- Djamel Ameziane
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Djamel Saiid Ali Ameziane Born April 14, 1967
Al Jesera, AlgeriaDetained at Guantanamo ISN 310 Status Still held in Guantanamo Djamel Saiid Ali Ameziane is an Algerian citizen, and former resident of Canada, who is currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1]
Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report that he was born on April 14, 1967, in Al Jesera, Algeria.
With the assistance of a legal team led by Burlington, Vermont attorney Robert D. Rachlin, Ameziane launched a writ of habeas corpus, Civil Action No. 05-392.[2] Rachlin has said: "There's nothing here that shows that he so much as held a firearm or did anything against the United States -- he's one of those guys who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. There's nothing more here than guilt by association.[1]"
As of August 18, 2011, Djamel Saiid Ali Amezian has been held at Guantanamo for 9.5 years.[3]
Contents
Interrogated by Canadian Security officials in Guantanamo
In mid-July Canadian courts compelled the Canadian government to make available tapes made of the interrogration of Canadian youth Omar Khadr by Canadian security officials in 2004.[4] On July 27 Michelle Shephard, writing in the Toronto Star, reporting that other Canadian security officials had interviewed Ahcene Zemiri, Djamel Ameziane and Mohamedou Ould Slahi, three other Guantanamo captives who had lived in Canada.[4]
Habeas corpus petition
A writ of habeas corpus, Djamel Said Ali Ameziane v. George Walker Bush, was submitted on Djamel Said Ali Ameziane's behalf.[5]
Press reports
The Globe and Mail suggested that Ameziane's Tunisian contact could have been Raouf Hannachi.[1]
Michelle Shephard, writing in the Toronto Star speculated on the possibility Djamel might be transferred to Canada.[6] Shephard wrote that Djamel might be the unexpected beneficiary of the 2002 Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement:
Signed in December 2002, a little-publicized Article 9 of the controversial accord allows the U.S. to send up to 200 migrants to Canada each year. At the time it was signed, it pertained mainly to Haitian and Cuban migrants taken from ships intercepted at sea and housed in Guantanamo.
Shephard's article also addressed the 2005 allegation that Djamel attendance at the Al Salaam Mosque in Montreal justified his continued detention, and the 2006 allegation attendance at the Al Umah Mosque in Montreal justified his continued detention.[6] Djamel's lawyer, Wells Dixon said Djamel acknowledged attending a variety of mosques during the five years he lived in MOntreal in the 1990s, but he could no longer remember their names. Dixon challenged whether simple attendance at a mosque was a valid justification for alleging ties to terrorism.
On August 22, 2008 the Canadian Press reported that Ameziane claimed he had been subjected to a form of water torture.[7] Wells Dixon, one of his lawyers, reported that: "...guards at the base placed a water hose between his nose and mouth and ran it for several minutes." The Canadian Press quoted from a letter Ameziane wrote:
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- "I had the impression that my head was sinking in water. I still have psychological injuries, up to this day. Simply thinking of it gives me the chills."
Calls for his release
On 22 October 2008 a coalition of organizations including Montreal's Anglican Dioscese, and human rights groups such as Amnesty International issued a press release about their plans to sponsor Djamel's request for admittance to Canada as a refugee.[8][9][10]
On February 10, 2009, CBC News confirmed that was among the five Guantanamos captive to have a refugee sponsoring group working on his behalf.[11] The other four men were Maassoum Abdah Mouhammad, a Syrian Kurd, and Hassan Anvar and two other Uyghur captives from Guantanamo.
On April 17, 2009, the Anglican Journal quoted human rights workers and church officials about the delay in Ameziane's repatriation.[12] Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees speculated that Ameziane's repatriation had been stalled by the new reviews of the Guantanamo captives ordered by United States President Barack Obama.
“No one has formally and officially said that it is waiting for the U.S. to do their internal review but … Once they’ve done the reviews, then they’ll be starting to think about ‘how do we find solutions for all of the people in Guantánamo and how do we involve these different other countries that might play a role?'”
Barry Clarke, Bishop of the Anglican diocese of Montreal, which is helping to sponsor Ameziane, wrote about how he responded to Canadians critical of the Church's initiative on Ameziane's behalf.[12] He called Ameziane's captivity in Guantanamo "an injustice". He acknowledged that he couldn't guarantee that Ameziane was not tied to terrorism. But he said his workers, and other human rights groups, had looked into his background. The article quoted the conclusions of the Center for Constitutional Rights:
“As a foreigner in a land soon torn apart by conflict, he was an easy target for corrupt local police who captured him while he was trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Mr. Ameziane was then sold to U.S. military forces for a bounty.”
References
- ^ a b c Third Montrealer on detainee list at Guantanamo, Globe and Mail, March 10, 2006 - mirror
- ^ Vt. lawyers represent Guantanamo detainees, WCAX
- ^ "Djamel Saiid Ali Ameziane – The Guantánamo Docket". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/310-djamel-saiid-ali-ameziane. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
- ^ a b Michelle Shephard (2008-07-27). "CSIS grilled trio in Cuba". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/468117. Retrieved 2008-07-28. mirror
- ^ Teresa A. McPalmer (11 July 2005). "Djamel Said Ali Ameziane v. George Walker Bush -- 05-0392 (ESH)". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 30–47. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/publicly_filed_CSRT_records_2015-2121.pdf#30. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ a b Michelle Shephard (June 9, 2008). "Camp Six detainee pins hopes on Canada". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/439676. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ "Algerian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay says he was waterboarded". Canadian Press. 2008-08-22. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3_NGebbMAEO9tkN38dlQ63dNWDw. Retrieved 2008-08-23. mirror
- ^ Michelle Shephard (2008-10-22). "Montreal supporters offer haven to prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/521663. Retrieved 2008-10-23. mirror
- ^ Sidhartha Banerjee (2008-10-22). "Montreal church offers to sponsor Gitmo detainee". Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081022.wameziane1022/BNStory/National/home. Retrieved 2008-10-23. mirror
- ^ "Canada urged to take in Algerian man stuck in legal limbo at Guantanamo Bay". Canadian Press. 2008-10-22. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ii3NzDmgXBQ99SuN5zbrPmCa1yBw. Retrieved 2008-10-23. mirror
- ^ "Fifth Guantanamo detainee gets sponsored to live in Canada". CBC News. 2009-02-10. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/10/guantanamo-refugee.html. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^ a b Leigh Anne Williams (2009-04-17). "The long road from Guantánamo to Montreal". Anglican Journal. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anglicanjournal.com%2F100%2Farticle%2Fthe-long-road-from-guantanamo-to-montreal%2F%3FcHash%3Ddc103bdac1&date=2009-04-18.
External links
- Guantánamo Algerian Returns Home; Will Obama Suspend Further Transfers? Andy Worthington July 29, 2010
- Ameziane v. Obama / Ameziane v. United States Center for Constitutional Rights
Controversies surrounding people captured during the War on Terror Guantanamo Bay
detention campSuicide attempts · Qur'an desecration controversy · Boycott of military tribunals · Former captives alleged to have (re)joined insurgency · Hunger strikes · Force feeding · Homicide accusations · Juvenile prisoner
CIA black site operations Prison and detainee abuse Abu Ghraib · Bagram · Canadian Afghan detainee issue · Black jail · Salt Pit
Prison uprisings
and escapesDeaths in custody Dilawar · Jamal Nasser · Abdul Wahid · Habibullah · Abed Hamed Mowhoush · Manadel al-Jamadi · Nagem Hatab · Baha Mousa · Fashad Mohamed · Muhammad Zaidan · Gul Rahman · Abdul Wali
Tortured Abu Zubaydah · Mohamedou Ould Slahi · Mohammed al-Qahtani · Khalid Sheikh Mohammed · Abdul Jabar · Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri · Binyam Mohamed
Forced disappearances Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi · Abdu Ali al Haji Sharqawi · Muhammed al-Darbi · Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman · Yassir al-Jazeeri · Tariq Mahmood · Hassan Ghul · Musaad Aruchi · Hiwa Abdul Rahman RashulReports and legislation Related media Categories:- Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Living people
- 1967 births
- People held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp
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