Abdul Al Salam Al Hilal

Abdul Al Salam Al Hilal
Born January 30, 1968
Detained at Guantanamo
Alternate name Al Hela, Abdulsalam
ISN 1463
Status Still held in Guantanamo

Abdul Al Salam Al Hilal is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1]

The Department of Defense lists his place of birth as unknown and his date of birth as January 30, 1968.

As of today Abdul al Salam al Hilal has been confined at the Guantanamo camps for 10 years, 6 months and 21 days. He arrived there on September 20, 2004.[2][3][4]

CIA detention

Al-Hila was captured, in Cairo, on September 19, 2002, while on a business trip.[5] John Sifton, of Human Rights Watch, says that Al-Hila disappeared, for eighteen months, before surfacing in American detention in the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[6] According to medical records published on March 16, 2007, his "in process date" at Guantanamo was September 20, 2004.[7]

Since his arrival in Guantanamo Bay he is one of the approximately 200 detainees who has had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf. In recently declassified discussions with his lawyer Al-Hila says that after his capture he was sent to Baku Azerbaijan for two months, and then spent 16 months in secret bases in Afghanistan, including "the dark prison".[8]

Habeas corpus petition

Abdulsalam Ali Abdulrahman Al Hela v. George W. Bush had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf.[9][10]

Hunger strike

Al Hila is reported to be participating in a hunger strike that has led to a deterioration in his health.[11]

Children's death

“ "His mother died, his father died, his two sons died, and now his uncle has died. Do they want us to all be dead before they bring him back home again? ”

—Hila's sister, April 2010.[12]

On April 23, 2009, Yemeni newspapers reported two of the four children of Guantanamo captive "Abdul-Salam al-Hilam" were killed, in his home, by the explosion of a hand grenade.[13][14][15] The two boys were reported to be nine and eleven years old, and ten and eleven years old. They were reported to have died when playing with the grenade.

In 2008 camp authorities started to allow compliant captives to make an annual phone call home. The Yemen Post reports that Al Hila's sons died just two days after his call.[15]

Assassination fears

On August 1, 2009 the Saba News reported that in a phone call after his son's death he told his family that he fears he will be assassinated in Guantanamo.[16] He told his family not to believe accounts that he committed suicide if he should die in Guantanamo.

On May 17, 2010, Saba News reported Abdul's family had recently received a letter where he wrote he believed camp authorities had a new plan to assassinate him.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ OARDEC (2006-05-15). "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. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  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. 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.
  4. ↑ "Guantanamo Docket: Abdul al Salam al Hilal". New York Times. November 2008. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  5. ↑ Al-Hila: Another 'ghost prisoner' rendered, Al Jazeera
  6. ↑ Cairo to Kabul to Guantanamo, Human Rights Watch
  7. ↑ JTF-GTMO (2006-03-16). "Heights, weights, and in-processing dates". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  8. ↑ U.S. Operated Secret 'Dark Prison' in Kabul, Reuters, December 19, 2005
  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. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  10. ↑ "Abdulsalam Ali Abdulrahman Al Hela v. George W. Bush". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 1–33. Archived from the original on 17 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  11. ↑ "Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo refuse to be sent to any other country". Saba News. 2009-04-01. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-04-01. A number of Yemenis in Guantanamo are still under hunger strike, among of them Abdul-Salam al-Hila whose health has deteriorated. mirror
  12. ↑ Kelly McEvers. "In Yemen, Anger Toward U.S. Grows Over Detainees". NPR. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-01. "His mother died, his father died, his two sons died, and now his uncle has died," Hila's sister says. "Do they want us to all be dead before they bring him back home again?
  13. ↑ "Hand grenade kills sons of Guantanamo detainee". Sawha Net. 2009-04-23. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23.
  14. ↑ "Two children of Yemeni detainee in Gitmo killed in house blast". News Yemen. 2009-04-23. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Yemeni Gitmo Inmate's Sons Die as House Bomb Goes off". Yemen Post. 2009-04-23. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23.
  16. ↑ "Yemeni Gitmo detainee says faced assassination plots". Saba News. 2009-08-01. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  17. ↑ "U.S. to try five Yemeni Gitmo detainees". Saba News. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-17. Meanwhile, Abdul Salam Al-Hila, another Yemeni detainee, has told his family that he faced a new assassination attempt at the U.S. Bay which the U.S. President Obama ordered to be closed as soon as possible. mirror

External links