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User:Geo Swan/Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha

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Ahmed Bin Saleh Belbacha
Born(1969-11-13)November 13, 1969
Algiers, Algeria
Detained at Guantanamo
ISN290
Charge(s)no charge extrajudicial detention
StatusRepatriated

Ahmed Bin Saleh Belbacha is a citizen of Algeria who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba from February 9, 2002 to March 13, 2014.[1][2][3][4]

His lawyers assert that they can document he was working in a hotel in London at the time the allegations used to justify his continued detention placed him supporting terrorism, in Afghanistan. In 2009, when Belbacha filed a request that he not be returned to Algeria, because he feared persecution, an Algerian court convicted him, in absentia, and gave him a 20 year sentence.[5][6]

However, after a regime change, and assurance from the new regime that he would be treated fairly, Belbacha agreed to be repatriated on March 13, 2014.[7]

Background

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The Department of Defense reports that he was born on November 13, 1969, in Algiers, Algeria. Belbacha sought asylum in the UK, where he worked at a hotel. In the autumn of 2001, he went to Pakistan for a monthlong vacation. He was seized by villagers in Peshawar who sold him for a bounty offered by the U.S. military and was sent to Guantanamo Bay Prison.

Human rights group Reprieve's account of why Belbacha was in Afghanistan was that he fled Morocco out of fear of Islamic militants.[8] He had graduated with a degree in accountancy, undergone his compulsory military service, and then worked as an accountant for a government agency. According to Reprieve when the Algierian military called him up for additional military service anti-government Islamic militants threatened to retaliate against his family if he complied with the call up order. Belbacha fled to the United Kingdom, and sought refugee status, based on his fears. When it seemed clear he would be denied refugee status in the UK, he felt he had no choice but to leave for a country with looser residency requirements, before the UK denied his refugee status, and deported him back to Algieria. Pakistan and Afghanistan had looser residency requirements, so he fled there.

Ahmed Belbacha arrived at Guantanamo on February 9, 2002, and has been held there until March 13, 2014.[9][10][3]

Belbacha has been identified as a captive with serious mental health issues.[11]

By 2014, after a regime change in Algieria, lawyers at human rights organization Reprieve "met with representatives of the Algerian government and have been assured that Ahmed will be treated fairly and humanely on his return to the country."[7]

Official status reviews

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Initially the Bush Presidency asserted that the United States could seize and indefinitely hold individuals suspected of ties to terrorism, without explaining why they were being held. However, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that the captives had to be informed of the allegations that for their detention, and had to be offered an opportunity to try to refute those allegations.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

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In 2004, in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in Rasul v. Bush the Department of Defense set up a new agency, the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants (OARDEC). It convened 558 Combatant Status Review Tribunals from August 2004 through January 2005. Ahmed Belbacha's CSR Tribunal was convened in October 2004.[4] He had two subsequent Administrative Review Board hearings convened in 2005 and 2006. His 2006 hearing cleared his for release or transfer.

Scholars at the Brookings Institute, lead by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations[12]:

  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who the Wittes team unable to identify as presently cleared for release or transfer.[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with Al Qaeda."[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... traveled to Afghanistan for jihad."[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... stayed in Al Qaeda, Taliban or other guest- or safehouses."[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who was a foreign fighter.[12]
  • Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the "82 detainees [who] made no statement to CSRT or ARB tribunals or made statements that do not bear materially on the military’s allegations against them."[12]

Habeas corpus petition

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A writ of habeas corpus was filed on Ahmed Belbacha's behalf. In 2007 the United States Supreme Court declined to take up consideration of Belbacha`s habeas petition, after the Military Commissions Act of 2006 cut off Guantanamo captives` access to the US civilian justice system.[13] But the Supreme Court did rule all captives, including Belbacha, were entitled to access the civilian justice system for consideration of their habeas petitions in Boumediene v. Bush on June 20, 2008.

Formerly secret Joint-Task-Force-Guantanamo reviews

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On April 25, 2011 whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret detainee assessments for almost all the captives.[14] Belbacha's assessment was from January 15, 2006.[15] His assessment was signed by camp commandant Jay W. Hood, was eight pages long, and recommended continued detention under DoD control.

Hunger striker

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Belbacha was one of the more determined hunger strikers during the 2013 Guantanamo hunger striker.[16] According to Carol Rosenberg, Belbacha was one of the hunger strikers the Miami Herald was able to identify as a hunger striker who was subjected to a regular force-feeding regime.[17] In February of 2014, in what Lyle Denniston of Scotusblog described as a "rare victory" Belbacha and four other long term hunger strikers won the right to challenge whether the force-feeding techniques were overly brutal.[7][18]

The ruling was a split decision of a three judge panel from the Washington DC Circuit Court of Appeal. Kevin Rawlinson, writing in The Guardian, reported that Belbacha had testified that "solitary confinement was used as a punishment for prisoners who made political statements, among other secret measures employed by the US military to break detainees' spirit."[7]

Repatriation issues

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In July 2007 US District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer turned down an "emergency motion" to repatriate Belbacha to Algeria.[19] Zachary Katznelson Belbacha's lawyer, asserted that the USA could not trust any assurances from the Algerian government that they would not subject him to cruel or inhumane treatment.

Katznelson stated that Belbacha was unjustly accused.[19]

On April 5, 2010, another emergency order requesting a stay of repatriation was filed.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2006-05-15. Works related to List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006 at Wikisource
  2. ^ Sonia Saini, Almerindo Ojeda. "Heights, weights, and in-processing dates". Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  3. ^ a b Carol Rosenberg (2014-03-14). "U.S. repatriates once-resistant Guantánamo detainee to Algeria". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-17. The U.S. sent home to Algeria on Thursday a long-held Guantánamo captive who was cleared for return years ago but for a time sought resettlement elsewhere rather than repatriation to his civil-war stricken homeland.
  4. ^ a b Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Ahmed bin Saleh Bel Bacha". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  5. ^ Melissa J. Durkee (2011). "Beyond the Guantanamo bind: Pragmatic multilateralism in refugee resettlement" (PDF). Columbia Human Rights Law Review. pp. 702, 705, 710, 713, 727, 734. Archived from the original on 2012-07-05. Retrieved 2012-07-05. Ahmed's fears about Algeria were confirmed by an alarming "conviction" delivered in absentia by an Algerian court in November 2009. In a disgraceful show trial, where no lawyer was appointed to defend Ahmed, the court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for belonging to an "overseas terrorist group." Despite repeated requests and extensive investigation, Reprieve's lawyers have been unable to discover what exactly Ahmed is supposed to have done. No evidence has been produced to support his "conviction," which appears to be retaliation against Ahmed for speaking out about the inhumane treatment he would be subjected to if sent to Algeria.
  6. ^ Peter Finn (2010-07-10). "Six detainees would rather stay at Guantanamo Bay than be returned to Algeria". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. The Obama administration would quickly send home six Algerians held at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but for one problem: The men don't want to go. Given the choice between repatriation and incarceration, the men choose Gitmo, according to their lawyers.
  7. ^ a b c d Kevin Rawlinson (2014-03-14). "US government releases Ahmed Belbacha from Guantánamo Bay: Belbacha has been transferred to custody of Algerian government after being held for 12 years without charge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-18. Last month, Belbacha and his fellow litigants were cleared to challenge the force-feeding hunger striking detainees were being subjected to in a federal court. That followed his testimony last year that solitary confinement was used as a punishment for prisoners who made political statements, among other secret measures employed by the US military to break detainees' spirit.
  8. ^ "Ahmed Belbacha". Reprieve. Archived from the original on 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2014-03-18. Then a fateful turn of events changed Ahmed's quiet life: he was recalled by the army. Shortly afterwards, the major terrorist group in Algeria—the Groupe Islamique Armé (GIA)—began to threaten Ahmed's life.
  9. ^ JTF-GTMO (2007-03-16). "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-22. mirror
  10. ^ "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)". Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-21.
  11. ^ Jennifer Daskal, Joanne Mariner (2008). Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo. Human Rights Watch. pp. 33, 34. ISBN 978-1-56432-3408. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Benjamin Wittes, Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study" (PDF). The Brookings Institute. Retrieved 2010-02-16. mirror
  13. ^ Colleen Costello (2009). "Challenging the Practice of Transfer to Torture in U.S. Courts" (PDF). Northeastern University Law Journal. pp. 166, 226. Retrieved 2012-07-05. Not all transfer challenges have been successful, however. Prior to the Boumediene decision, the Supreme Court rejected a request for injunction against transfer in Belbacha v. Bush, No. 07A98 (U.S. Aug. 10, 2007) (order denying application for injunction). {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead= ignored (help) mirror[]
  14. ^ "Guantanamo Bay detainee file on Ahmed Bin Saleh Belbacha, US9AG-000290DP, passed to the Telegraph by Wikileaks". The Daily Telegraph. 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  15. ^ Jay W. Hood (2006-01-15). "Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9AG-0000290DP" (PDF). Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Retrieved 2012-07-05. Media related to File:ISN 00290, Ahmed Saleh bin Bel Bacha's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf at Wikimedia Commons
  16. ^ "Guantanamo detainee describes 'ordeal' of force feeding". BBC News. 2013-06-19. Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-17. A prisoner currently on hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay has described the pain and discomfort of the force feeding regime at the jail.
  17. ^ "Twenty-four force-fed captives". Miami Herald. 2013-07-17. Archived from the original on 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-03-17. Ahmed Belbacha, 44, an Algerian man whom the Obama administration disclosed last year has been cleared for release. He has never been charged with a crime at Guantánamo's war court.
  18. ^ Lyle Denniston (2014-02-11). "Rare legal victory for detainees". Scotusblog. Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. The federal appeals court in the nation's capital — in a rare, but partial, legal victory for Guantanamo Bay detainees — ruled on Tuesday that they may go to court to challenge harsh conditions in their military-run prison. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused for now to block the military there from using force-feeding to try to end prisoners' hunger strikes, the decision gave the detainees a new chance to press their challenge further.
  19. ^ a b "Guantanamo detainee fights transfer to native Algeria, citing torture fears". PR inside. July 28, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  20. ^ David H. Remes (2010-04-05). "EMERGENCY MOTION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE STAY PENDING RESOLUTION OF PETITIONER'S EMERGENCY MOTION OF MARCH 7, 2010 ON THE MERITS" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  21. ^ Steve Dotterer (2010-04-05). "Algeria national seeks emergency stay of transfer from Guantanamo". The Jurist. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
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  1. (in English). {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. (in English). {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. (in English). {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Mike Gapes (2009). "Human rights annual report 2008: seventh report of session 2008-09, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence". UK Stationery Office. pp. 73–74. ISBN 9780215540836. Retrieved 2013-07-17. AI is also concerned at the GOvernment's continued refusal to consider acting on behalf of Ahmed Belbacha, who also lived in the UK, but was excluded from the UK's request for release because it believes he was present in the UK illegally. Mr Belbacha would face a serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment if returned to his native Algeria. In the interests of assisting the USA to close Guantanamo and given his links with the UK, it would seem to make sense for the Government to allow Mr Belbacha to return.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Amber Marks (2011). "Headspace: Sniffer Dogs, Spy Bees and One Woman's Adventures in the Surveillance Society". Random House. ISBN 9781448131044. Retrieved 2013-07-17. Ahmed Belbacha fears that he will be tortured or killed if the United States goes ahead with plans to return him to his native Algeria.
  6. Richard Norton-Taylor, Ian Cobain (2010-12-15). "Lawyers ask government to help former UK resident held at Guantánamo". The Guardian. London.
  7. Ahmed Belbacha - Case history at Reprieve
  8. Urgent appeal for the UK to offer refuge to Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian in Guantánamo Andy Worthington April 21, 2010
  9. Take Action for Ahmed Belbacha, at Risk of Enforced Repatriation from Guantánamo to Algeria Andy Worthington August 3, 2010
  10. Cameron urged to help Guantanamo detainee Belbacha August 19, 2010


Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp Category:Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:People from Algiers Category:Algerian emigrants to the United Kingdom

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