Ahmed Rashidi
Encyclopedia
Documents from Rashidi's CSR Tribunal indicated he had been confirmed as an "enemy combatant", and was going to start having annual Administrative Review Board
hearings.
However, records the Department of Defense published in September 2007 showed that no annual reviews were convened for him.
There is no record any Summary of Evidence memos
were prepared for annual review boards.
Prior to his repatriation Rashidi was described as a captive who had been cleared for release.
But there is no record that an Administrative Review Board drafted a decision memos recommending his release or transfer.
Rashidi was one of the detainees who they profiled.
The Globe reported that Rashidi was alleged to have been attended the al Farouq training camp
in Afghanistan
.
According to the Globe:
The report stated that Ahmed Rashidi was routinely having six hour interrogations in the middle of the night, followed by a series of cell relocations.
Guards called this practice the "frequent flyer program
".
, wrote Rashidi's lawyers on February 22, 2007.
He wrote that Rashidi and another man, Ahmed Belbacha, had: "...been approved to leave Guantanamo, after diplomatic arrangements for their departure had been made."
British officials continued to decline to make efforts on behalf of the Guantanamo captives who were British residents, but not British citizens.
A close friend back in the United Kingdom, Abderrazzak Sakim, and Clive Stafford Smith
, told the Islington Gazette
, his local paper, that they were concerned that if he were repatriated to Morocco, he would be promptly subjected to abusive detention in a Moroccan prison.
The paper reports that Rashidi spent three years in solitary confinement, and has been subjected to beatings and pepper spraying.
The paper quotes Emily Thornberry
, his local Member of Parliament
:
Initially the DoD declined to release the two men's names. But it soon became known that Ahmed Rashidi was the Moroccan man, that he hadn't been released to a third country.
Rashidi was not charged, but he was detained by Moroccan authorities, when he was repatriated.
Rashidi was released on Thursday, May 3, 2007.
Reuters
reports that
Rashidi had traveled to Pakistan, where he was captured in late 2001, to try to raise funds for a heart operation for his young son.
Reuters reports that Rashidi described hearing his Pakistani captors negotatiate, with US officials, the size of the bounty they would received for turning him over.
reporter Michelle Shephard
, the author of Guantanamo's Child, a book about Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr
, who was a minor when he was captured and sent to Guantanamo.
According to Shaphard, Rashidi said their fellow captives felt particularly sorry for Khadr, because he was so young, and because they could tell when it was his turn to be subjected to brutal interrogation techniques.
Administrative Review Board
The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the suspects held by the United States in Camp Delta in the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....
hearings.
However, records the Department of Defense published in September 2007 showed that no annual reviews were convened for him.
There is no record any Summary of Evidence memos
Summary of Evidence (ARB)
Counter-terrorism analysts prepared a Summary of Evidence memo for the Administrative Review Board hearings of approximately 460 captives in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba from December 2004 to December 2005.-Release of the memos:...
were prepared for annual review boards.
Prior to his repatriation Rashidi was described as a captive who had been cleared for release.
But there is no record that an Administrative Review Board drafted a decision memos recommending his release or transfer.
Boston Globe investigations
On July 14, 2006 the Boston Globe reported on investigations they made to test the credibility of the allegations against Guantanamo detainees.Rashidi was one of the detainees who they profiled.
The Globe reported that Rashidi was alleged to have been attended the al Farouq training camp
Al Farouq training camp
The Al Farouq training camp, also known as "the airport camp", was an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Camp attendees received small-arms training, map-reading, orientation, explosives training, and other training....
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
According to the Globe:
- "the US military has accused Ahmed Errachidi... of 'receiving training at the Al Farooq training camp in July 2001, to include weapons training, war tactics, and bomb making.' according to a summary of evidence for his initial hearing provided to the Globe by his lawyers at Reprieve, a British legal-services organization.
- "But Chris Chang , an investigator for Reprieve, uncovered pay stubs showing that Errachidi had been a chef in two London restaurants, the Westbury and the Archduke, in July 2001. Chang's office provided copies of the pay stubs to the Globe."
Sleep deprivation
On August 7, 2008 the Washington Post reported that the Guantanamo guards defied their orders to discontinue the illegal practice of arbitrarily moving captives multiples times a day to deprive them of sleep.The report stated that Ahmed Rashidi was routinely having six hour interrogations in the middle of the night, followed by a series of cell relocations.
Guards called this practice the "frequent flyer program
Frequent flyer program (Guantanamo)
The frequent flyer program is a controversial technique used by the USA in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.Guards deprived detainees of sleep by moving them from one cell to another, multiple times a day, for days or weeks on end....
".
Reported to have been cleared for release
Lieutenant-Colonel David Cooper, of the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy CombatantsOffice for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants
The Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants, established in 2004 by the Bush administration's Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, is a United States military body responsible for organising Combatant Status Review Tribunals for captives held in...
, wrote Rashidi's lawyers on February 22, 2007.
He wrote that Rashidi and another man, Ahmed Belbacha, had: "...been approved to leave Guantanamo, after diplomatic arrangements for their departure had been made."
British officials continued to decline to make efforts on behalf of the Guantanamo captives who were British residents, but not British citizens.
A close friend back in the United Kingdom, Abderrazzak Sakim, and Clive Stafford Smith
Clive Stafford Smith
Clive Adrian Stafford Smith OBE is a British [see talk] lawyer who specialises in the areas of civil rights and the death penalty in the United States of America....
, told the Islington Gazette
Islington gazette
The Islington Gazette is a weekly paid-for newspaper covering news relating to the borough of Islington in north London, UK. There are two editions, the Islington Gazette and the Islington Gazette EC1 that covers the south of the borough which used to be known as the borough of Finsbury...
, his local paper, that they were concerned that if he were repatriated to Morocco, he would be promptly subjected to abusive detention in a Moroccan prison.
The paper reports that Rashidi spent three years in solitary confinement, and has been subjected to beatings and pepper spraying.
The paper quotes Emily Thornberry
Emily Thornberry
Emily Anne Thornberry is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005.-Before Parliament:...
, his local Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
:
|
Repatriation and release
The Department of Defense reported, on April 26, 2007, that two further captives had been repatriated, one to Morocco, one to Afghanistan.Initially the DoD declined to release the two men's names. But it soon became known that Ahmed Rashidi was the Moroccan man, that he hadn't been released to a third country.
Rashidi was not charged, but he was detained by Moroccan authorities, when he was repatriated.
Rashidi was released on Thursday, May 3, 2007.
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reports that
Rashidi had traveled to Pakistan, where he was captured in late 2001, to try to raise funds for a heart operation for his young son.
Reuters reports that Rashidi described hearing his Pakistani captors negotatiate, with US officials, the size of the bounty they would received for turning him over.
2009 interview with Michelle Shephard
In March 2009 Rashidi was interviewed, by email from his home in Tangiers, by Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
reporter Michelle Shephard
Michelle Shephard
Michelle Shephard is an investigative reporter with the Toronto Star newspaper in Canada. She has been awarded the Michener Award for public service journalism and twice won Canada's top newspaper prize, the National Newspaper Award. In 2011, she was an associate producer on an Oscar-nominated...
, the author of Guantanamo's Child, a book about Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...
, who was a minor when he was captured and sent to Guantanamo.
According to Shaphard, Rashidi said their fellow captives felt particularly sorry for Khadr, because he was so young, and because they could tell when it was his turn to be subjected to brutal interrogation techniques.
See also
- Solitary confinementSolitary confinementSolitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
- Sleep deprivationSleep deprivationSleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the...
- Hunger strikeHunger strikeA hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
- Guantanamo hunger strikers
External links
- The Perils of Return: Repatriated to Torture Andy Worthington
- Michael Pye, Worst of the worst?, The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, June 2, 2007 - Deals with dictators undermined by British request for return of five Guantánamo detainees Andy Worthington