Detentions following the September 11 attacks
| Company type | Government agency |
|---|---|
| Industry | Law enforcement, national security |
| Founded | June 22, 1870 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. , United States |
| Parent | United States federal government |
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States Government detained individuals who matched the profile of suspected hijackers, chiefly males of Arabic descent or Muslim noncitizens. By November 5, 2001, Justice Berman reported that 1,182 arrests had been made, with the number rising to over 1,200 by the end of that month. The US Department of Justice released information concerning these detainees.
An Inspector General report from June 2003 revealed that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had taken into custody 762 foreign nationals connected to the PENTTBOM investigation. Among them, 24 had previous immigration violations, while the other 738 were apprehended between September 11, 2001, and August 6, 2002, as a direct result of FBI inquiries. Although authorities suspected between 10 and 15 detainees of sympathizing with al Qaeda, no conclusive evidence linked them directly to the attacks. Critics contended that many detentions were without proper justification.
Detainees
Khalid Shaikh Muhammed (KSM) is recognized as a principal detainee due to his purported involvement in orchestrating the 9/11 attacks. CNN World referred to him as a "mastermind" behind these events. As of March 2020, Muhammed has been held at Guantanamo Bay detention facility for more than thirteen years.
Muhammed Haydar Zammar is known as an alleged recruiter for the attacks. Middle East Eye described him as a prominent cleric in Germany who assisted Mohammed Atta—the lead hijacker—in traveling to Afghanistan for al-Qaeda training. NBC News reported his capture in Syria in 2018. Earlier, he was detained in Morocco in late 2001 and subsequently transferred by the CIA to Syrian authorities. Zammar received a twelve-year sentence in Syria but was released in 2013 during the ongoing civil war.
Criticism
Irum Shiekh, author of Detained Without a Cause, points out that immigration officials designated certain Muslim individuals as "Special Interest Cases," effectively branding them as potential terrorists.
According to documents from the George W. Bush Presidential archives, while the government admitted shortcomings in its approach, it maintained that detaining and investigating aliens who violated immigration laws and were suspected of terrorist links was justified. They criticized the FBI’s broad classification of many detainees as "of interest." In his address, President Bush condemned the unjust association of individuals with terrorism solely based on their ethnicity and highlighted efforts aimed at fostering reconciliation and building new relationships.