| Hassan Zumiri | |
|---|---|
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| Alternate name | Ahcene Zemiri |
| ISN | 533 |
| Charge(s) | No charge |
| Status | Transferred to Algeria |
Hassan Zumiri (also known as Ahcene Zemiri) is an Algerian citizen who spent eight years in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1][2]
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In mid July Canadian courts compelled the Canadian government to make available tapes made of the interrogation of Canadian youth Omar Khadr by Canadian security officials in 2004.[3] In the tapes a distraught Khadr stripped off his shirt to show his wounds, which he claimed were not being treated. He breaks down and cries, and when he is left alone, he appeared to repeat "kill me, kill me, kill me." The publication of the tapes stirred controversy.
On July 27, 2008 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.[3]
Ressam wrote a letter in November 2006, to U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour, in which he said he wanted to "clarify" his allegations against Zemiri.[4] Coughenour was the Judge who sentenced Ressam.
Ressam wrote:[5]
Ressam explained the incorrect information he had previously offered American intelligence analysts was because he "was in shock and had a severe psychological disorder[4][5] Ressam was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment. He was believed to be about to receive a life sentence, which was reduced because he cooperated by naming other suspects, like Zemiri.
According to Jim Dorsey, Zemiri's lawyer, "This letter undercuts what is the most damning allegation against my client by far.[4]" Dorsey forwarded a copy of Ressam's letter to "American military officials".
The Center for Constitutional Rights organized a program of finding American lawyers who would agree to serve as the lawyers for Guantanamo captives, while serving writs of habeas corpus on their behalf. Lawyers from the firm Fredrikson & Byron agreed to serve pro bono as Ahcene Zemiri's lawyers.[6]
Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.[7]
Ahcene Zemiri and Mohammedou Slahi appealed through the Canadian Justice system for the release of classified documents about these two former Canadian residents.[8] Both men were interviewed by Canadian security officials before leaving Canada for Afghanistan. The men's lawyers argued that the notes from the men's Canadian interviews would have been relied on by the Americans, when building their own dossiers against the two men. They had requested the Canadian evidence in order to make their case for the men's freedom in the US Justice system.
Justice Edmond Blanchard ruled that since the men weren't Canadian citizens, and their connection to Canada was "tenuous", the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms didn't apply to them.[8] Zemiri live for seven years in Canada, and his wife and son are Canadian citizens. The Supreme Court of Canada had ruled that the Canadian government should publish classified documents the Americans had shared about Canadian citizen Omar Khadr.
Nathan Whitling one of the men's Canadian lawyers, predicted that the men's American habeas corpus cases would have been heard before the appeal he planne of Blanchard's ruling.[8]
Ahcene Zemiri and Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili were repatriated to Algeria on January 20, 2010.[9] Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that it was not clear whether the two men had been sent home as free men, or whether they were simply transferred to Algerian custody. She noted that two other Algerian men had been granted Asylum, in France, because they had reason to fear a return home.
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