Sharif Fati Ali Al Mishad

Sharif Fati Ali Al Mishad
Born	(1976-12-14) December 14, 1976 Shibin El Kom, Egypt
Other names	Sherif el Mashad
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Former detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Sharif Fati Ali Al Mishad, also referred to as Sherif el Mashad, is an Egyptian national who was subjected to extrajudicial detention at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility located in Cuba. His Internment Serial Number assigned at Guantanamo was 190. Analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo indicate he was born on December 14, 1976, in Shibin El Kom, Egypt.

Background before detention

Author Andy Worthington describes Mashad as a businessman living in Italy who traveled to Afghanistan purely to deliver humanitarian assistance. He possessed skills as both an athlete and a craftsman. After completing technical school, he spent three years employed at beach resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula before relocating to Italy to live with an uncle who held Italian citizenship. While in Italy, he worked in the construction sector and eventually established his own prosperous construction company.

Detention, capture, and interrogation in Afghanistan

According to Worthington, Mashad consented to travel to Afghanistan in mid-2001 to collaborate with a Kuwaiti entrepreneur and philanthropist, viewing the journey as an opportunity for charitable work as well as business networking. Despite his mother’s concerns, he arrived prior to the closure of the Afghan-Iranian border following U.S. military operations. In November 2001, after crossing into Pakistan, he was apprehended by Pakistani border security forces.

Worthington attributes Mashad’s extended detention by U.S. authorities to erroneous allegations made by fellow detainees, including one who accused Mashad of torturing him in 2000—a charge Mashad disproved by presenting evidence that he was residing in Italy during that period. Another claim that Mashad had assisted Arabs in Bosnia in 1991 was invalidated since he was only fourteen years old and attending school in Egypt at that time.

Sharif Fathim Al Mushad v. George Walker Bush

A habeas corpus petition was submitted on behalf of Mashad. Subsequently, the Department of Defense released 17 pages of unclassified material pertaining to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal on August 16, 2005. On December 15, 2004, Tribunal panel number 25 upheld his classification as an "enemy combatant." Worthington points out that although the habeas petition was filed in 2005, Mashad did not meet with attorney Cori Crider from Reprieve until 2008.

OARDEC review proceedings

Following the Supreme Court’s 2004 decision in Rasul v. Bush, the Department of Defense initiated hearings enabling detainees to be informed of and contest the grounds for their detention. Documentation from Mashad’s hearings held in 2004, 2005, and 2007 was obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, outlining the evidence reviewed by the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants (OARDEC).

Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control

In April 2010, the whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks published a previously classified eight-page Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control dated September 15, 2008. Signed by camp commander David M Thomas, it advocated for maintaining Mashad’s detention.

Relocation from Guantanamo

After nearly eight years at Guantanamo, Sharif Fati Ali al Mishad was relocated to Albania in February 2010.

In March 2012, Albanian authorities denied al Mishad permission to return to Egypt. Although the fall of the Hosni Mubarak government had raised expectations that former Egyptian detainees could safely repatriate, Albanian officials have not provided justification for their refusal. Additionally, his wife—born in Albania and holding a valid visa for Egypt—is prohibited from leaving Albania. This restriction has been criticized as contravening both Albanian legislation and international legal standards.

External links

• Sherif el Mashad at Reprieve
• Release of four Guantánamo detainees: three relocated to Albania, one to Spain by Andy Worthington, February 25, 2010