While on a short business trip to Thailand, Mr. Al Bakri was abducted as part of the CIA's secret rendition and interrogation program, and likely subjected to torture during his time as a "ghost prisoner" before eventually resurfacing in U.S. military custody at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. For six months, Mr. Al Bakri's family had no idea what had become of him. "My son's wife and their three young children feared the worst," said Mr. Al Bakri's father, Muhammad. It was only after receiving a handwritten message delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Mr. Al Bakri's family learned that he was still alive.

"For the last six years, I have knocked on every door I could think of to secure my son's release, with no results. Working with our attorneys to file this petition is the only thing that we have not tried yet," Muhammad Al Bakri said. "Our family is suffering every day and night," Muhammad Al Bakri said. He reports that he and Amin's mother suffer from increased health problems due to the ongoing stress and says that "Amin's wife feels as though half her soul is missing." But he has the greatest concern for his grandchildren: "Amin's detention has hurt his children the most. They've been robbed of the joy of their childhood. They know they've lost something." Through his family, Mr. Al Bakri reports that conditions have recently worsened at Bagram and that, along with other prisoners, he has been placed in isolation for no reason. IJNetwork filed the petition in partnership with outside counsel in July of 2008. Lead counsel on the case is CUNY Law’s Immigrant & Refugee Rights Clinic, with Yale Law’s National Litigation Project serving as co-counsel.