years of My Life (Palgrave) 2008, Rasul v. Bush and the Intra-Territorial Constitution, 62 N. Y. U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 369 (2007), "Symposium Foreword: Guantánamo: How Should We Respond," 37 Seton Hall. L. Rev. 685 (2007).
