Mustafa Ait Idir
Mustafa Ait Idir | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 9, 1970 Algeria |
| Occupation | Former detainee |
| Known for | Detention at Guantanamo Bay, legal challenges to detention procedures |
Mustafa Ait Idir (also spelled Ait Idr; born July 9, 1970) is a former detainee at the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camp located in Cuba. Originally from Algeria, he relocated to Bosnia, where he married a Bosnian national and subsequently obtained Bosnian citizenship. On October 18, 2001, Ait Idir was apprehended under suspicion of participating in a plot to bomb the United States Embassy. Although acquitted and released, he was detained again along with five others by U.S. forces on January 17, 2002, and subsequently transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
During his imprisonment, Ait Idir reported harsh treatment, including physical abuse that led to broken fingers and a stroke resulting in partial paralysis of his face.
Following his clearance of charges, Ait Idir was among three detainees freed and repatriated to Bosnia on December 16, 2008.
Combatant Status Review
Ait Idir took part in the tribunal hearings, an event involving approximately 60% of detainees. The Summary of Evidence memo presented against him included several allegations.
Judge Joyce Hens Green from Washington, D.C., cited extensively from Ait Idir’s tribunal transcript when she ruled that the procedures of Guantanamo tribunals violated constitutional protections.
Administrative Review Board
Those designated as "enemy combatants" by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal underwent yearly Administrative Review Board evaluations. These hearings were designed to evaluate the risk detainees might pose if released or transferred, along with other considerations relevant to continued detention.
Ait Idir participated in his Administrative Review Board session.
Legal Action Against the U.S. Government
On April 14, 2005, The Washington Post reported that attorneys representing Ait Idir filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government seeking access to video recordings made by the Initial Reaction Force (IRF), which documented incidents during which Ait Idir sustained injuries. The IRF is mandated to record all such interventions.
Testimony of Thomas P. Sullivan Before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
On September 25, 2006, Thomas P. Sullivan, an attorney providing pro bono representation for Guantanamo detainees, appeared before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. He voiced concerns regarding legislation that became the Military Commissions Act of 2006, emphasizing inherent injustices within the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) framework.
Sullivan referenced excerpts from Ait Idir’s CSRT hearing:
Tribunal Recorder: While residing in Bosnia, the detainee was linked with a known al Qaida operative. Detainee: Please provide his name. Tribunal President: I am not aware. Detainee: How am I expected to respond?' Tribunal President: Did you know anyone affiliated with al Qaida? Detainee: No, absolutely not.
These charges are impossible to address. You assert my association with al Qaida, which is untrue. I have no evidence other than requesting you capture Bin Laden and inquire if I am connected... You must present proof for these claims since all I can do is deny them.
Sullivan also cited Judge Joyce Hens Green’s decision, which referenced Ait Idir’s hearing as indicative of procedural unfairness in CSRTs.
Release
Mustafa Ait Idir was released to Bosnia alongside Boudella al Hajj and Mohammed Nechle on December 16, 2008. Reporting by The Australian quoted him describing his nearly seven-year detention as being "in the worst place on earth," while stressing his innocence.
On March 3, 2009, El Khabar reported that prior to their release, the Bush administration required Ait Idir and others to sign agreements relinquishing their rights to pursue legal claims against the U.S. government for their detention.
See also
Further reading
- Witnesses of the Unseen: Seven Years in Guantanamo by Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir; Redwood Press; 2017; ISBN 978-1-5036-0115-4; Stanford, California
External links
- Amnesty International profile on Mustafa Ait Idir and five others
- McClatchyDC article on Algerians freed from Guantanamo
- UC Davis report on torture and mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay involving Ait Idir
- Habeas Works: Federal Courts’ Proven Capacity to Handle Guantanamo Cases, Human Rights First (June 2010)
- Algerian emigrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Bosnia and Herzegovina extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Living people
- Guantanamo detainees known to have been released
- 1970 births
- People from Algiers
- People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States
- Combatant Status Review Tribunals
- Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Algerian descent