Bensayah Belkacem
Bensayah Belkacem | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 10, 1962 Algeria |
| Occupation | Humanitarian worker (formerly detained) |
| Known for | Detention at Guantanamo Bay detention camp |
Bensayah Belkacem (born September 10, 1962) holds Bosnian citizenship and was previously held at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Originally from Algeria, he was apprehended in Bosnia on October 8, 2001, shortly after the events of September 11.
Belkacem was moved to Guantanamo on January 21, 2002, where he remained detained until December 5, 2013. In October 2008, the US District Court for the District of Columbia recommended that he continue to be held; however, this decision was subsequently overturned on appeal.
He belonged to the Algerian Six, a group of Algerian-born humanitarian workers detained under suspicion of planning an attack on the American embassy in Bosnia. While five of the group were freed in 2009 after the Supreme Court's decision in Boumediene v. Bush (2008) affirmed detainees’ habeas corpus rights, Belkacem’s detention was initially sustained by US District Judge Richard J. Leon.
On June 28, 2010, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed this judgment, ruling that Belkacem had no ties to al-Qaeda. The Department of Justice stated it would issue a response to this ruling.
Belkacem was repatriated to Algeria on December 5, 2013, as announced by the US Department of Defense.
Background
US intelligence agencies detected heightened terrorist communications. Following Belkacem’s extrajudicial arrest, media sources reported that pro-jihadist materials were discovered at his residence.
He faced allegations of assisting individuals attempting to join al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. On January 21, 2002, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay detention center and remained there until late 2013.
Detention in Cuba
Bensayah was one of the earliest detainees to report on conditions within Guantanamo. In a letter dated June 2002 addressed to his wife, he mentioned that detainees had finally been provided with toilets instead of relying on plastic bags.
Writ of habeas corpus
A habeas corpus petition was submitted on behalf of the Algerian Six, including Belkacem. On October 12, 2004, the Department of Defense released forty pages of unclassified records from Belkacem’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
Continued detention
On October 21, 2008, US District Judge Richard J. Leon ordered five Algerian detainees released following the Supreme Court’s Boumediene v. Bush decision but ruled that Belkacem should remain detained.
Appeal of Judge Leon's ruling
On September 15, 2009, a three-judge panel from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals commenced review of Judge Leon’s decision concerning Belkacem. The hearings were conducted entirely in-camera.
A partially declassified brief submitted by one of Belkacem’s attorneys from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr contested Leon’s reliance on "incomplete and conclusory intelligence reports along with uncorroborated claims from anonymous sources." The brief argued that Leon had not compelled the government to seek exculpatory evidence and noted that classified materials disclosed in April 2009 undermined the government’s position.
On June 28, 2010, the appellate panel overturned Leon's ruling, determining that Belkacem could not be classified as an al-Qaeda affiliate. Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg emphasized that "no direct evidence showed communication between Bensayah and any al-Qaeda member." Attorneys representing the Obama administration had withdrawn several Bush-era assertions, including alleged contacts with Abu Zubaydah.
The New York Times reported that the court’s decision primarily questioned the reliability of government evidence rather than focusing solely on Belkacem’s supposed links to al-Qaeda. As a result, the panel ordered his release, prompting a reaction from the Justice Department.
Release
On December 5, 2013, the U.S. Department of Defense revealed that Belkacem had been relocated from Guantanamo Bay to Algeria.
According to media sources, Belkacem resisted being sent back due to concerns about potential threats from militant groups.
External links
- Andy Worthington, "Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Prisoners Win 3 out of 4 Cases, But Lose 5 out of 6 in Court of Appeals" (Part Two), Andy Worthington website, July 27, 2010
- Judge Ginsburg ruling dated June 28, 2010
- "Habeas Works: Federal Courts’ Proven Capacity to Handle Guantánamo Cases" (2010), Human Rights First
- Bin Laden suspect detained in Bosnia, CNN, 2001
- Bosnian spouse of Qaeda suspect denies terrorism allegations, The New York Times, Ian Fisher, January 28, 2002
- German soldiers disguised as press, United Press International, December 22, 2005
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Algerian emigrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Bosnia and Herzegovina extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Living people
- Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp
- 1962 births
- People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States
- People from Ouargla Province
- Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Algerian descent