Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman is a citizen of Yemen who was held without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba for 14 years and 160 days.[1][2] He was transferred to Italy on July 10, 2016.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
| Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman | |
|---|---|
 Sulyman's Guantanamo identity portrait, showing him wearing the orange uniform issued to noncompliant individuals. | |
| Born | 1974 (age 49–50) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| ISN | 153 |
| Charge(s) | no charge, held in extrajudicial detention |
| Status | transferred to Italy for resettlement |
American intelligence analysts estimate Suleiman was born in 1974 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[1]
Official status reviews
editOriginally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention.[9] In 2004 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.
Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
edit
Following the Supreme Court's ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.[9][12]
Scholars at the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations:[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban."[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... were at Tora Bora."[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the captives whose "names or aliases were found on material seized in raids on Al Qaeda safehouses and facilities."[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the captives who was an "al Qaeda operative".[13]
- Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was listed as one of the "82 detainees made no statement to CSRT or ARB tribunals or made statements that do not bear materially on the military's allegations against them."[13]
Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment
editOn April 25, 2011, whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts.[14][15]
Transfer to Italy
editSuleiman was transferred to Italy, on July 10, 2016.[3][4][5][6][7][8][16][17] The USA has not repatriated any individuals to Yemen, since 2009, due to security concerns.
Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, quoted Suleiman's attorney Jon Sands, who said Suleiman had never met with an attorney during his entire stay in Guantanamo.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b
OARDEC. "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
Works related to List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006 at Wikisource
- ^ "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)" (PDF). Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-09.Additional archives: 2008-11-09.
- ^ a b c
Carol Rosenberg (2016-07-10). "Guantánamo downsizes again — Yemeni goes to Italy for resettlement". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
U.S. troops delivered a long-cleared Yemeni detainee to Italy over the weekend, the Pentagon disclosed Sunday, in a downsizing of the detention to 78 or fewer captives.
- ^ a b
"Yemeni Guantánamo Bay inmate transferred to Italy, US says". The Guardian. 2016-07-10. Archived from the original on 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
The United States said on Sunday it had transferred a Yemeni inmate from the Guantánamo Bay prison to Italy, bringing the number of detainees at the US naval base in Cuba to 78.
- ^ a b Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- ^ a b
"US transfers Yemeni Guantanamo inmate to Italy". Al Arabiya. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
The Yemeni man was arrested by Pakistani police and transferred to US custody in December, 2001, meaning he had been in US detention for more than 14 years, according to US military documents posted online by the WikiLeaks website.
- ^ a b "Italia accoglie detenuto di Guantanamo. Per motivi umanitari" [Italy welcomes Guantanamo detainee "for humanitarian purposes"] (in Italian). Roma: Repubblica. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- ^ a b
"Yemeni Gitmo inmate flown to Italy". Deutsche Welle. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
Suleiman, 42, was born in Saudi Arabia and has a history of participating in hunger strikes, military records show. He was listed as being in "fair" health.
- ^ a b
"U.S. military reviews 'enemy combatant' use". USA Today. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23.
Critics called it an overdue acknowledgment that the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals are unfairly geared toward labeling detainees the enemy, even when they pose little danger. Simply redoing the tribunals won't fix the problem, they said, because the system still allows coerced evidence and denies detainees legal representation.
- ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, The New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
- ^
"Q&A: What next for Guantanamo prisoners?". BBC News. 2002-01-21. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d e f g Benjamin Wittes; Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study" (PDF). The Brookings Institution. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
- ^
Christopher Hope; Robert Winnett; Holly Watt; Heidi Blake (2011-04-27). "WikiLeaks: Guantanamo Bay terrorist secrets revealed -- Guantanamo Bay has been used to incarcerate dozens of terrorists who have admitted plotting terrifying attacks against the West – while imprisoning more than 150 totally innocent people, top-secret files disclose". The Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
The Daily Telegraph, along with other newspapers including The Washington Post, today exposes America's own analysis of almost ten years of controversial interrogations on the world's most dangerous terrorists. This newspaper has been shown thousands of pages of top-secret files obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
- ^ "WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
- ^
"US transfers Guantanamo inmate to Italy: official". The Local Italy. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
'The United States is grateful to the government of Italy for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The United States coordinated with the government of Italy to ensure this transfer took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.'
- ^
Felicia Schwarz (2016-07-11). "U.S. Transfers Yemeni Detainee From Guantanamo to Italy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
Mr. Suleiman's transfer was approved by six U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Defense, State, Justice and Homeland Security as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Defense Department notifies Congress of the moves 30 days in advance.
External links
edit- Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Three: Captured Crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan Andy Worthington, September 22, 2010