Hassan bin Attash
Encyclopedia
Hassan Mohammed Ali bin Attash is a citizen of Saudi Arabia
, held in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
s, in Cuba
.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo
counter-terrorism
analysts estimate that bin Attash was born in 1985, in Jeddah
, Saudi Arabia.
As of June 11, 2011, Hassan Mohammed Ali bin Attash has been held at Guantanamo for six years nine months.
Attash was just sixteen or seventeen when he was captured.
Hassin is the brother of Waleed Mohammed bin Attash, who has also been described as an inmate in the CIA's network of secret prisons.
Hassin too claims he spent time in the other prisons, including "the dark prison
", prior to being detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
.
, Reprieve and Human Rights Watch
.
According to their accounts Hassan bin Attash was captured on September 10, 2002, spent time in the dark prison
, spent four months in Jordan
, where he was hung upside down, and beaten on the soles of his feet, which were then immersed in salt water. They assert that he underwent this kind of questioning until he was willing to sign anything. They claim that he wasn't interrogated about anything he himself had done, but rather about the activity of his older brother. They assert that his 70 year-old father underwent similar questioning. Bin Attash was flown to Guantanamo in March 2003.
The Boston Globe quoted Guantanamo spokesmen Lieutenant Commander
Chito Peppler, who insisted, "US policy requires all detainees to be treated humanely,"
Peppler repeated the assertion that none of the captive's assertions of abuse were credible because al Qaeda trained operatives to lie about abuse.
Al-Sharqawi and Hassan bin Attash were flown from Kabul in September 2002.
The two men were flown aboard N379P, a plane suspected to be part of the CIA's ghost fleet.
Flight records showed that the plane originally departed from Diego Garcia
, stopped in Morocco
, Portugal
, then Kabul before landing in Guantanamo Bay.
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, held in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
s, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo
Joint Task Force Guantanamo
Joint Task Force Guantanamo is a U.S. military joint task force based at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on the southeastern end of the island. JTF-GTMO falls under US Southern Command...
counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
analysts estimate that bin Attash was born in 1985, in Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi Arabia.
As of June 11, 2011, Hassan Mohammed Ali bin Attash has been held at Guantanamo for six years nine months.
Attash was just sixteen or seventeen when he was captured.
Hassin is the brother of Waleed Mohammed bin Attash, who has also been described as an inmate in the CIA's network of secret prisons.
Hassin too claims he spent time in the other prisons, including "the dark prison
The Dark Prison
The dark prison is the informal name used by some Guantanamo Bay detainees for a secret prison they claim they were detained in near Kabul, Afghanistan...
", prior to being detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Human Rights Concern
The circumstances of Hassan bin Attash have triggered the attention of several human rights organizations, including Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Reprieve and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
.
According to their accounts Hassan bin Attash was captured on September 10, 2002, spent time in the dark prison
The Dark Prison
The dark prison is the informal name used by some Guantanamo Bay detainees for a secret prison they claim they were detained in near Kabul, Afghanistan...
, spent four months in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, where he was hung upside down, and beaten on the soles of his feet, which were then immersed in salt water. They assert that he underwent this kind of questioning until he was willing to sign anything. They claim that he wasn't interrogated about anything he himself had done, but rather about the activity of his older brother. They assert that his 70 year-old father underwent similar questioning. Bin Attash was flown to Guantanamo in March 2003.
The Boston Globe quoted Guantanamo spokesmen Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Chito Peppler, who insisted, "US policy requires all detainees to be treated humanely,"
Peppler repeated the assertion that none of the captive's assertions of abuse were credible because al Qaeda trained operatives to lie about abuse.
Transportation to Guantanamo Bay
Human Rights group Reprieve reports that flight records show two captives namedAl-Sharqawi and Hassan bin Attash were flown from Kabul in September 2002.
The two men were flown aboard N379P, a plane suspected to be part of the CIA's ghost fleet.
Flight records showed that the plane originally departed from Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at 7 degrees, 26 minutes south latitude. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT] and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude....
, stopped in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, then Kabul before landing in Guantanamo Bay.
See also
- Minors detained in the global war on terrorMinors detained in the global war on terrorAccording to the UC Davis Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, fifteen juveniles spent time as prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp — three more than the U.S...
- Extraordinary rendition by the United States