Ahmed Belbacha

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Template:Infobox War on Terror detainee

Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha is a citizen of Algeria currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on November 13, 1969, in Algiers, Algeria and assigned him the Internment Serial Number 290. Bel Bacha 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. In 2007, a panel of military officers determined that he posed no threat to the United States or its allies and cleared Belbacha for release. However, he remains at Guantanamo, unable to return to his homeland from which he fled Islamic militants.

As of May 5, 2010, Bel Bacha has been held at Guantanamo for eight years three months.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 1 October 2004. The memo listed the following allegations against him:

The detainee is associated with al Qaida:

1. The detainee traveled from Algeria to France in 2001, to obtain a false French passport, which he used to travel to London. Once arriving in London the detainee went directly to the Finsbury Park Mosque.
2. The detainee stated that his travel to Afghanistan via false passport was facilitated by the Finsbury Park Mosque.
3. The detainee stated that he attended prayer services and lectures conducted by Abu Hamza, Sheik of the Finsbury Park Mosque.
4. Abu Hamzah is a fundamentalist who has lectured on "Jihad" and "martyrdom" and raised raised controversy with his speeches entitled "Call and Combat" after 11 September 2001.
5. The detainee obtained a visa to travel from London to Pakistan on his false French Passport. The detainee departed for Pakistan on 24 July 2001.
6. The detainee stayed at a Jalalabad guesthouse (aka the House of the Algerians), a staging point for Europeans and North Africans traveling to and from training.
7. While in Jalalabad, the detainee received training on small arms, the Kalashnikov rifle and Simonov machine gun.
8. The detainee fled Jalalabad to the Afghan Mountains as the coalition forces approached the city in November 2001.
9. The Pakistani Army held the detainee at the Pakistan/Afghan border in late 2001.

There is no record that Bacha participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Administrative Review Board hearings

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".

Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat—or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 29 March 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Training

1. The detainee stayed at a Jalalabad guesthouse (aka the House of the Algerians), a staging point for Europeans and North Africans traveling to and from training.
2. While in Jalalabad, the detainee received training on small arms, the Kalashnikov rifle and Simonov machine gun.
3. The detainee had previous weapons training from his time in the Algerian army.

b. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee traveled from Algeria to France to obtain a false French passport, which he used to travel to London. Once arriving in London the detainee went directly to the Finsbury Park Mosque.
2. The detainee stated that his travel to Afghanistan via false passport was facilitated by the Finsbury Park Mosque.
3. The detainee encountered Usama Bin Laden on two separate occasions.
4. The detainee met and stayed with three al Qaida leaders while in Kabul and Jalalabad.

c. Intent

1. Detainee went to fight for jihad because he believes that it is every good Muslim's duty.
2. Detainee admitted receiving training to become a jihad member around the world.

d. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee stated that he attended prayer services and lectures conducted by Abu Hamza, Sheik of the Finsbury Park Mosque.
2. Abu Hamzah is a fundamentalist who has lectured on "Jihad" and "martyrdom" and raised controversy with his speeches entitled "Call and Combat" after 11 September 2001.
3. The detainee fled Jalalabad to the Afghan mountains as the coalition forces approached the city in November 2001.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

The detainee indicated he did not want anything to do with the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) as they were terrorists.

Transcript

A two-page summarized transcript from the unclassified session of this hearing was published.

Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's Administrative Review Board, on 7 March 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

Habeas corpus petition

A writ of habeas corpus was filed on Ahmed Bel Bacha's behalf.

Military Commissions Act

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.

Boumediene v. Bush

On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant".

Protective order

On 15 July 2008 Kristine A. Huskey filed a "NOTICE OF PETITIONERS’ REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER" on behalf of several dozen captives including Bel Bacha.

Delayed repatriation

In July 2007 US District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer turned down an "emergency motion" to repatriate Bel Bacha to Algeria. Zachary Katznelson Bel Bacha'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 Bel Bacha was unjustly accused.

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

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.

Background

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.

Ahmed Belbacha arrived at Guantanamo on February 9, 2002, and has been held there for Template:For year month day.

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

Official status reviews

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

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. 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:

• 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.
• Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with Al Qaeda."
• Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... traveled to Afghanistan for jihad."
• 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."
• Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."
• Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha was listed as one of the captives who was a foreign fighter.
• 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."

Detention in Afghnistan

Belbacha alleges that he was: "severely beaten by US soldiers, sometimes whilst blindfolded … subjected to sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation and abuse, sensory deprivation, temperature extremes, dietary manipulation and the use of stress positions". in Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo.

Habeas corpus petition

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. 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

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

Repatriation issues

In July 2007 US District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer turned down an "emergency motion" to repatriate Belbacha to Algeria. 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.

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

External links

• Ahmed Belbacha at Reprieve
• Ahmed Belbacha - Case history at Reprieve
• Six detainees would rather stay at Guantanamo Bay than be returned to Algeria Washington Post July 10, 2010
• Urgent appeal for the UK to offer refuge to Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian in Guantánamo Andy Worthington April 21, 2010
• Take Action for Ahmed Belbacha, at Risk of Enforced Repatriation from Guantánamo to Algeria Andy Worthington August 3, 2010
• Cameron urged to help Guantanamo detainee Belbacha August 19, 2010

External links

• Ahmed Belbacha at Reprieve
• Ahmed Belbacha - Case history at Reprieve
• Six detainees would rather stay at Guantanamo Bay than be returned to Algeria Washington Post July 10, 2010
• Urgent appeal for the UK to offer refuge to Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian in Guantánamo Andy Worthington April 21, 2010
• Take Action for Ahmed Belbacha, at Risk of Enforced Repatriation from Guantánamo to Algeria Andy Worthington August 3, 2010
• Cameron urged to help Guantanamo detainee Belbacha August 19, 2010