Families of Guantánamo Detainees

Murat Kurnaz

Mr. Metin Kurnaz and Mrs. Rabiye Kurnaz are the parents of Murat Kurnaz, 23, who is imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. and Mrs. Kurnaz are Turkish citizens; they currently reside in Bremen, Germany. Mr. Kurnaz supports his family as a worker at the local Daimler/Chrysler plant. Their son Murat was born in Germany and is a legal Resident Alien. According to his parents, Murat traveled to Pakistan in October 2001 to "see and experience the Koran." Mrs. Kurnaz did not know Murat's whereabouts until January 2002 when German prosecutors told the Kurnaz family that Murat had been captured, but said they did not believe he had joined the Taliban. From January 2002 until May 2002, when the Kurnaz family hired legal counsel, Mrs. Kurnaz mounted a one-woman writing campaign to help secure her son's release from Guantanamo. The Kurnaz Family is represented by German Solicitor Bernhard Docke, who is accompanying them to the United States.