Abu Bakker Qassim
Abu Bakker Qassim | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 13, 1969 Xinjiang, China |
| Occupation | Former detainee |
| Known for | Detention at Guantanamo Bay, legal case for habeas corpus, Uyghur rights activism |
Abu Bakker Qassim (born May 13, 1969) is a Uyghur native from the Xinjiang region of China who was detained at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba. His assigned Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 283.
Although the Combatant Status Review Tribunal eventually determined he was "no longer an enemy combatant," Qassim remained confined at Camp Iguana until his eventual release and relocation to Albania. On September 17, 2006, he authored an op-ed in The New York Times appealing to American lawmakers and citizens to uphold habeas corpus protections.
Background
In late 2001, Qassim and fellow Uyghur A'Del Abdu al-Hakim were apprehended by Pakistani bounty hunters. Subsequently handed over to U.S. authorities, they were detained in Afghanistan for approximately six months before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta under the designation of "enemy combatants." Initially, the Bush administration labeled detainees as "illegal combatants" via executive order but later introduced review processes following judicial challenges.
Combatant Status Review
Qassim participated in his tribunal hearing, joining about 60% of detainees who did so. Each detainee's tribunal was accompanied by a Summary of Evidence memo outlining the primary accusations against them; Qassim’s memo detailed specific allegations.
Transcript
Qassim opted to engage in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. On March 3, 2006, pursuant to a court directive from Jed Rakoff, the Department of Defense released a ten-page summarized transcript of his tribunal proceedings.
He is among roughly two dozen Uyghur detainees accused by security personnel of affiliation with the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, an organization designated by China as terrorist and separatist.
Documents disclosed during the habeas corpus case Hassan Anvar v. George W. Bush included a December 30, 2004 memorandum listing 22 Uyghur detainees. Intelligence officials from Joint Task Force Guantanamo accused all of having undergone training at an ETIM camp.
The details concerning Abu Bakker Qassim indicated:
Determined not to have been an enemy combatant
According to The Washington Post, Qassim was among 38 detainees classified as not enemy combatants during their Combatant Status Review Tribunal.<ref name=DoDNlecList20071119> The Department of Defense refers to these individuals as No Longer Enemy Combatants.
Reclassification
In March 2005, the Combatant Status Review Tribunal concluded that Qassim and others no longer qualified as enemy combatants; however, notification was delayed until May 2005. Due to legal restrictions preventing deportation to countries where detainees might face torture, the U.S. neither released them nor returned them to China. Additionally, the U.S. denied their admission. As a result, Qassim, Hakim, and other cleared detainees who could not be repatriated were transferred from the main prison population to Camp Iguana in August 2005.
Because returning Qassim and detainees such as Sami Al Laithi posed risks of torture, repatriation options remained limited despite their exoneration.
Seeking asylum
In March 2005, legal representatives for Qassim submitted a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in federal court, known as Qassim v. Bush. By December, Judge James Robertson declared their indefinite detention unlawful but refrained from ordering their release into the United States, citing separation of powers issues. Qassim and Hakim promptly filed an appeal.
A February 2006 article in the Washington Times highlighted that although Qassim and Hakim had undergone military training in Afghanistan, they were not labeled as unlawful combatants because their intention was to return to their homeland and oppose the Chinese regime. Earlier accounts had portrayed them as economic refugees seeking asylum while en route to Turkey.
On April 17, 2006, the US Supreme Court chose not to review Qassim's appeal.<ref name=Abc060417> Subsequently, his case was scheduled for examination by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 8, 2006.
Asylum in Albania
Attorneys representing five Uyghur detainees, including Abu Bakker Qassim—who had been cleared of enemy combatant status—planned a lawsuit seeking their release from Guantanamo to be heard in the US District Court on May 8, 2006. However, three days before the hearing, Albania agreed to accept all five prisoners. Following this development, the United States Department of Justice filed an "Emergency Motion to Dismiss as Moot," resulting in the cancellation of the trial. Attorney Barbara Olshansky criticized this transfer as an effort to evade responsibility for holding innocent individuals.
Press reports
On May 24, 2006, Abu Bakr Qasim expressed feelings of isolation after resettling in Albania and voiced disappointment toward the United States, which the Uyghurs had anticipated would support their pursuit of autonomy. In an interview with ABC News that same month, Qasim mentioned that members of the American-Uyghur community had promised assistance with integration should they be granted asylum in the U.S.
By January 2007, he described his time at Guantanamo as a "five-year nightmare" and conveyed a strong wish to move forward. On June 15, 2008, McClatchy News Service published interviews with 66 former detainees, including Qassim. According to McClatchy’s report, American translators fostered hope by assuring detainees they were victims of circumstance rather than enemies, while guards often treated them harshly.
The article referenced attorney Sabin Willet, who stated that China influenced the United Nations to designate Uyghurs as terrorists in part because of their use of "art and literature" to "distort historical facts." Qassim shared that he learned Arabic informally within Guantanamo’s dormitories but faced restrictions such as being denied paper for note-taking and having English books brought by his lawyer confiscated. Disciplinary actions included solitary confinement for writing notes on napkins.
Currently residing in Albania with limited chances of obtaining passports or visas, Qassim has reluctantly started learning the Albanian language.
On September 28, 2009, The Washington Post reported on Abu Bakker’s response to fellow Uyghur detainee Bahtiyar Mahnut’s choice to remain at Guantanamo rather than accept asylum in Palau. Bahtiyar’s elder brother Arkin Mahnut, who had traveled to Afghanistan out of family concern, was denied asylum due to mental health issues developed during detention and Palau’s lack of treatment facilities. Abu Bakker reflected on the complexity of their situation:
External links
- Insights from Three Uighurs on Chinese Interrogation at Guantánamo Andy Worthington
- An Open Letter to Barack Obama from a Guantánamo Uighur Andy Worthington