Omar Abdulayev

Omar Hamzayevich Abdulayev
Born (1978-10-11) October 11, 1978
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Detained at Guantanamo
ISN 257
Status Transferred to Serbia on July 10, 2016

Omar Hamzayevich Abdulayev, also known as Muhammadi Davlatov,[1] is a citizen of Tajikistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[2] The Department of Defense reports that Abdulayev was born on October 11, 1978, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He arrived at Guantanamo on February 9, 2002.[3][4][5]

Abdulayev was transferred to Serbia on July 11, 2016.[6][7][8]

Background

According to a profile in the Miami Herald he fled civil war in Tajikistan in 1991, when he was just 13 years old.[9][10] Carol Rosenberg wrote that reviewing his files indicates he was a cooperative captive, who did not participate in the widespread hunger strikes, and that, unlike other captives, he participated in all his annual status reviews. In 2009, the Obama government decided they would no longer claim Omar was an enemy combatant. Omar is one of the Guantanamo captives who, even though they have been cleared for release, would rather stay in Guantanamo, than be repatriated, to his home country, because he fears torture.

Habeas corpus petition

Abdulayev had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf.[6] Resulting from arguments in his habeas petition, that he would face torture if he were repatriated, Abdulayev had a protective order, intended to protect him from repatriation.[6] In 2008 his case was amalgamated with those of several dozen other captives, in 05-CV-2386 before US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton.

On 29 December 2008 Allison M. Lefrak filed protected information, under seal, on his behalf.[11]

Transfer considerations

Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reports that Umar Abdulayev fears being repatriated to Tajikistan, and wants to remain in Guantanamo.[10] Quoting Abdulayev's lawyer Matthew J. O'Hara, Rosenberg reported Abdulayev was a refugee who had fled Tajikistan to Afghanistan when he was thirteen years old. Rosenberg wrote that Abdulayev says camp authorities allowed Tajikistani security officials to meet with him, and that they told him he could be released—if he agreed to pretend to be a Muslim militant, and spy on Muslim militants in Tajikistan. She reported that the Tajikistani security officials threatened retribution when he declined to serve as a spy. Department of Justice officials told U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton on June 3, 2009 that they would no longer try to defend classifying him an enemy combatant.[10]

Abdulayev's lawyer, Matthew J. O'Hara, during a November 2009 interview on National Public Radio, that among the reasons Abdulayev fears repatriation to Tajikistan is that the family he left behind in a Pakistani refugee camp has disappeared.[12] All efforts to contact them, following his 2001 capture, had failed. O'Hara said Abdulayev's father died in 1994, attempting to return to Tajikistan. O'Hara said two of the other Tajikistanis received long prison terms following their repatriation.

Press reports stated a Tajik captive, named "Muhammadi Davlatov", was transferred to Serbia, on July 11, 2016, together with Yemeni captive Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi.[6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. delivers 2 Guantánamo captives to Serbia; prison now has 76". Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  2. ↑ "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
  3. ↑ 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
  4. ↑ "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)" (PDF). Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-21.
  5. ↑ Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Omar Hamzayavich Abdulayev". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  6. 1 2 3 4 David McFadden (2016-07-11). "2 Guantanamo detainees sent to Serbia amid prisoner resettlement push". Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2016-07-12. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights said Davlatov had filed a habeas corpus petition a decade ago challenging the legality of his capture and detention. He been approved for release and was slated to be released to Tajikstan in 2008. However, he obtained a preliminary court injunction against his transfer there due to his arguments that he faced a serious risk of torture or unjust imprisonment there.
  7. 1 2 "Two Guantanamo prisoners sent to Serbia". Gulf Digital News. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-12. Davlatov, 37, also known as Umar Hamzayevich Abdulayev, was approved for transfer nearly six years ago by six US government departments and agencies.
  8. 1 2 Charlie Savage (2016-07-11). "2 Guantánamo Bay Prisoners Are Transferred to Serbia". Washington DC: New York Times. Retrieved 2016-07-12. The other was Omar Hamzayavich Abdulayev, 37. A citizen of Tajikistan, he had been awaiting transfer since 2009, when the detainee review task force decided that he posed a low enough threat that he should be released to a secure country. He remained stranded because the administration decided he could not safely be repatriated.
  9. ↑ "11 Years and Counting: Profiles of Men Detained at Guantánamo" (PDF). Center for Constitutional Justice. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  10. 1 2 3 Carol Rosenberg (2009-07-08). "Guantanamo captive: I don`t want to go home" (PDF). Miami Herald. p. A3. Retrieved 2012-07-09. Even as the White House pledges to empty the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, a 30-year-old prisoner is so afraid of returning to his native Tajikistan that he is asking to stay at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.
  11. ↑ Allison M. Lefrak (2008-12-29). "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 1413 -- NOTICE OF FILING OF PROTECTED INFORMATION UNDER SEAL" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  12. ↑ "Tajik citizen says he prefers Guantanamo to returning home". Hurriyet Daily News. 2009-11-17. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18.
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