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Lotfi Bin Ali

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Lotfi Bin Ali, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 7 August 202516 sources
Lotfi Bin Ali
Born1965
Tunisia
DiedMarch 9, 2021(2021-03-09) (aged 55–56)
Other namesAbdullah Bin Ali al-Lutfi
OccupationDetainee
Known forDetained at Guantanamo Bay without charges for over thirteen years

Lotfi Bin Ali (1965 – 9 March 2021), also referred to as Abdullah Bin Ali al-Lutfi, was a Tunisian national detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba for over thirteen years without formal charges. In 2014, he was among five detainees relocated to Kazakhstan. After the death of another transferred prisoner, reportedly due to inadequate medical treatment, Lotfi Bin Ali openly discussed his circumstances. In a 2016 profile by The Guardian, he characterized his exile in Kazakhstan as socially isolating and, in certain respects, nearly as severe as his time at Guantanamo.[1]

Health

A medical evaluation from 2004 documented that he suffered from persistent heart disease, necessitating a mechanical heart valve, in addition to issues such as kidney stones, dormant tuberculosis, depression, and elevated blood pressure. He required blood monitoring every two months to manage his anti-coagulant therapy.[2][3][4]

In October 2015, nearly a year following his relocation to Semey, Kazakhstan, Vice magazine reported that local healthcare providers did not speak Arabic and lacked access to interpreters.[5] Upon arrival at Guantanamo, records indicated he stood tall and weighed . His weight experienced a significant decline in late 2005, dropping from in November to by mid-December, before partially regaining by early 2006. Lotfi Bin Ali passed away on 9 March 2021[6] due to complications from heart disease and the inability to afford essential surgical intervention.[7]

Official status reviews

Initially, the administration under George W. Bush maintained that detainees captured during the "war on terror" were not entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions, allowing indefinite detention without charges or transparent judicial procedures. However, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court decided in Rasul v. Bush that individuals held at Guantanamo must be informed of the accusations against them and granted the opportunity to contest their imprisonment.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

Following this Supreme Court ruling, the United States Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.

In December 2008, analysts from the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, classified Guantanamo detainees according to military claims justifying their detention:

  • Lotfi Bin Ali was listed among those not authorized for release or transfer.
  • He was alleged to have affiliations with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
  • Accusations included residing in safehouses linked to Al Qaeda, Taliban, or other groups.
  • He was purportedly trained militarily or in terrorist activities within Afghanistan.
  • He was identified as part of the "al Qaeda leadership cadre."
  • Despite these allegations, he appeared among two purported Al Qaeda leaders who were cleared for release or transfer.

Previously confidential Joint Task Force Guantanamo evaluation

On April 25, 2011, the whistleblower group WikiLeaks released once-classified evaluations prepared by analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo. A two-page document dated June 27, 2004, and signed by camp commander Jay W. Hood, recommended Lotfi's release due to severe health concerns, although the Criminal Investigative Task Force assessed him as a high security risk.

Authorization for release by the Guantanamo Joint Task Force

On his inauguration day, President Barack Obama signed three Executive Orders to reassess detainees at Guantanamo. Among these, Executive Order 13492 created a review mechanism involving senior representatives from the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Lotfi was subsequently cleared for release through this comprehensive interagency evaluation.

Relocation to Kazakhstan

On December 30, 2014, Lotfi Bin Ali along with four other detainees were transferred to Kazakhstan, where they lived under stringent security measures.[8][9][10] According to Fox News, they were the inaugural group of detainees sent there.[11] Journalist Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald highlighted that Lotfi Bin Ali arrived at Guantanamo suffering from significant heart disease and that his transfer had been advised since 2004 due to his minimal threat level.[12] Accompanying him were three Yemeni detainees (Asim Thabit Abdullah Al-Khalaqi, Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna, and Sabri Mohammad al Qurashi) as well as a Tunisian national, Adel Al-Hakeemy. Reuters reported that all five individuals were classified as "low risk" by the 2009 Joint Review Task Force.[13]

National Public Radio confirmed unanimous consensus across agencies supporting their release.[14] Lotfi Bin Ali and Al Hakeemy were settled in Semey, while the Yemeni detainees were placed in Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan.[9]

Vice News characterized their freedom as largely nominal, noting that Kazakh security personnel frequently conducted inspections of their residences, initially occurring nearly daily:

Police officers would visit almost every day. They would enter unannounced, briefly inspect the apartment for a minute or two, then depart... Frankly, it feels like Guantanamo version two.[9]

Lotfi Bin Ali disputed official statements claiming al Khalaqi’s health was stable upon transfer, stating that al Khalaqi frequently lapsed into comas at Guantanamo and required emergency medical intervention.[9] He also recounted several hospital admissions for al Khalaqi in Kazakhstan prior to his passing.

Vice News noted that through collaboration with Kazakh authorities, the local chapter of the ICRC provides healthcare services, food allowances, language instruction, and transportation support for these former detainees. Nevertheless, Kazakh security forces regularly enter their homes without legal warrants.[9]

In October 2015, Vice magazine published a profile on Lotfi Bin Ali,[5][15] revealing that Kazakh officials had yet to issue him official identity papers, compelling him to depend on the Red Crescent Society for administrative support. During an encounter with Alfiya Meshina, head of Semey’s Red Crescent office, she dismissed his health complaints:

I refuse to entertain this nonsense about his health issues. Since his arrival on December 31 last year until now, we have been fully attending to his medical needs... We have many impoverished elderly people and large families living far worse than he does. What makes him a national hero deserving special treatment or privileges?[5]

In 2019, UNESCO reported that Lotfi Bin Ali expressed a preference for actual incarceration at Guantanamo over his current life in Kazakhstan.[16]

External links

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TheGuardian2016-09-30
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TheTelegraphDabIsn894
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Guardian2015-05-22
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AndyWorthington2012-10-25
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Vice2015-10-15
  6. ↑ Hilal, Maha (April 3, 2021). "The death of a former Guantanamo prisoner exposes how the US controls the life and death of its captives". Business Insider.
  7. ↑ "Meet Mansoor Adayfi: I Was Kidnapped as a Teen, Sold to the CIA & Jailed at Guantánamo for 14 Years". YouTube.
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Wapo2014-12-31
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ViceNews2015-05-21
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AndyWorthington2015-01-04
  11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Fox2014-12-31
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MiamiHerald2014-12-30
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Reuters2014-12-31
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Npr2014-12-31
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named thediplomat2015-10-16
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Unesco2019-05

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