Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha

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Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha is a citizen of Algeria held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 290. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on November 13, 1969, in Algiers, Algeria.

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal's President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Christopher Mobley
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Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal's President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Christopher Mobley

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 USA 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.

Bacha chose not to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat -- or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Bacha were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.[2]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Training
  1. The detainee stayed at a Jalalabad guesthouse (aka the House of the Algerians), a staging point for Europeans and North Africans]] traveling to and from training.
  2. While in Jalalabad, the detainee received training on small arms, the Kalashnikov rifle and Simonov machine gun.
  3. The detainee had previous weapons training from his time in the Algerian army.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee traveled from Algeria to France to obtain a false French passport, which he used to travel to London. Once arriving in London the detainee went directly to the Finsbury Park Mosque.
  2. The detainee stated that his travel to Afghanistan via false passport was facilitated by the Finsbury Park Mosque.
  3. The detainee encountered Usama Bin Laden on two separate occasions.
  4. The detainee met and stayed with three al Qaida leaders while in Kabul and Jalalabad.
c. Intent
  1. Detainee went to fight for jihad because he believes that it is every good Muslim's duty.
  2. Detainee admitted receiving training to become a jihad member around the world.
d. Other Relevant Data
  1. The detainee stated that he attended prayer services and lectures conducted by Abu Hamza, Sheik of the Finsbury Park Mosque.
  2. Abu Hamzah [sic] is a fundamentalist who has lectured on "Jihad" and "martyrdom" and raised controversy with his speeches entitled "Call and Combat" after 11 September 2001.
  3. The detainee fled Jalalabad to the Afghan mountains as the coalition forces approached the city in November 2001.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

  1. The detainee indicated he did not want anything to do with the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) as they were terrorists and very bad people.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha Administrative Review Board, March 29, 2005 - page 5
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