José Padilla (also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir) (born October 18, 1970) is accused of being a terrorist by the United States government. He is currently being detained without charge in a South Carolina military prison under orders of George W. Bush.

The U.S. administration describes him as an illegal enemy combatant however this is not a legal definition because he has not been in front of a "competent [military] tribunal", as stipulated under Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention, to ascertain if he is an enemy combatant who has broken the laws of war.

Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Padilla became a gang member after moving to Chicago, Illinois, and was arrested several times. During his gang years, he maintained several aliases, such as José Rivera, José Alicea, José Hernandez and José Ortiz. After serving his last jail sentence, he converted to Islam. He went to the Masjid Al-Iman mosque in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Adham Amin Hassoun , who at that time was the registered agent for Benevolence International Foundation, a charity which U.S. investigators have accused of funding terrorist activities. Padilla and Hassoun became friends. U.S. authorities accuse Hassoun of consorting with radical Islamic fundamentalists, possibly including Al-Qaida. Hassoun was arrested in 2002 for overstaying his visa.

In the wake of the attack on 9/11 2001 the United States Congress passed a resolution know as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)on September 18 2001. In this Congress invoked the War Powers Resolution and stated:

That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.^{Rotten.com article on Padilla}

• Village Voice article on the Padilla/Oklahoma City connection
• Website dedicated to Jose Padilla's Constitutional Rights

Footnotes

see Wikipedia:Footnote3

1. Feds arrest man linked to 'dirty bomb' suspect June 15, 2002 CNN MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Federal officials in Miami told CNN Saturday they had arrested a south Florida Muslim activist with ties to "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla.
2. ^  US Congress' joint resolution of September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force ("AUMF"); public law 107-40, 115 Stat. 224
3. ^  Authorization for Use of Military Force: Padilla v. Bush: Jose Padilla under the Joint Resolution The Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce, issued by the Syracuse Collage of Law
4. ^  http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/padilla/padillabush60902det.pdf
5. ^  Appeals Court Says Bush Can't Hold U.S. Citizen Published on Thursday, December 18, 2003 by Reuters
6. ^  Judge Says Terror Suspect Can't Be Held as an Enemy Combatant The New York Times March 1, 2005