Sami Abdul Aziz Salim Allaithy

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Sami Abdul Aziz Salim Allaithy

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image_size =
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date_of_birth = Birth date|1956|10|28
place_of_birth = Shubrakass Egypt
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 287
group =
alias =
charge = no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
status = Determined not to have been an enemy combatant after all
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Sami Abdul Aziz Salim Allaithy (born October 28 1956) is a citizen of Egypt, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf
title=List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=May 15 2006
accessdate=2007-09-29] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 287.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report he was born on October 28 1956 in Shubrakass Egypt.

Background

Prior to the Invasion of Afghanistan Al Laithi was teaching English and Arabic at Kabul University.

During his stay at Camp Delta Al Laithi was rendered a paraplegic. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201624.html Guantanamo Detainee Says Beating Injured Spine] , "Washington Post", August 13 2005] Al Laithi says shortly after his arrival in Cuba, during a beating administered in the prison hospital, a guard threw him on the floor, and stomped on his back. He says he has been in constant pain ever since.

Al Laithi says the beating crushed two of his vertebrae, confining him to a wheelchair. He says he believes that the prison authorities denied him medical care that would have prevented him being crippled.

Al Laithi is one of the small percentage of Guantanamo detainees who, during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, was determined not to have been an "enemy combatant" after all.

Al Laithi has a long record of criticism of the Egyptian government. He does not wish the Americans to return him to Egypt, now that they have determined that he has no ties to terrorism. As of September 2005 he remained confined to Camp Delta.

Al Laithi's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has asked for Al Laithi to get medical care for his injuries, for the release of his prison medical records, and for him to be released from solitary confinement. Al Lathi remained in solitary confinement, after he had been determined to have been an innocent bystander, unlike the detainees who had been determined to have been Chinese dissidents, who were housed in the more amenable Camp Iguana.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902
title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=March 6 2007
accessdate=2007-09-22] ]

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the U.S. could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were "lawful combatants" -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

ummary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Sami Abdul Aziz Salim AllaithyCombatant Status Review Tribunal, on
12 November 2004.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000300-000399.pdf#31
title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Allaithy, Sami Abdul Aziz Salim
date=12 November 2004
pages=page 31
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-04-25] The memo listed the following allegations against him: :

Transcript

Allaithy chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_18_1463-1560.pdf#1
title=Summarized Statement
date=date redacted
pages=pages 1-7
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-04-25] On March 3 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a seven page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.cite news
url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-releases-Guantanamo-files/2006/04/04/1143916500334.html
title=US releases Guantanamo files
publisher=The Age
date=April 4, 2006
accessdate=2008-03-15
quote=]

Allegations as read aloud during his Tribunal

The allegations, as read aloud during his Tribunal, differed markedly from those recorded on his Summary of Evidence memo: :

Testimony

Allaithy denied any association with Al Qaida or the Taliban. He had gone to Afghanistan to teach English and Arabic, not religious topics.

He acknowledged trying to lie about his identity when he tried to cross the Pakistan border. He did so because he feared being returned to Egypt. He had not been a part of any movement in Egypt. But he had been a vocal advocate of openness and democracy, and this made him a marked man in Egypt. His passport had expired, so he couldn't leave Pakistan, except to go to Afghanistan, where, under the Taliban, there was no border control.

He denied fighting or ever bearing any weapons.

Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant

The Washington Post reports that Al Laithy was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/nlec/ Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classifed as "No Longer Enemy Combatants"] , "Washington Post"] cite news
url=http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2008/03/27/20/NLEC_DetaineeList.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf
title=Detainees Found to No Longer Meet the Definition of "Enemy Combatant" during Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo
publisher=United States Department of Defense
author=
date=November 19, 2007
accessdate=2008-04-15
quote=] The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants.

habeas corpus petitions

At least three separate writs of habeas corpus were filed on his behalf.cite news
url=http://www.pegc.us/archive/In_re_Gitmo/gov_mot_to_dismiss_20070419.pdf
title=Exhibit C: List of No Longer Enemy Combant Detainees With Pending Habeas Corpus Petitions Who Have Been Released From United States Custody
page=page 64
pages=
publisher=United States Department of Justice
author=
date=April 17 2007
accessdate=2008-05-05
quote=]
US District Court Judges Reggie Walton, Kennedy and Leon considered his detention as part of three separate habeas cases: Mohammon v. Bush, Sliti v. Bush and Aziz v. Bush.He was identified as "Alla Al Mossary", "Abdul Aziz Al Mossary" and "Abu Abdul Aziz". on those three separate habeas petitions.

In September 2007 the United States Department of Defense published 179 dossiers in response to captives' habeas petitions.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_publicly_filed_CSRT_records.pdf
title=Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=August 8 2007
accessdate=2007-09-29] But they did not publish his.

Repatriation to Egypt

In early October American authorities announced that they had repatriated an Egyptian national back to his home country. Press reports quoted American authorities as saying that the Egyptian had been determined to no longer pose a security threat through an "Administrative Review" -- the follow-on to the Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

But on October 5 2005, a Washington Post article positively identified the Egyptian being repatriated as Al Laithi. The Post quoted Commander Flex Plexico, who said:

:"Prior to returning this detainee to Egypt, the United States received appropriate assurances from the government of Egypt regarding this detainee's treatment upon his return to Egypt. This includes assurances that this individual will continue to be treated humanely, in accordance with Egyptian and international legal obligations, while he remains in Egypt," Plexico said.

According to the article Pentagon spokesmen claimed:

:"This individual's current health problems resulted from an injury sustained before our involvement with him. According to the detainee's statements to us, his injury was sustained in an automobile accident, and the damage has progressed over time," Plexico said.

:"There are no indications that his condition was adversely affected by his detention."

Al Laithi was interviewed by a reporter for Al Ahram on October 26, 2005. [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/764/eg11.htm Deep Wounds] , "Al Ahram", October 26, 2005] In his interview he said that before he was repatriated to Egypt he was sent, briefly, to an American hospital, for an assessment. He reports that the medical records he was given, upon his repatriation, say the loss of the use of his legs was progressive, not sudden. They say it was the result of a traffic accident, before his detention. Al Laithi continues to claim the loss was due to brutal treatment while in custody. He claims the records are a forgery.

References

External links

* [http://www.redorbit.com/news/politics/259391/us_says_egypt_vows_to_treat_guantanamo_inmate_well/ US says Egypt vows to treat Guantanamo inmate well] , Reuters, October 3 2005
* [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19197 Guantanamo detainee says guards enjoyed torture] , Daily Star, October 10 2005