Mohammed Souleimani Laalami
Mohammed Souleimani Laalami | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 4, 1965 Casablanca, Morocco |
| Died | 2013 |
| Occupation(s) | Former detainee, militant |
| Known for | Detention at Guantanamo Bay, death fighting in Syria |
Mohammed Souleimani Laalami was a Moroccan national who underwent extrajudicial detention at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility located in Cuba. He was assigned the detainee identification number 237. According to the Department of Defense, he was born on March 4, 1965, in Casablanca, Morocco.
Official status reviews
Under the Bush administration, individuals captured in the "war on terror" were classified as outside the protections of the Geneva Conventions, which permitted their indefinite detention without formal charges or transparent judicial processes. However, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Rasul v. Bush that detainees at Guantanamo must be notified of the accusations against them and given an opportunity to challenge those claims.
Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
In response to this decision, the Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.
Mohammed took part in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Unlike many detainees, his tribunal transcript did not list specific allegations. He appeared uncertain whether the tribunal functioned as a legal court and requested clarification on the charges he faced.
He refuted claims that he was recruited within Morocco or trained at the al Farouq camp, asserting that previous confessions were extracted under duress during physical abuse inflicted by both Afghan and American personnel. Mohammed also denied being captured at Tora Bora, stating instead that his apprehension occurred near Jalalabad and that he was unarmed at the time.
Regarding his journey to Afghanistan with family members, he described it as a religious pilgrimage but clarified that by "pilgrimage," he meant a permanent departure from a location rather than visiting sacred sites.
Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment
On April 25, 2011, the whistleblowing group WikiLeaks released previously classified evaluations prepared by analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo. His two-page Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment, composed on December 27, 2003 and signed by camp commander Major General Geoffrey D. Miller, recommended that his detention continue.
Moroccan conviction
On November 10, 2006, Laalami and two other Moroccans, also former Guantanamo detainees, were convicted by a Moroccan court. Laalami was sentenced to five years for leading a "criminal group," while Najib Mohammad Lahassimi and Mohammed Ouali each received three-year sentences related to document forgery.
Death fighting in Syria
Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald was first to report that Laalami became the initial former Guantanamo detainee confirmed to have died while engaged in combat in Syria. He was associated with Harakat Sham al-Islam, a group not connected to either al Qaeda or ISIS.