Deleted:Assem Matruq Mohammad al Aasmi

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Assem Matruq Mohammad al Aasmi
Born February 18, 1980 (1980-02-18) (age 44)
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip
Other names
  • Walid Hijazi
  • Mohammed al Palestini
  • Wahid Brahim Mustafa Abud Jasi
Citizenship Palestine

Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi is a citizen of Palestine currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1]

Assem Matruq Mohammad al Aasmi arrived at Guantanamo on January 23, 2002, and was transferred to Spain of February 24, 2010.[2][3][4][5]

Background

Although frequently described as a Saudi citizen, the government of Saudi Arabia considers him a Palestinian, even though he was born in Saudi Arabia, as his parents were not Saudi citizens.[6] Aasmi was transferred to Spain in early 2010.[5]

Carol Rosenberg, on January 10, 2010, in writing about captives who had photos taken by the International Committee of the Red Cross, for their families, described him as having been “cleared for transfer, according to federal records”.[7]

Status reviews

Initially the George W. Bush Presidency asserted it was not obliged to justify the detention of any captives it seized in the War on Terror, asserting they were not subject to the Geneva Conventions. In 2004 however the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that the captives had to be informed of the allegations justifying their detention.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

In response to the Supreme Court ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants (OARDEC).[4] Al Aasmi attended his 2004 Combatant Status Review Tribunal, and annual Administrative Review Board hearings in 2005 and 2007.

Scholars at the Brookings Institute, lead by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations[8]:

  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who the Wittes team unable to identify as presently cleared for release or transfer.[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are members of Al Qaeda."[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... traveled to Afghanistan for jihad."[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who was a foreign fighter.[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who "deny affiliation with Al Qaeda or the Taliban yet admit facts that, under the broad authority the laws of war give armed parties to detain the enemy, offer the government ample legal justification for its detention decisions."[8]
  • Assem Matruq Mohammad Al Aasmi was listed as one of the captives who had admitted "to training at Al Qaeda or Taliban camps".[8]

Worthington, on the other hand, noting that Aasmi had only spent a fortnight in training at the Al Farouq training camp, whose training was curtailed when the camp was shut down following al Qaeda attacks on 2001-9-11, “was as close to a nobody as it was possible to be, having spent just a fortnight at a training camp.”[5]

Habeas petition

Al Aasmi had a habeas corpus petition published on his behalf. But, although the Department of Defense published documents from the CSR Tribunals of 179 captives, they did not publish any of his habeas documents.[9]

In July 2008 the US District Court ruled that his habeas petition was moot.[10]

Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment

In April 25, 2011, the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo Al Aasmis assessment was dated May 27, 2007, was signed by camp commandant Mark H. Buzby, and was eight pages long.[11] Buzby recommended transfer from Guantanamo.

Spanish journalist Mónica Ceberio Belaza, who had profiled Hijazi in May 2010, analyzed the leaked document.[12] According to Belaza, the formerly secret document said that Hijazi had no proven link to al Qaeda. She reported that Hijazi was considered at “high risk” from a health point of view, and had been on a suicide watch.

Belaza repeated Hijazi's account of how he came to travel to Afghanistan.[12] In 2001 traveled to Saudi Arabia, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, thinking that, as a carpenter, he would be able to find work there, to pay for his trip home. However, due to anti-Palestinian prejudice he found no work. Belaza wrote “He spent three months penniless in a mosque, where a Saudi offered him the chance to travel to Afghanistan to join the jihad. Hijazi answered that, as a Palestinian, his fight was against Israel but that he would accompany the man in return for some money to get home.”

His Saudi benefactor arranged his travel, and took him to the Al Farouq training camp -- two weeks prior to al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001.[12]

Transferred to Spain

on February 24, 2010, a Palestinian captive was transferred to Spain. The US government policy was not to identify by name captives who were released or transferred from Guantanamo, but on March 4, 2010, Andy Worthington, the author of the Guantanamo Files, identified that Palestinian as al Aasmi.[5] "Spain takes 1st Guantanamo inmate, Albania takes 3". Boston Globe. 2010-02-24. http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/02/24/spain_takes_1st_guantanamo_inmate_albania_3/. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "Perez Rubalcaba would not give the name of the Palestinian or any other information, citing privacy concerns. ‘We do not want to give more details simply because our aim is for those who come to Spain to be able to live their lives,’ Perez Rubalcaba said. However, the man was identified by his family as Walid Hijazi, originally from the town of Khan Younis in Gaza."  </ref> Worthington reported that Spanish authorities had planned to keep his identity secret, but Spanish journalists found that he was living under his real name, “Walid Hijazi”.

On May 8, 2010, Worthington described him as “abandoned” in Spain and “reliant on the kindness of strangers for his financial and psychological support.”[13] Worthington quoted an article in La Pais which described Hijazi as “devastated and traumatized”, looking “very weak and fragile, almost like a child”.[14] Worthington quoted Michael Korzinski, the co-director of the Helen Bamber Foundation, and an expert on recovering from torture and abusive detention, who said “These patients need time to reconnect with ordinary life. They have to feel that they have rights, rights that have been denied to them for a long time.”

The El Pais article says that Hijazi will not be allowed to leave Spain.[13] He has a work permit, but he speaks no Spanish, and has been mentally unprepared to begin to learn Spanish.[15]

References

  1. "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006". United States Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf. Retrieved 2006-05-15.  16x16px 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
  2. JTF-GTMO (2007-03-16). "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/measurements/. Retrieved 2008-12-22.  mirror
  3. "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)". Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhumanrights.ucdavis.edu%2Fresources%2Flibrary%2Fdocuments-and-reports%2Fgtmo_heightsweights.pdf&date=2009-12-21. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Margot Williams (2008-11). "Guantanamo Docket: Assem Matruq Mohammed al-Asmi". New York Times. http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/49-assem-matruq-mohammad-al-aasmi. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Andy Worthington (2010-04-03). "Who Is the Palestinian Released from Guantánamo in Spain?". http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/page/35/. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "...a month ago, El Mundo — the country’s second biggest newspaper — claimed that the ex-prisoner in question was Walid Hijazi (identified in Guantánamo as Assem Matruq al-Aasmi), who was born in 1980 and is originally from the town of Khan Younis in Gaza."  mirror
  6. Andy Worthington (2009-01-28). "The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (9) – Seized in Pakistan (Part One)". http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-guantanamo-files-website-extras-9-seized-in-pakistan-part-one/. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "The Palestinian Assem Matruq al-Aasmi, for example, who is from Gaza, and was 21 years old at the time of his capture, was seized by the Pakistani authorities from a hospital and handed over — or sold — to the Americans."  mirror
  7. Carol Rosenberg (2010-01-10). "Images provide intimate look at Guantánamo captives". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/10/1418581_p2/images-provide-intimate-look-at.html. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "Gazan Walid Hijazi, 28, cleared for transfer, according to federal records, looks fit as he squats in flip-flaps and tan uniform in a prison camp recreation yard, a traditional headdress draped around his neck."  mirror
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Benjamin Wittes, Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study". The Brookings Institute. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2008/12/16%20detainees%20wittes/1216_detainees_wittes.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-16.  mirror
  9. OARDEC (August 8, 2007). "Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases". United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_publicly_filed_CSRT_records.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  10. "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 212 -- Orders that all petitioners other than the following are DISMISSED without prejudice from Civil Action Number 05-2386". United States Department of Justice. 2008-07-29. http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2008mc00442/131990/212/0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
  11. Mark H. Buzby (2007-05-27). "Recommendation for transfer out of DoD Control (TRO) for Guantanamo detainee, ISN US9SA-000049DP". Joint Task Force Guantanamo. http://wikileaks.ch/gitmo/pdf/sa/us9sa-000049dp.pdf. Retrieved 2012-07-03.  16x16px Media related to File:ISN 00049, Asim M Al Aasmi's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf at Wikimedia Commons
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Mónica Ceberio Belaza (2011-05-11). "Eight years on suicide watch". Cageprisoners.com. http://cageprisoners.com/learn-more/news/item/1525-eight-years-on-suicide-watch. Retrieved 2012-07-03.  mirror
  13. 13.0 13.1 Andy Worthington (2010-05-08). "Abandoned in Spain: The Palestinian Freed from Guantánamo". http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/05/08/abandoned-in-spain-the-palestinian-freed-from-guantanamo/. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "... there are concerns that the ill-defined obligations of countries accepting cleared prisoners from Guantánamo have left the first prisoner given a new life in Spain — the Palestinian Walid Hijazi, who was released in February — in a precarious position, effectively abandoned by the State, and largely reliant on the kindness of strangers for his financial and psychological support."  mirror
  14. Mónica Ceberio Belaza (2010-05-02). "El encierro no acaba en Guantánamo [The closure does not stop at Guantanamo]". La Pais. http://elpais.com/diario/2010/05/02/espana/1272751203_850215.html. Retrieved 2012-07-03. "Walid Ibrahim Mustafa Abu Hijazi aterrizó en España procedente de Guantánamo a finales de febrero vistiendo aún su mono de la "cárcel de la vergüenza". Es palestino; el primer preso de Guantánamo acogido en nuestro país en virtud de un acuerdo del Gobierno de Zapatero con la Administración de Barack Obama."  [mirror]
  15. "Prisoners of Guantanamo Bay arrived to Spain have serious psychological problems and difficulties to adapt.". The American Postes. 2010-07-10. http://www.theamericaspostes.com/2150/prisoners-of-guantanamo-bay-arrived-to-spain-have-serious-psychological-problems-and-difficulties-to-adapt/. Retrieved 2012-07-03.  mirror

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