Dead Gitmo detainee fought legal battle for freedom

By Michael Isikoff, NBC News Guantanamo Bay detainee Adnan Farham Abdul Latif, in an undated photo provided by his attorney. The Guantanamo detainee who died under mysterious circumstances in his cell last Saturday is a 32-year-old Yemeni who was at the center of a long running legal battle over the status of prisoners at the controversial U.S. prison. The detainee, Adnan Farham Abdul Latif, won what appeared to be a milestone legal victory two years ago when U.S. Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that he was being "unlawfully detained" after concluding that the U.S. government's evidence that he had ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban was "unconvincing." But the Obama administration successfully challenged the ruling and similar ones before an appellate court, provoking criticism from human rights groups. At the time of Latif's death, Amnesty International was about to launch an international campaign calling for his freedom, according to his lawyer, David Remes.  "If this case doesn't draw attention to the injustice and cruelty at Gitmo, it's hard to see what would," he said.  "This is a guy who was cleared by a federal judge.  He was widely loved among the detainees and he would not let Gitmo kill his spirit." Latif's death is the ninth at Gitmo since the U.S. prison for terrorists opened in January 2002 and the third since last year. The case is now the subject of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Military officials say that Latif, who had no serious medical problems, was found unconscious and unresponsive in his cell at Camp 5 on Saturday afternoon. After efforts to revive him failed, he was rushed to a hospital at the base and pronounced dead. An autopsy was conducted on Sunday, but the results have not yet been released. Military officials say that Latif had been a disciplinary problem: He had been on a hunger strike that he ended in June and recently had hurled a "cocktail" of food and bodily fluids at guards, causing him to be placed in a special disciplinary cell in Camp 5, where he was isolated from other detainees. But Remes said that Latif had ample grievances. Pentagon officials had first recommended he be released from Gitmo as early as 2004, but he was caught up in seemingly endless legal battles over the status of detainees. He was brought to the prison in early 2002 after being turned over to Pakistani police to the U.S. military following the invasion of Afghanistan. Latif had said he suffered from brain injuries as a result of an auto accident in Yemen and had gone to Pakistan for free medical help. U.S. military officials originally claimed that he had been encouraged to leave Yemen by an al-Qaida facilitator named "Abu Khalud" and had received military training at a camp in Afghanistan. But Judge Kennedy noted in his ruling that there was no corroborated evidence that Latif ever met Khalud and that Defense Department officials had previously concluded that Latif  "is not known to have participated in combatant/terrorist training." In letters from Gitmo, Latif repeatedly asserted his innocence.  "This prison is a piece of hell that kills everything, the spirit, the body, and kicks away all the symptoms of health from them," he wrote in one letter that was widely cited by human rights advocates. Noting President Barack Obama's one-time pledge to close Gitmo, Remes said: "The only detainees who have been released from Gitmo in the last two years have been in caskets." More world stories from NBC News: 100 most endangered species listed; worth saving? Afghan Taliban made $400 million last year, UN estimates Records: US, UK hushed up Soviet WWII killing of 22,000 Poles Iran sanctions working, except where it counts 18 Afghan police join us, Taliban claim Generation Y battles to shape Pakistan's future Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook