Mustafa Ait Idir Explained

Mustafa Ait Idir
Birth Date:9 July 1970[1]
Birth Place:Sidi M'Hamed, Algeria
Detained At:Guantanamo
Id Number:10004
Status:Released 12/16/08
Occupation:clergyman

Mustafa Ait Idir (sometimes written as Ait Idr; born July 9, 1970) is an individual formerly held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[2] Ait Idir was born in Algeria, but moved to Bosnia, married a Bosnian woman, and became a Bosnian citizen. Idir was arrested on October 18, 2001, on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy to bomb the United States Embassy. After their release following their acquittal, the six men were captured on January 17, 2002, by American forces, who transferred them to Guantanamo Bay.

Ait Idr has alleged brutal treatment there.[3] He claims that guards beat him when he was shackled, and bent back his fingers, breaking them. During another alleged beating, guards threw him onto a gravel path, where one guard jumped on him, with his full weight, causing a stroke that left part of his face paralyzed.

On December 16, 2008, Ait Idir was one of three prisoners released to Bosnia after he was found innocent.[4]

Combatant Status Review

See main article: Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Ait Idir was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.[5] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo accused him of the following:[6] [7]

Washington, D.C.-based Judge Joyce Hens Green extensively quoted a transcript from Idir's Combatant Status Review Tribunal when she decided that the Guantanamo tribunals violated the US Constitution.[8]

Administrative Review Board

Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee might pose if released or transferred, and whether there were other factors that warranted his continued detention.[9]

Ait Idir participated in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[10]

Suing the US Government

The Washington Post reported on April 14, 2005, that Idir's lawyers initiated legal steps to sue the U.S. government to get the videotapes of the incidents with the Initial Reaction Force where he was injured.[11] The IRF is supposed to videotape all of its interventions.

Thomas P. Sullivan's testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee

Thomas P. Sullivan is a lawyer who volunteered to serve as a pro bono attorney for several Guantanamo captives.[12] On September 25, 2006, he testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, expressing his concerns about the bill that was to become the Military Commissions Act.[13]

Sullivan's testimony quoted a long passage from Idr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Tribunal Recorder: While living in Bosnia, the Detainee associated with a known al Qaida operative.
Detainee: Give me his name.
Tribunal President: I do not know.
Detainee: How can I respond to this?
Tribunal President: Did you know of anybody that was a member of al Qaida?
Detainee: No, no.

[T]hese are accusations that I can't even answer ... You tell me I am from al Qaida, but I am not al Qaida. I don't have any proof except to ask you to catch Bin Laden and ask him if I am part of al Qaida ... What should be done is you should give me evidence regarding these accusations because I am not able to give you any evidence. I can just tell you no, and that is it.

Sullivan also reminded the Judiciary Committee that US District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green, who had been appointed to oversee the Guantanamo habeas cases following the Supreme Court's decision in Rasul, cited Mr. Idir's hearing as an example of the fundamental unfairness of the CSRT process. See 355 F. Supp. 2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005)."

Release

On December 16, 2008, Mustafa Idir, Boudella al Hajj and Mohammed Nechle were released to Bosnia.[14] [15] According to The Australian, Idir told the Dnevni Avaz:

For almost seven years, I was at the end of the world, at the worst place in the world. It would have been hard even if I had done something wrong (but) it is much harder if one is totally innocent.

On March 3, 2009, El Khabar reported that the Bush administration forced Idir and the other two men to sign undertakings that they would not sue the US government for their kidnapping, before they would be released.[16]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: JTF GTMO Detainee Profile. nyt.com. 28 April 2024.
  2. Web site: List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006. OARDEC. OARDEC. May 15, 2006. United States Department of Defense. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090318071845/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf. March 18, 2009. September 29, 2007.
  3. News: Guantanamo detainee is alleging he was brutalized. Savage. Charlie. April 13, 2005. The Boston Globe. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20051023052538/http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/04/13/guantanamo_detainee_is_alleging_he_was_brutalized?mode=PF. October 23, 2005. Charlie Savage (author).
  4. News: Lawyer: Gitmo detainees arrive in Bosnia. Melia. Mike. December 16, 2008. December 17, 2008. dead. https://archive.today/20240524074842/https://www.webcitation.org/5d9Bn50WX?url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGotzoZe_qi25M1jrAtQ1lnOFVSAD953VKN00. May 24, 2024. Associated Press. Cerkez-Robinson. Aida.
  5. Web site: Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005. OARDEC. OARDEC. September 4, 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20071203004301/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_CSRT_detainees_testimony.pdf. December 3, 2007.
  6. http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/idr.pdf documents (.pdf)
  7. http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/idr.pdf Summary of Evidence (.pdf)
  8. News: Judge Rules Detainee Tribunals Illegal. Carol D.. Leonnig. February 5, 2005. The Washington Post. live. https://archive.today/20121209030629/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51007-2005Jan31.html. December 9, 2012. A01. September 5, 2017.
  9. Web site: Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. March 6, 2007. U.S. Department of Defense. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120414230126/http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902. April 14, 2012. November 12, 2010.
  10. Summarized transcript (.pdf)
  11. News: Guantanamo Detainee Suing U.S. to Get Video of Alleged Torture. Leonnig. Carol. April 14, 2005. The Washington Post. live. https://archive.today/20130205193338/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51466-2005Apr13.html. February 5, 2013. A02. September 5, 2017.
  12. Web site: Statement regarding the proposed Military Commissions bill. September 25, 2006. United States Senate Judiciary Committee. Thomas P. Sullivan. Thomas P. Sullivan. April 21, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070329020456/http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=2416&wit_id=5772 . March 29, 2007.
  13. Web site: S. Hrg. 109-658 - Examining Proposals to Limit Guantanamo Detainees' Access to Habeas Corpus Review . GovInfo.gov . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2 July 2023 . 25 September 2006.
  14. News: U.S. Is Set to Release 3 Detainees From Base. Glaberson. William. December 15, 2008. The New York Times. December 17, 2008. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170520002546/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/washington/16gitmo.html. May 20, 2017.
  15. News: Guantanamo 'worst place on Earth'. December 17, 2008. The Australian. December 17, 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110811043227/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24816310-12335,00.html. August 11, 2011. Agence France-Presse.
  16. News: Documents allege Bosnian Algerians committed not to sue the U.S.. 2009-03-04. El Khabar. 2009-03-03. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101031040909/http://www.elkhabar.com/quotidienFrEn/?ida=146315&idc=129. 2010-10-31. The U.S. has handed over the Bosnian Government documents alleging that Bosnian-Algerians recently freed from Guantanamo detention camp have signed commitments depriving them from the right to sue in justice U.S. and Bosnian officials, responsible for their "abduction" in Sarajevo, seven years ago, spokesman of Bosnian Al-Ansar Association, Ayman Awad told El Khabar..

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mustafa Ait Idir".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.