Jump to content

Mohamedou Ould Slahi: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Disambiguation link repair (You can help!)
Correct/disambiguate author wikilink
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Mauritanian author and former Guantanamo Bay detainee}}
'''Mohamedou Ould Slahi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: محمد ولد صلاحي, [[transliteration|transliterated]] '''Muhammad walad Salahi''', also used the alias أبو مصعب, transliterated '''Abu Musab''') (c.[[1972]] - present) is a [[Mauritania]]n national formerly suspected of involvement in one of the [[2000 millennium attack plots]].
{{hatnote|In this Mauritanian name, [[Ould]] Slahi is a [[patronymic surname]].}}{{Infobox War on Terror detainee
Slahi was born in Mauritania, but moved to [[Germany]] in the late [[1980s]]. He was well-known to investigators as an al-Qaida operative. In late [[1999]], Slahi was operating under the [[pseudonym]] "Abu Musab", unbeknownst to German or American intelligence.
| name = Mohamedou Ould Slahi
| image = Mohammedou_Ould_Salahi.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|12|21}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/82557-isn-760-mohamedou-ould-slahi-jtf-gtmo-detainee/aa2f0afa16584a89/full.pdf |title=JTF GTMO Detainee Profile|website=nyt.com|access-date=16 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN760/20160218_U_ISN_760_GOVERNMENTS_UNCLASSIFIED_SUMMARY_PUBLIC.pdf |title=Guantanamo Detainee Profile –Detainee ISN: MR-760 |date=18 February 2016 |website=United States Government}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Rosso]], [[Mauritania]]<ref name=gitmofile />
| death_date =
| death_place =
| detained_at = [[Jordan]]<br />[[Bagram Theater detention facility|Bagram]]<br />[[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo]]
| id_number = 760
| alias = Mohammedou Ould Slahi, kunya: Abu Musab
| status = Released on October 17, 2016
| occupation = Writer
}}


'''Mohamedou Ould Slahi''' ({{Langx|ar|محمدو ولد الصلاحي}}; born December 21, 1970) is a [[Mauritania]]n engineer who was detained at [[Guantánamo Bay detention camp]] without charge from 2002 until his release on October 17, 2016.<ref name=Guardian2016-10-17>{{cite news|last1=Ackerman|first1=Spencer|title=Guantánamo Diary author Mohamedou Ould Slahi freed after 14 years|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/guantanamo-diary-author-mohamedou-ould-slahi-detention|access-date=March 7, 2017|work=The Guardian|date=October 17, 2016}}</ref>
He is in US detention.


Slahi traveled from his home in Germany to [[Afghanistan]] in December 1990 "to support the mujahideen."<ref name="dccir">{{cite court |litigants=Salahi v. Obama |vol=625 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=745 |court=D.C. Cir. |date=2010 |url=http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/11/05/12/slahioverturnedTransportRoom.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|4}} Slahi trained in an [[al Qaeda]] camp and swore allegiance to the organization in March 1991. He returned to Germany soon after, but traveled back to Afghanistan for two months in early 1992. Slahi said that, after leaving Afghanistan the second time, he "severed all ties with ... al-Qaeda."<ref name="dccir" />{{rp|5}} The U.S. government maintains that Slahi "recruited for al-Qaeda and provided it with other support" since then.<ref name="dccir" />{{rp|5}} He lived in [[Montreal]], Quebec, Canada, from November 1999 to January 2000. Slahi was suspected of involvement in the [[2000 millennium attack plots#LAX bombing plot|attempted LAX bombing]] and was investigated by the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]]. Due to the scrutiny, Slahi returned to live in [[Mauritania]] where he was questioned and cleared of involvement.
==Germany==
Separately, members of the terrorist [[Hamburg cell]] were planning to go to [[Chechnya]] to defend [[Muslim]]s against [[Russia]]n forces. They met a stranger on a train named [[Khalid al-Masri]], who advised them to talk to a man named Abu Musab (actually Slahi) in [[Duisburg]] Germany. Slahi advised them that it was difficult to get to Chechnya, and many Muslims were being turned away by the authorities. He therefore advised them to train in [[Afghanistan]], and he gave them useful information in how to get there. In Afghanistan, these same travellers would become the core organizers of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].


After the [[September 11 attacks]], the U.S. again was interested in Slahi. He was brought in for questioning by Mauritanian authorities on November 20, 2001, after which he was detained for seven days and questioned by Mauritanian officers and by agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).<ref name="der">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/from-germany-to-guantanamo-the-career-of-prisoner-no-760-a-583193.html |title=From Germany to Guantanamo: The Career of Prisoner No. 760 |work=Der Spiegel |date=October 9, 2008 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref> The [[CIA]] then transported Slahi to a [[Jordan]]ian prison through its [[Extraordinary rendition by the United States|extraordinary rendition program]]; he was held for eight months. Slahi said he was tortured by the Jordanians. After being flown to Afghanistan and held for two weeks, he was transferred to military custody and the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in [[Cuba]] on August 4, 2002, under the authority of the 2001 [[Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001|Authorization for Use of Military Force]] (AUMF).<ref name="judgedemolished">{{cite web |url=http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/04/21/mohamedou-ould-salahi-how-a-judge-demolished-the-us-governments-al-qaeda-claims/ |title=Mohamedou Ould Slahi: How a Judge Demolished the U.S. Government's Al-Qaeda Claims |last=Worthington |first=Andy |author-link =Andy Worthington |date=April 21, 2010 |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref> Slahi was subjected to sleep deprivation, isolation, temperature extremes, beatings and sexual humiliation at Guantánamo. In one documented incident, he was blindfolded and taken out to sea in a boat for a mock execution. Lt. Col [[Stuart Couch]] refused to prosecute Slahi in a [[Guantánamo military commission|Military Commission]] in 2003. He said that "Salahi's incriminating statements—the core of the government's case—had been taken through [[torture]], rendering them inadmissible under U.S. and international law."<ref name="WSJ31Mar2007">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117529704337355155 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 31, 2007 |title=The Conscience of the Colonel |last=Bravin |first=Jess |access-date=August 28, 2012}} [http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/wf040107.htm mirror]</ref>
==Canada==
Afterwards, Slahi moved to [[Montreal, Canada]] and was granted [[permanent resident]] status despite security officials' concerns. He lived in a [[mosque]] as an [[imam]]. After the [[2000 millennium attack plots]] failed, investigators began to suspect Slahi's involvement. The would-be suicide-attacker [[Ahmed Ressam]] had lived in the same mosque. Slahi moved suddenly to Mauritania, leading investigators to conclude he was fleeing; Slahi claims he went to visit his sick mother.


In 2005, the internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer [[Nancy Hollander]] got involved in Slahi's case, together with lawyer Theresa Duncan. They argued Slahi's rights to a fair trial, despite criticism for defending a terrorist suspect.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} In 2010, Judge [[James Robertson (judge)|James Robertson]] granted a writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'', ordering Slahi to be released on March 22. In his unclassified opinion, Judge Robertson wrote: "... associations alone are not enough, of course, to make detention lawful."<ref name="habeas opinion">{{cite court |litigants=Salahi v. Obama |vol=710 |reporter=F.Supp.2d |opinion=1 |court=D.D.C |date=2010 |url=https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2005cv0569-319}} [http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=in%20fdco%2020100409996.xml&docbase=cslwar3-2007-curr mirror].</ref>{{rp|29}} The Department of Justice appealed the decision.<ref name="Fisher">{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=William |url=http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2988 |title=Guantanamo Detainee Ordered Freed |work=Inter Press Service |date=April 12, 2010 |access-date=July 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720142118/http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2988 |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Pickler">{{cite news |last=Pickler |first=Nedra |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2012923857_apusguantanamoreleaseappeal.html |title=Appeals court: Once al-Qaida, always al-Qaida? |agency=Associated Press |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Hsu">{{cite news |last=Hsu |first=Spencer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/17/AR2010091706657_pf.html |title=U.S. appeals court: How do you quit al-Qaeda? |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=September 29, 2010}}</ref> The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the ruling and remanded the case to the District Court on November 5, 2010, for further factual findings.<ref name="dccir" />{{rp|3}}<ref name="rosenberg1">{{cite news |title=Appeals panel upends judge's order to release Guantánamo captive |url=http://e.standard.net/topics/terrorism/2010/11/05/appeals-panel-upends-judges-order-release-guantanamo-captive |last=Rosenberg |first=Carol |author-link=Carol Rosenberg |work=Standard.net |agency=McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |date=November 5, 2010 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-date=November 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119092008/http://e.standard.net/topics/terrorism/2010/11/05/appeals-panel-upends-judges-order-release-guantanamo-captive |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/the-betrayal-of-mohamedou-ould-slahi/ |last=Worthington |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Worthington |title=The Betrayal of Mohamedou Ould Salahi |date=September 27, 2010 |work=Future of Freedom Foundation |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref> The District Court never held the second habeas hearing.
According to his testimony before his [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]] Slahi lived in Canada from [[November 26]] [[1999]] to [[January 20]] [[2000]]. He stayed with his friend, [[Hasni Mohsed]], not in a mosque. He met some of Mohsen's friends, including [[Raoul Hanashi]], who was recruited to Jihad and met [[Abu Zubaydah]].


On July 14, 2016, Slahi was approved by a [[Periodic Review Board]] for release from detention.<ref name=NYTimes2016-07-21>{{cite news|first=Charlie|last=Savage|title=Board Recommends Releasing Detainee Who Wrote 'Guantánamo Diary'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/board-recommends-releasing-detainee-who-wrote-guantanamo-diary.html|access-date=5 August 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 July 2016}}</ref> Slahi was freed and returned to Mauritania on October 17, 2016; he had been imprisoned at Guantánamo for over fourteen years.
==Mauritania 2000-2001==
In Mauritania, Slahi repeatedly turned himself in to authorities when asked to do so, but was twice released. Finally he was arrested and turned over to American forces, who rendered him to Jordan, where he remained for eight months. A report published by Amnesty International on September 18, 2006, describes his rendition and treatment there. http://web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/AMR511492006ENGLISH/$File/AMR5114906.pdf Later he was moved to Bagram Air Force Base, and from there he was placed in Camp X-ray in [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba|Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]]. He received some notice later when he went on a [[hunger strike]] to protest the fact that a severe [[rash]] he had developed was not being treated. He finally received medical treatment after he became ill from [[exhaustion]]. On [[December 14]], [[2005]] it was confirmed that officials of the German foreign and domestic intelligence agencies (''[[Bundesnachrichtendienst]]'' and ''[[Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz]]'') had participated in the interrogation of Slahi at least once during a stay at the Guantanamo Bay camps between [[September 21]] and [[September 27]], [[2002]].


Slahi wrote a memoir in 2005 while imprisoned, which the U.S. government declassified in 2012 with numerous redactions. The memoir was published as ''[[Guantanamo Diary (memoir)|Guantánamo Diary]]'' in January 2015 and became an international bestseller.<ref name=TheGuardian2015-07-29/> Slahi is the first Guantánamo detainee to publish a memoir while imprisoned.<ref name=flood>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/12/guantanamo-prisoner-publish-memoirs-diary-mohamedou-ould-slahi | first=Allison | last=Flood | title=Guantánamo prisoner to publish 'harrowing' memoirs | work=Guardian | date=August 12, 2014 | access-date=January 17, 2015}}</ref> Slahi wrote four other books while in detention, but he has not been allowed to access these books since being removed from Guantanamo.<ref name="NY">{{cite magazine |author=Ben Taub |author-link=Ben Taub (journalist) |date=13 April 2019 |title=Guantánamo's Darkest Secret |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/22/guantanamos-darkest-secret |access-date=7 May 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en}}</ref>
==Guantanamo==


==1988–1999==
Memos from meetings held on [[October 9]] [[2003]] and
Slahi was an exceptional student in high school in Mauritania. In 1988, he received a scholarship from the [[Carl Duisberg#Carl Duisberg Society|Carl Duisberg Society]] to study in [[West Germany]], where he earned an electrical engineering degree from the [[University of Duisburg-Essen|University of Duisburg]].<ref name=gitmofile>{{cite news | url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/obtained-under-torture-slahi-s-guantanamo-file-full-of-dubious-information-a-759729.html | title=Obtained Under Torture: Slahi's Guantanamo File Full of Dubious Information | work=Der Spiegel | last=Rosenbach | first=Marcel | date=April 29, 2011 | access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name=der /><ref name=16Jan2015-Cobain>{{cite news | title=Guantánamo diarist Mohamedou Ould Slahi: chronicler of fear, not despair | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/16/-sp-guantanamo-diary-mohamedou-ould-slahi | first=Ian | last=Cobain | work=The Guardian | date=January 16, 2015 | access-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref> In 1991, Slahi travelled to [[Afghanistan]] to join the [[Mujahideen]] fighting against the communist central government.<ref name=16Jan2015-Cobain /> The United States had supported the Mujahideen against the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet occupation]] starting in 1979, and [[Operation Cyclone|funnelled billions of dollars of weapons and aid]] to the "freedom fighters".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History|date=8 January 2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199759255|page=219|chapter=Cold War (1945–1991): External Course}}</ref> After the [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|Soviet withdrawal in 1989]], there was a civil war between [[Mohammad Najibullah]]'s government and the Mujahideen. Slahi trained for several weeks at the [[al Farouq training camp]] near [[Khost]], which was run by al Qaeda, one of many Mujahideen groups in the civil war.<ref name=vice>{{cite news|last1=Tinti|first1=Peter|title=A Postcard from Guantánamo: How Mohamedou Ould Slahi Became a Suspected Terrorist, Then a Best-Selling Author|url=https://www.vice.com/read/postcard-from-guantanamo-slahi-guantanamo-diary|access-date=March 16, 2016|work=Vice|date=February 26, 2015}}</ref> At the end of his training in March 1991, he swore ''bayat'' to al Qaeda and was given the ''[[Kunya (Arabic)#Kunya as a nom de guerre|kunya]]'' (nom de guerre) of "Abu Musab."<ref name=judgedemolished /><ref name=Finn /> However, he did not participate in the civil war, instead returning to Germany.
[[February 2]] [[2004]] summarizing meetings between General [[Geoffrey Miller (general)|Geoffrey Miller]] and his staff and [[Vincent Cassard]] of the [[ICRC]], acknowledged that camp authorities were not permitting the ICRC to have access to Slahi, due to "military necessity".<ref name=Memo031009> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/GitmoMemo10-09-03.pdf ICRC Meeting with MG Miller on 09 Oct 2003 (.pdf)], ''[[Department of Defense]]'', [[October 9]] [[2003]]</ref><ref name=Memo040202> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/GitmoMemo02-02-04.pdf ICRC Meeting 2 Feb 2004/1620 (.pdf)], ''[[Department of Defense]]'', [[February 2]] [[2004]]</ref>


In February 1992, Slahi travelled again to Afghanistan and was assigned to a mortar battery in [[Gardez]]. Six weeks later, the Najibullah regime fell and he returned to Germany.<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|12}} In hearings in Guantanamo, Slahi has stated that he travelled to Afghanistan twice, attended the al Farouq training camp, and fought against the Afghan central government in 1992, but that he was never an enemy combatant against the United States.<ref name=judgedemolished /><ref name=Pickler /><ref name=wsjcsrt />{{rp|2–4}}<ref name=wsjarb>{{cite news |url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/couch-slahiARB-03312007.pdf | title=Administrative Review Board Round One transcript |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=December 29, 2015}}</ref>{{rp|4–6}} In fact, he was fighting on the same side as the United States, which in 1992 supported the Mujahideen fight against the communist government in Afghanistan.<ref name=Pickler />
As of [[April 20]] [[2006]] Slahi remains in [[extrajudicial]] detention in the [[United States]] [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]], in [[Cuba]].<ref name=DoDList2>[http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)], ''[[US Department of Defense]]'', [[May 15]] [[2006]]</ref> Slahi's detainee ID number is 760.


Slahi's cousin and former brother-in-law is [[Mahfouz Ould al-Walid]], also known as Abu Hafs al-Mauritani. Before the [[September 11 attacks]] in the United States, Al-Walid was a spiritual adviser to [[Osama bin Laden]], was on the Shura council of al Qaeda, and headed the [[sharia]] council.<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|21}}<ref name=memrishort>{{cite web |title=Former Member Of Al-Qaeda Shura Council, Abu Hafs Al-Mauritani: 'I Advised The Americans… To Reach An Agreement With The Taliban' |url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6760.htm |work=Middle East Media Research Institute |date=October 19, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208212228/http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6760.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref> Two months before the attacks, al-Walid, along with several other al Qaeda members, wrote a letter to bin Laden opposing the planned attacks.<ref name=ctc>{{cite web |title=Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa'ida from 1989-2006 |url=http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/cracks-in-the-foundation-leaderhip-schisms.pdf |page=18 |work=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point |date=September 2007 |access-date=October 23, 2012}}</ref> Al-Walid left al Qaeda after the attacks.
===Combatant Status Review Tribunal===
{{Combatant Status Review Tribunal trailer image and caption}}


While al-Walid was in [[Sudan]], where al Qaeda was based in the mid-1990s, he twice asked Slahi to help him get money to his family in Mauritania, about $4,000 in December 1997 and another $4,000 in December 1998. In the 2010 ''[[habeas corpus]]'' opinion for Slahi, the judge wrote: "the government relies on nothing but Slahi's uncorroborated, coerced statements to conclude that the money transfers were done on behalf of and in support of al-Qa'ida."<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|26}} In 1998, Slahi was heard by U.S. intelligence talking to al-Walid on a [[satellite phone]] traced to bin Laden.<ref name=Finn /><ref name=wsjarb /><ref name=wall>{{cite news |title=On the Trail of Slahi |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117530458721355439 |first=Jess |last=Bravin |date=March 31, 2007 |access-date=August 28, 2012 }} [http://www.solami.com/ciaprisons.htm#Trail mirror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716102637/http://www.solami.com/ciaprisons.htm#Trail |date=2011-07-16 }}</ref><ref name=freeze />{{rp|12}}
The transcript from Slahi's [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]] was released, on [[March 3]] [[2006]], in response to a [[court order]] from [[US District Court]] Justice [[Jed Rakoff]], together with 300 other transcripts.<ref name=CsrtMohamedouOuldSlahi> [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_41_2665-2727.pdf#28 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)], from [[Mohamedou Ould Slahi]]'s''[[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]'' - pages 28-38</ref>
The transcripts were released without identifying whose transcripts they were. On [[April 20]] [[2006]] the [[Department of Defense]] released a list of the names and ID numbers of all the detainees who had gone through a CSRT, enabling Slahi's transcript to be found.


The [[9/11 Commission Report]], based on the interrogations of [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]], stated that in 1999, Slahi advised three members of the [[Hamburg Cell]] to travel to Afghanistan to obtain training before waging [[jihad]] in [[Chechnya]].<ref name="911commissionreport">{{Cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch5.pdf |title=The 9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5 |author=9/11 Commission |author-link=9/11 Commission |date=July 22, 2004 |pages=165–166}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Notes.pdf |title=The 9/11 Commission Report, Notes |author=9/11 Commission |author-link=9/11 Commission |date=July 22, 2004 |page=496, notes 89 and 90}}</ref> The federal District Court in 2010 that reviewed Slahi's case found that Slahi "provided lodging for three men for one night at his home in Germany [in November 1999], that one of them was Ramzi bin al-Shibh and that there was discussion of jihad and Afghanistan."<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|19}} Besides Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Mr. Slahi's other two houseguests were future September 11 hijackers. Slahi claims it was merely a matter of hospitality to fellow Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/12/us/politics/torture-post-9-11.html|title=The Legacy of America's Post-9/11 Turn to Torture|newspaper=The New York Times|date=12 September 2021|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol}}</ref>
The [[Los Angeles Times]] wrote: ''"But the documents also show that the puzzle of a man U.S. terrorism experts believe was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks and the millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport seems only to grow deeper.<ref name=Latimes>[http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-detainee24apr24,0,4918960.story?coll=la-home-nation Al Qaeda Mystery Man Described in Documents], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[April 24]] [[2006]] - [http://www.kuwaitifreedom.org/media/pdf/Los%20Angeles%20Times%20April%2024,%202006.pdf - mirror]</ref>


==1999–2002==
The Times reports that Slahi has requested permission to live in the USA in a witness protection program. The Times says that Slahi continues to assert his innocence, that he acknowledges traveling to Afghanistan for Jihad, but it was during the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan|Soviet occupation]], and that he had cut his ties Al Qaeda a decade ago.
Slahi moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in November 1999 because German immigration authorities would not extend his visa for residence in Germany.<ref name=wsjcsrt>{{cite news |title=Combatant Status Review Tribunal transcript |url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/couch-slahihearing-03312007.pdf |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref> Since he was a ''[[Hafiz (Qur'an)|hafiz]],'' he was invited by the imam of a large mosque to lead [[Ramadan]] prayers.<ref name=wsjarb /><ref name=freeze>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tortuous-tale-of-guantanamo-captive/article597619/ |title=Tortuous tale of Guantanamo captive |last=Freeze |first=Colin |work=Globe and Mail |date=July 17, 2007 |access-date=August 12, 2014}} [http://www.canadaka.net/forums/international-politics-f2/guantanamo-captive-crying-a-river-t25998.html mirror]</ref> [[Ahmed Ressam]], who was caught with explosives crossing the Canada–U.S. border in December 1999 as part of the [[2000 millennium attack plots#LAX bombing plot|2000 millennium attack plot]], had attended the same mosque.<ref name=Finn /> Since Slahi was known to U.S. intelligence through contact with his cousin Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, he was suspected by them of activating Ressam.<ref name=wall />


The [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]] (CSIS) put Slahi under surveillance for several weeks but did not find any grounds to arrest him.<ref name=wall /><ref name=CSIS>{{cite news |work=CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/csis-watched-terrorist-suspect-in-1999-1.276853 |title=CSIS watched terrorist suspect in 1999 |date=October 3, 2001 |access-date=August 12, 2014}}</ref> According to a classified report of German intelligence, "there is not only no evidence of any involvement by Ould Slahi in the planning and preparation of the attacks, but also no indication that Ressam and Slahi knew each other."<ref name=der />
The Times reports:
:''"A detailed summary, obtained by The Times, of Slahi's interrogations by U.S. officials suggests that he played a more central role and that he lied about it during his many debriefings over the last four years."


Frustrated by Canada's refusal to arrest him, the CIA worked with Mauritanian intelligence to lure Slahi back by forcing his mother to call him under the false premise that Canada was going to arrest him and he had to return to Mauritania to be protected.<ref name=JordanPetersonInterview>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMj_u5fQH4 |title=Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Mohamedou Ould Slahi EP 195 |date=June 7, 2021 |work=Jordan Peterson |access-date=November 15, 2010}}</ref> Slahi left Canada on January 21, 2000, where he was arrested in [[Senegal]] at the request of United States authorities and questioned about the millennium plot.<ref name=johnston>{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=David |title=Terror Suspect Is Rearrested In Africa at U.S. Request|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/29/world/terror-suspect-is-rearrested-in-africa-at-us-request.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 29, 2000 |access-date=January 26, 2011}}</ref> He was transferred to Mauritania to be interrogated by local authorities and United States [[FBI]] agents.<ref name=CSIS /> After three weeks in custody, during which Slahi was accused of being involved in the millennium plot, he was released.<ref name=wall />
====Allegations====


Slahi worked at various companies in Mauritania as an electrical engineer starting in May 2000.<ref name="habeas opinion" /><ref name=wsjcsrt /><ref name=BBC29Sept2001>{{cite news|last=Roger|first=Olivier|title=Mauritanian arrested in connection with Bin-Ladin's network|date=September 29, 2001|agency=Radio France Internationale|location=Mauritania |via=ProQuest: 82368037}}</ref> After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. renewed scrutiny of everyone suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. On September 29, he was again detained by the Mauritanian authorities for questioning.<ref name=CSIS /> He cooperated with the authorities several more times and then for the last time starting on November 20, 2001.<ref name=der /><ref name=wall /> Slahi was interrogated by both Mauritanian officials and the FBI for seven days.
The allegations against Slahi were:
:'''''a The detainee is associated with Al Qaida and the Taliban.
:#''The detainee admitted that he traveled to Afghanistan to wage Jihad.
:#''The detainee stated that his goal was to become a martyr by dying for Islam.
:#''The detainee trained at the [[al Farouq camp]] in Afghanistan where he took the alias of Abu Masab.
:#''The detainee received training on the [[Kalashnikov]], [[SKS|Simonov]], [[UZI]], [[M16 rifle|M-16]], [[Makarov PM|Makarov]] pistol and [[rocket propelled grenade]]s while at the al Farouq camp.


Then the [[CIA]] transported him to [[Jordan]] using [[extraordinary rendition]]. The CIA supervised his interrogation at a Jordanian prison for eight months.<ref name=der /><ref name=AIslahi>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/149/2006/en |title=Rendition – torture – trial? The case of Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi |date=September 20, 2006 |work=Amnesty International |access-date=November 15, 2010}}</ref> Slahi claims he was tortured and forced to confess to involvement with the millennium plot. On July 19, 2002, the CIA transported Slahi to [[Bagram, Afghanistan]], where he was transferred to military custody and held at the detention facility. The US military flew Slahi to [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] on August 4, 2002.<ref name=der />
====testimony====


==Guantánamo Bay detention, 2002-2016==
Slahi admitted he had traveled to Afghanistan to wage Jihad, and that he had trained at the al Farouq training camp. But that was during the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan|Soviet occupation]]. He was present, in Afghanistan, when Kabul fell, and the Soviets withdrew. Slahi described how civil war between the different factions which had joined to fight the Soviets broke out. So he cut his ties and left. He had joined jihad to fight non-Muslim invaders who were oppressing Muslims.
[[File:Mohamedou Ould Slahi - Guantanamo File.pdf|thumb|300px|Detainee Assessment written in Guantánamo prison]]
Slahi was assigned detainee ID number 760 and was initially held in [[Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay)|Camp Delta]]. Officials belonging to the CSIS interviewed Slahi in February 2003.<ref name=Shephard>
{{Cite news
| title= CSIS grilled trio in Cuba
| last = Shephard
| first = Michelle
| newspaper = Toronto Star
| date = July 27, 2008
| url = https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2008/07/27/csis_grilled_trio_in_cuba.html
| access-date = August 12, 2014
}}</ref> He was among 14 men classified as [[high-value detainees]], for whom [[United States Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] authorized use of what were called [[enhanced interrogation methods]], which have since been classified as [[torture]]. By January 2003, US military interrogators pressed to make Slahi their second "Special Project," drawing up an interrogation plan like that used against [[Mohammed al-Qahtani]]. Declassified documents show that Slahi was transferred to an isolation cell near the end of May and abusive interrogation started.<ref name="slahimemoir">{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guantanamo_memoirs_part_1_the_endless_interrogations.html |title=The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Part One: Endless Interrogation |work=Slate |date=April 30, 2013 |access-date=March 16, 2016}}</ref> He was subjected to extreme cold and noise, extended sleeplessness, forced standing or other postures for extended periods of time, threats against his family, sexual humiliation and other abuses.<ref name="slahimemoir"/>


In February 2015, a series in ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that one of his interrogators was [[Richard Zuley]], a career homicide detective with the [[Chicago Police Department]], who was called in on assignment with the [[United States Navy Reserve]]. In Chicago, Zuley has been the subject of civil suits by inmates attributing similar abuse, including shackling, threats and coerced confessions.<ref name="ackerman2015">[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/18/guantanamo-torture-chicago-police-brutality Guantánamo torturer led brutal Chicago regime of shackling and confession], ''The Guardian,'' 18 February 2015; 15 January 2017</ref>
He was asked if he would consider the American occupiers of Afghanistan non-Muslim invaders who were oppressing Muslims. He replied that he did not, because Muslims in America were free to practice their religion.


In September 2003, Slahi was moved to Camp Echo.<ref name=Finn /> Memos summarizing meetings held on October 9, 2003, and February 2, 2004, between General [[Geoffrey Miller (general)|Geoffrey Miller]] and Vincent Cassard of the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC) acknowledged that camp authorities were not permitting the ICRC to have access to Slahi, due to "military necessity."<ref name=Memo031009>
===Administrative Review Board hearing===
{{cite news
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/GitmoMemo10-09-03.pdf
| title = ICRC Meeting with MG Miller on 09 Oct 2003
| newspaper = Washington Post
}}</ref><ref name=Memo040202>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/GitmoMemo02-02-04.pdf
| title = ICRC Meeting 2 Feb 2004
| newspaper = Washington Post
}}</ref>


[[Stuart Couch|Lt. Col V. Stuart Couch]], a [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] lawyer, was appointed as Slahi's prosecutor at Guantanamo. He withdrew from the case in May 2004 after reviewing it in depth.<ref name=WSJ31Mar2007 /><ref name=Scheer>
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".
{{Cite news
| title = Leave Your Morals at the Border
| last = Scheer
| first = Robert
| author-link = Robert Scheer
| newspaper = [[The Nation]]
| url = http://www.thenation.com/article/leave-your-morals-border
| date = April 16, 2007
| access-date = September 28, 2010
}}</ref><ref name=Horton>{{Cite news |url=http://harpers.org/blog/2007/04/colonel-with-a-conscience/ |title=Colonel with a Conscience |last=Horton |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Horton (lawyer) |newspaper=Harper's Magazine |date=April 2, 2007 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref> Couch said that he believed that Slahi "had blood on his hands," but he "could no longer continue the case in good conscience" because of the alleged torture, which tainted all confessions Slahi had made.<ref name=WSJ31Mar2007 /> Couch said that "the evidence is not believable because of the methods used to obtain it and the fact that it has not been independently corroborated."<ref name=Scheer/>


''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' published a letter that Slahi wrote to his lawyers on November 9, 2006.<ref name=WSJSlahiLetter>
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.
{{Cite news
| url = https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/couch-slahiletter-03312007.pdf
| title = Mohamedou Ould Slahi letter to his attorneys
| date = November 9, 2006
| newspaper = The Wall Street Journal
| first = Mohamedou Ould
| last = Slahi
| access-date= August 28, 2012
}}</ref> In the letter, Slahi said all his confessions of crimes were the result of torture. He laughed at being asked to recount "everything" that he had said during interrogations, joking that it was "like asking [[Charlie Sheen]] how many women he dated."<ref name=WSJSlahiLetter />


In 2005, the internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer [[Nancy Hollander]] got involved in Slahi's case, together with lawyer Theresa Duncan. They argued Slahi's rights to a fair trial, despite criticism for defending a terrorist suspect.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
====''The following primary factors favor continued detention:====
:'''''a. Commitment
:#''In 1992, the detainee traveled to [[Gardiz]] ''{{sic}}'', Afghanistan to fight and was assigned to a [[mortar (artillery)|mortar battery]].
:#''The detainee actively recruited for [[jihad]] from 1992-1997. The detainee felt it was an important function and would often speak of jihad while he preached at mosques in Germany.
:#''Based on the detainee’s advice, an individual in [[Duisburg]], [[Germany]] traveled to Afghanistan for weapons training and to join the armed Taliban forces. The detainee arranged for this individual to meet with [[Usama bin laden]] and the individual swore allegiance to al Qaida. The individual became an important and influential al Qaida member.
:#''While in Germany, the detainee worked with a friend who recruited people to go fight jihad in Afghanistan.
:#''In December 1999, the detainee became the [[Imam]] at a mosque in Montreal, Canada. The detainee thought that the [[Algerian Armed Islamic Group]] and the [[Salafis]] might have a presence at that mosque.
:#''An al Qaida operative identified the detainee as an al Qaida facilitator who played a part in recruiting jihadists to fight in Afghanistan and Chechnya and to become suicide hijackers in the west. The detainee convinced the al Qaida operative and three future [[World Trade Center]] suicide hijackers to undergo al Qaida basic military training in Afghanistan.
:#''An al Qaida operative stated that the detainee facilitated the operative’s initial travel to Afghanistan and his initial introduction to Usama bin Laden.
:#''An Islamic extremist stated that he attended meetings in the detainee’s house on numerous occasions with a future suicide bomber and an al Qaida operative.
:#''The detainee swore loyalty to Usama bin Laden in 1990.


===Guantánamo Diary===
:'''''b. Training
{{main|Guantánamo Diary (memoir)}}
:#''The detainee was trained in the use of weapons and terrorist tactics in Usama bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan.
Slahi started writing a memoir of his experiences in 2005, continuing into the next year. The 466-page manuscript was in English, a language Slahi learned at Guantánamo.<ref name=flood /> After litigation and negotiation, the US government declassified the memoir in 2012, making numerous [[Sanitization (classified information)|redactions]].<ref name=slahi>{{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guantanamo_memoirs_part_1_the_endless_interrogations.html | first=Mohamedou | last=Slahi | title=Guantánamo Memoirs: Part One | work=Slate | date=April 30, 2013 | access-date=January 17, 2015}}</ref> Excerpts were published by ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine as a three-part series beginning April 30, 2013. On May 1, 2013, ''Slate'' also published a related interview with Col. [[Morris Davis]], the military's chief prosecutor at Guantánamo from September 2005 to October 2007.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_an_interview_with_colonel_morris.html | first=Larry | last=Siems | title=He Reminded Me of Forrest Gump | work=Slate | date=May 1, 2013 | access-date=January 17, 2015}}</ref> ''Guantánamo Diary'' was published as a book in January 2015,<ref name=flood /> the first work by a still-imprisoned detainee at Guantánamo. It provides details of Slahi's harsh interrogations and torture,<ref name=flood /> including being "force-fed seawater, sexually molested, subjected to a mock execution and repeatedly beaten, kicked and smashed across the face, all spiced with threats that his mother will be brought to Guantánamo and gang-raped."<ref>{{cite news|title=Blame game: After years of legal wrangling, Mohamedou Ould Slahi's prison diary finally comes out. A sad and sickening read|url=https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21641132-after-years-legal-wrangling-mohamedou-ould-slahis-prison-diary-finally-comes-out|access-date=7 February 2015|newspaper=The Economist|date=31 Jan 2015}}</ref> It has become an international bestseller. Prison officials prevented Slahi from receiving a copy of his published book.
:#''In January 1991, the detainee trained for six weeks at Camp Farouq, located near [[Khowst]]. Training consisted of physical exercises and weapons training on the [[AK-47]], [[SKS|Seminov]], [[Uzi]], [[M16 rifle|M-16]], [[Makarov pistol]] and [[rocket propelled grenade]]s.


===Joint Review Task Force===
:'''''c. Connetions/Associations
When he assumed office in January 2009, [[United States President|President]] [[Barack Obama]] repeated his commitment to close Guantanamo. He convened a six-agency task force to review the detainees and recommend those who could be released.<ref name=finn1>
:#''From 1993 through 1999, the detainee was tasked by an individual to set up a radio broadcasting station in [[Sudan]], to assist in counterfeiting money, especially United States currency, in [[Kandahar]], Afghanistan, and to help establish greater Internet connectivity between Sudan and Kandahar. The detainee denied taking part in any of these taskings.
{{cite news
:#''The individual who tasked the detainee was one of Usama bin Laden’s key operatives.
| title = Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely
:#''The detainee was involved in money laundering activities. The detainee wire United States currency three times for one of Usama bin Laden’s operatives.
| author = Peter Finn
:#''The detainee stated that he attended a mosque in Duisburg, Germany where the director was the leader of the [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] in the area.
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104936.html
| newspaper = Washington Post
| date = January 22, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2015-05-04
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504225142/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104936.html
| url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref name=finn2>
{{cite news
| title = Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says
| author = Peter Finn
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052803873.html
| newspaper = Washington Post
| date = May 29, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2015-05-10
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150510052105/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052803873.html
| url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref name=AndyWorthington2010-06-11>
{{cite web
| author = Andy Worthington
| url = http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/06/11/does-obama-really-know-or-care-about-who-is-at-guantanamo/
| title = Does Obama Really Know or Care About Who Is at Guantánamo?
| date = June 11, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2010-06-16
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100616161842/http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/06/11/does-obama-really-know-or-care-about-who-is-at-guantanamo
| url-status = live
}}
</ref>
In its 2010 report, the [[Guantánamo Review Task Force]] recommended Slahi be considered for prosecution in a military commission.<ref name=2010review>{{cite news|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol|title=U.S. repatriates long-cleared Guantánamo detainee to Africa|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article41783445.html|access-date=March 17, 2016|work=Miami Herald|date=October 29, 2015}}</ref> The task force recommended that detainees deemed too dangerous to release, but without sufficient evidence for prosecution, receive a [[Periodic Review Board]] hearing. In 2013, Slahi was listed as one of 71 detainees eligible for a review.<ref name=Unchargeable71>
{{cite news
|url = https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1020057-guantanamo-parole-list.html
|title = 71 Guantanamo Detainees Determined Eligible to Receive a Periodic Review Board as of April 19, 2013
|publisher = U.S. Department of Defense
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150519230955/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1020057-guantanamo-parole-list.html
|archive-date = May 19, 2015
|access-date = May 18, 2015
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>
In March 2016, Slahi was granted a hearing before the Board in June.<ref name=intercept>{{cite news|last1=Hussain|first1=Murtaza|title=Mohamedou Slahi, Author of "Guantánamo Diary," to Get Hearing on Possible Release|url=https://theintercept.com/2016/03/15/mohamedou-slahi-author-of-guantanamo-diary-to-get-hearing-on-possible-release/|access-date=March 16, 2016|work=The Intercept|date=March 15, 2016}}</ref>


===Further interrogation request===
:'''''d. Intent
[[US District Court Judge|U.S. district court]] [[James Robertson (judge)|James Robertson]] had issued an order to the Department of Defense barring them from interrogating Slahi while his habeas corpus case was under consideration. Guantánamo authorities in October 2014 seized all of Slahi's privileged legal papers and all his personal belongings, including a computer.<ref name=MiamiHerald2015-06-10/> They also stripped Slahi of his "[[comfort items]]," including letters from his late mother, in an attempt to force him to agree to interrogations.<ref name=TheGuardian2015-07-29/> Slahi wrote in an unclassified letter to his attorneys in April 2015 that officials had offered to return these items if he agreed to interrogations, which had been barred for six years. Prosecutors in the case of [[Ahmed al-Darbi]] wanted to interrogate Slahi about him.<ref name=TheGuardian2015-07-29/>
:#''The detainee said that his goal while in Afghanistan was to become a martyr by dying for Islam. However, the detainee would fight in a battle and there would not be another one for months, thereby reducing his chances to be martyred.
:#''The detainee is a suspected facilitator of the failed millennium bombing conspiracy.


===Torture===
:'''''e. Other Relevant Data
Slahi was last interrogated by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] on May 22, 2003. He claimed an FBI interrogator warned him "this was our last session; he told me that I was not going to enjoy the time to come."<ref name=WSJ31Mar2007 /> Three months later Defense Secretary Rumsfeld approved the use of "[[enhanced interrogation techniques]]". Slahi was subjected to isolation, temperature extremes, beatings and sexual humiliation by military interrogators. In one incident, he was blindfolded and taken out to sea for a [[mock execution]].<ref name=gitmofile /><ref name=WSJ31Mar2007 />
:#''In January 2000, the detainee departed Canada to travel to Mauritania. On the way to Mauritania, the detainee was detained in [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]] where he was questioned and released after four days.
:#''In April 2000, the detainee traveled from Mauritania to Germany where he was detained for three weeks and questioned by German authorities.
:#''In September 2001, the Mauritanian Security Service detained the detainee after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States.


A 2007 ''Wall Street Journal'' report paraphrased an incident described in the 2005 Schmidt-Furlow Report, an investigation by the Department of Defense into detainee treatment at Guantanamo following FBI allegations of torture used by DOD interrogators in the early years of Guantanamo:
====''The following primary factors favor release or transfer:====
::'''''a.''' The detainee denied having knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001, and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or U.S. interests.
::'''''b.''' The detainee stated that he did not know of Usama bin Laden’s operative’s involvement in terrorism when he transmitted money for him.
::'''''c.''' The detainee strongly denied that he had helped anyone travel to Chechnya or Afghanistan.


<blockquote>On July 17, 2003, a masked interrogator told Mr. Slahi he had dreamed of watching detainees dig a grave.... The interrogator said he saw "a plain, pine casket with [Mr. Slahi's] identification number painted in orange lowered into the ground."<ref name=WSJ31Mar2007 /><ref name=SchmidtFurlowReport>{{Cite web | url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2005/d20050714report.pdf | title=Investigation into FBI Allegations of Detainee Abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Detention Facility: Executive Summary | date=June 9, 2005 | publisher=US Department of Defense | author1=Lieutenant General [[Randall Schmidt]] |author2=Brigadier General John Furlow | access-date=April 11, 2007 }}</ref></blockquote>
====Transcript====


In the summer of 2003, Slahi was repeatedly subjected to the use of an interrogation technique which the Schmidt-Furlow Report stated had been prohibited by the Secretary of Defense on December 2, 2002.
Slahi chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.<ref name=ArbMohamedouOuldSlahi> [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/ARB_Transcript_Set_8_20751-21016.pdf#184 Summarized transcript (.pdf)], from [[Mohamedou Ould Slahi]]'s ''[[Administrative Review Board]] hearing'' - page 184</ref>


What was not revealed until 2008 was that in a March 14, 2003, legal opinion memo issued by [[John Yoo]] of the [[Office of Legal Counsel]], [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]], to the [[General Counsel]] of the Department of Defense, Yoo advised that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogations overseas.<ref name="Haynes"/> At that point the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] contended that Guantanamo Bay was outside US jurisdiction. The Defense Department used this memo to authorize the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" at Guantanamo and in Iraq.<ref name="Haynes">{{cite news |title=Justice: Torture Memo Fallout |url=http://www.newsweek.com/justice-torture-memo-fallout-85899 |first=Michael |last=Isikoff |work=Newsweek |date=April 4, 2008 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Rosen">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09rosen.html |first=Jeffrey |last=Rosen |title=Conscience of a Conservative |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 9, 2007 |access-date=August 12, 2014}}</ref> Also, by 2005, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that by an April 2003 memo from Rumsfeld to General [[James T. Hill]], commander of [[United States Southern Command]], responsible for Guantanamo Bay, Rumsfeld authorized 24 specific permitted interrogation techniques to be used.<ref name="NYT5torture">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/international/24MEMO-GUIDE.html | title=A Guide to the Memos on Torture | newspaper=The New York Times | date=2005 | access-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref> [[Jack Goldsmith]], head of the Office of Legal Counsel, withdrew the Yoo [[Torture Memos]] in June 2004 and advised federal agencies not to rely on them.<ref name="Rosen"/>
==See also==
*[[Omar Khadr]] -- Canadian citizen, also detained in Guantanamo
*[[Abdurahman Khadr]] -- Canadian citizen formerly detained in Guantanamo
*[[Ahcène Zemiri]] -- Former resident of Canada, also detained in Guantanamo
*[[Djamel Ameziane]] -- Former resident of Canada, also detained in Guantanamo


Slahi's lawyers in 2008 threatened to sue Mauritanian, Jordanian and U.S. officials over his torture.<ref name=Reuters20080310>{{Cite news | url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-32404120080310 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174822/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-32404120080310 | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | title=Mauritanian was tortured in Guantanamo - lawyers | work=Reuters | last=Champagne | first=Noiselle
==References==
| date=March 10, 2008 | access-date=August 14, 2010}}</ref>
<references/>

The [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services]] produced a report titled ''Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody'' on November 20, 2008.<ref>{{cite web |author1=United States Senate Committee on Armed Services |title=Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody |url=https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Detainee-Report-Final_April-22-2009.pdf |access-date=30 September 2020 |date=20 November 2008}}</ref> It contains information about the treatment of Slahi and others at Guantanamo before 2005.<ref name=16Jan2015-Cobain />

According to Peter Finn of ''The Washington Post'' in 2010, Slahi, along with [[Tariq al-Sawah]], were "two of the most significant informants ever to be held at Guantanamo. Today, they are housed in a little fenced-in compound at the military prison, where they live a life of relative privilege – gardening, writing and painting – separated from other detainees in a cocoon designed to reward and protect."<ref name=Finn>
{{ cite news
| title = For two detainees who told what they knew, Guantanamo becomes a gilded cage
| last = Finn
| first = Peter
| newspaper = The Washington Post
| date = March 24, 2010
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032403135_pf.html
| access-date = September 28, 2010
}}</ref>

===Habeas corpus proceedings===
In ''[[Rasul v. Bush]]'' (2004), the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruled that detainees at Guantánamo Bay detention camp had the right of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' to challenge their detention. Slahi had ''habeas'' petitions submitted on his behalf. In response, the Department of Defense published 27 pages of unclassified documents from his [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]] (CSRT) on July 14, 2005.<ref name=csrtrecords>{{cite web | author=OARDEC | url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/publicly_filed_CSRT_records_3785-3874.pdf | title=Publicly Filed CSRT Records | publisher=United States Department of Defense | pages=1–27 | access-date=November 12, 2010 | author-link=OARDEC | archive-date=October 26, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026004839/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/publicly_filed_CSRT_records_3785-3874.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Military Commissions Act of 2006]] (MCA) mandated that Guantánamo detainees were no longer entitled access to the [[U.S. federal courts]], so all pending ''habeas'' petitions were stayed. However, in June 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Boumediene v. Bush]]'' that the MCA of 2006 could not remove detainees' right to ''habeas'' and access to the federal court system. All previous ''habeas'' petitions were eligible to be re-instated.

Before submitting briefs in the ''habeas'' case, the U.S. government dropped its previous allegations that Slahi had participated in the Millennium Plot and that he knew about the [[9/11 attacks]] before they happened.<ref name=judgedemolished />

===Release order===
After review of the case, U.S. District Court [[Judge James Robertson]] granted the writ of ''habeas corpus'' and ordered Slahi's release on March 22, 2010.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE62M0D520100323 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201133224/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE62M0D520100323 | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 1, 2013 | title=U.S. judge orders release of Guantanamo detainee | work=Reuters (U.K.) | date=March 23, 2010 | last=Pelofsky | first=Jeremy | access-date=July 3, 2010}}</ref> Robertson's ruling was criticized by several [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] politicians.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/65115-gop-denounces-terror-suspect-release/ | title=GOP denounces terror suspect release | work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] | date=March 24, 2010 | last=Crabtree | first=Susan | access-date=July 8, 2010}}</ref> Slahi was the 34th detainee whose release was ordered by a federal district court judge reviewing government materials associated with his habeas petition.<ref name="rosenberg">{{cite news | last=Rosenberg | first=Carol | author-link=Carol Rosenberg | url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/22/1551648/judge-orders-detainee-abused-at.html | title=Judge orders release of detainee abused at Guantánamo | work=Miami Herald |date=March 3, 2010 | access-date=July 9, 2010}}</ref> The unclassified decision was filed on April 9, 2010.<ref name=Fisher />

Referring to the government's charge that Slahi gave "purposeful and material support" to al Qaeda, Judge Robertson wrote:

<blockquote>Salahi may very well have been an al-Qaida sympathizer, and the evidence does show that he provided some support to al-Qaida, or to people he knew to be al-Qaida. Such support was sporadic, however, and, at the time of his capture, non-existent. In any event, what the standard approved in <u>Al-Bihani</u> actually covers is "those who purposefully and materially supported such forces <u>in hostilities against U.S. Coalition partners</u>." 530 F.3d at 872 (emphasis added). The evidence in this record cannot possibly be stretched far enough to fit that test.<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|5}}</blockquote>

Judge Robertson addressed the other government allegation, that Slahi was "part of" al Qaeda at the time of his capture. He said the law was not as clear in this instance:
<blockquote>neither <u>Al-Bihani</u> nor any other case provides a bright-line test for determining who was and who was not "part of" al-Qaida at the time of capture. The decision, in other words, depends on the sufficiency of the evidence. The question of <u>when</u> a detainee must have been a "part of" al-Qaida to be detainable is at the center of this case, because it is clear that Salahi was at one point a sworn al-Qaida member.<ref name="habeas opinion"/>{{rp|6}}</blockquote>

Judge Robertson discusses other factors in his decision, including which side had the burden of proof and considering the reliability of coerced or hearsay testimony.<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|7–12}} In conclusion, Judge Robertson stated:

<blockquote>The government had to adduce evidence – which is different from intelligence – showing that it was more likely than not that Salahi was "part of" al-Qaida. To do so, it had to show that the support Salahi undoubtedly did provide from time to time was provided within al-Qaida's command structure. The government has not done so.<ref name="habeas opinion" />{{rp|31}}</blockquote>

===Appeal===
The Department of Justice appealed the decision.<ref name=Fisher /> Oral arguments were heard on September 17, 2010, by a three-judge panel for the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]]. In oral arguments, Judge [[David S. Tatel]] questioned whether swearing ''bayat'' in 1991 is evidence of actions a decade and more later against the United States. He noted, "When he swore bayat, the United States and al-Qaeda had a common goal. Both the United States and al-Qaeda were opposing a communist government of Afghanistan."<ref name=Pickler /> The panel discussed sending the case back to the District Court or over-ruling the decision, based on other recent D.C. Circuit rulings on the criteria that justify detention, which were still being developed.<ref name=Hsu />

On November 5, 2010, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision and remanded the case to the D.C. District Court for further factual findings, based on guidance it had given to the D.C. District Court about review of such habeas corpus cases of detainees.<ref name=rosenberg1 /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wittes |first1=Benjamin |author-link1=Benjamin Wittes |title=Comments on Salahi |url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/comments-salahi |website=Lawfare |access-date=29 September 2020 |language=en |date=5 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="lyle">
{{cite web
| last = Denniston
| first = Lyle
| author-link = Lyle Denniston
| title = Caution urged in detainee cases
| url = http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/11/caution-urged-in-detainee-cases/
| publisher = SCOTUSblog
| date = November 5, 2010
| access-date = November 20, 2010
}}</ref>
The Circuit Court panel said the following questions needed to be answered:
*whether Slahi understood that he was referring recruits to work in al-Qaeda's "jihad" against the U.S.,
*what Slahi may have said to bin al-Shibh in a discussion of jihad in Afghanistan,
*whether he had been asked by al-Qaeda to help with communications projects in Afghanistan and elsewhere,
*whether he had taken a role in planning computer "cyberattacks," and
*whether he remained "a trusted member" of al-Qaeda up to the time of his capture.<ref name="lyle"/>

The District Court never held any hearings after the Court of Appeals decision.

Slahi had his first Periodic Review Board review on June 2, 2016.<ref name=intercept /> A month later, the board recommended that Slahi be released.<ref name=NYTimes2016-07-21 />

==Life after detention==
On October 17, 2016, Slahi was freed and returned to Mauritania, after being detained without charge for over 14 years.<ref name=Guardian2016-10-17 />

In 2017, ''[[CBS News]]'' journalist [[Holly Williams (journalist)|Holly Williams]] traveled to Mauritania to interview Slahi.<ref name=Cbs2017-03-10/>
''CBS News''{{'}} flagship news show, ''[[60 Minutes]]'', broadcast the story on March 12, 2017. ''CBS News'' described it as Slahi's first television interview since his repatriation. In this interview Mohamedou said he "wholeheartedly [forgives] everyone who wronged [him] during [his] detention." Slahi filed in April 2022 a legal claim against the Canadian government on the grounds that "faulty intelligence provided by Canadian authorities contributed to his detention" in 2002, seeking $35 million in compensation.<ref>The Canadian Press, 23 April 2022, ''Ottawa Citizen'', https://ottawacitizen.com/news/ex-guantanamo-detainee-sues-canada-over-14-year-detention-and-torture</ref>

In May 2018, Slahi's former guard at Guantanamo, Steve Wood, visited him in [[Mauritania]] during [[Ramadan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/08/12/637932193/a-guantanamo-guard-and-a-detainee-reunite-in-mauritania|title=A Guantanamo Guard And His Detainee Reunite|work=NPR|language=en|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=An unlikely friendship in Guantanamo Bay |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz37q |access-date=7 September 2019 |series=Outlook |work=BBC |date=24 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Me, Guantanamo Bay, and a new friend |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz37p |access-date=7 September 2019 |series=Outlook |work=BBC |date=17 August 2019}}</ref>
It was covered in the 2020 documentary short film ''My Brother's Keeper''.<ref name="Topham">{{cite journal |last1=Topham |first1=Laurence |title=Guantánamo, torture and friendship: how we made My Brother's Keeper |journal=The Guardian |date=1 March 2021 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2021/mar/01/how-we-made-my-brothers-keeper-documentary |language=en|access-date=2022-11-12}}</ref>

On January 29, 2021, the ''[[New York Review of Books]]'' published an open letter from Slahi, and six other individuals who were formerly held in Guantanamo, to newly inaugurated [[POTUS|President]] [[Joe Biden|Biden]], appealing to him to close the detention camp.<ref name=NYReviewBooks2021-01-29/>

In February 2021, a film adaption of his memoir titled ''[[The Mauritanian]]'' directed by [[Kevin Macdonald (director)|Kevin Macdonald]], and starring [[Jodie Foster]], [[Tahar Rahim]], [[Benedict Cumberbatch]], and [[Shailene Woodley]] was released.<ref name=susk>{{cite news|author=Susanne Koelbl|title=The Story of Prisoner No. 760 |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/prisoner-760-wrongly-detained-at-guantanamo-for-14-years-a-ede07fee-0867-4810-a507-6219866fb75e|access-date=6 November 2020|work=Der Spiegel|date=10 June 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
As of 2019, Slahi's passport had not been returned to him as was promised during his release. He has not been able to leave Mauritania to treat his health condition or see his newborn son in Germany.<ref name="Middle East Eye">{{cite news |last1=Thomas-Johnson |first1=Amandla |title='I'm being punished': Guantanamo's 'most tortured detainee' still can't leave Mauritania |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/guantanamo-bay-prison-torture-us-mohamedou-salahi |access-date=7 September 2019 |work=Middle East Eye |date=22 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref> After his academic graduation in Germany in 1999 Slahi had registered himself as unemployed while also being involved in commercial activities which he failed to declare to the authorities, resulting in a suspended sentence for social fraud and an unlimited entry ban.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-Guantánamo-Häftling darf nicht nach Deutschland |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/ndr-wdr/guantanamo-haeftling-101.html |access-date=1 November 2021 |work=[[Tagesschau (German TV series)|Tagesschau]] |date=21 February 2021 |language=de}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=NYReviewBooks2021-01-29>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/01/29/an-open-letter-to-president-biden-about-guantanamo/
| title = An Open Letter to President Biden About Guantánamo
| work = [[New York Review of Books]]
| author1 = [[Mansoor Adayfi]]
| author2 = [[Moazzam Begg]]
| author3 = [[Lakhdar Boumediane]]
| author4 = [[Sami Al Hajj]]
| author5 = [[Ahmed Errachidi]]
| author6 = [[Mohammed Ould Slahi]]
| author7 = Mosa Zi Zemmori
| date = 2021-01-29
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210130103513/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/01/29/an-open-letter-to-president-biden-about-guantanamo/
| archive-date = 2021-01-30
| access-date = 2021-01-30
| url-status = live
| quote = At your inauguration, you told the world: “We will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. We will rise to the occasion.” It is therefore our suggestion that the following steps are taken to close Guantánamo
}}
</ref>

<ref name=TheGuardian2015-07-29>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/29/guantanamo-memoir-comfort-items-interrogations
| title = Guantánamo detainee says his 'comfort items' were taken to force interrogations
| newspaper = [[The Guardian]]
| author = Spencer Ackerman
| author-link = Spencer Ackerman
| date = 2015-07-29
| location = [[New York City]]
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150731020553/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/29/guantanamo-memoir-comfort-items-interrogations
| archive-date = 2015-07-31
| access-date = 2015-07-30
| url-status = live
| quote = Slahi alleged that the military "prosecuting team" pursuing confessed terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi "offered to help me on condition to ask the court to lift its order regarding my interrogation".
}}
</ref>
<ref name=MiamiHerald2015-06-10>
{{cite news
| url = http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article23664175.html
| title = 'Guantánamo Diary' author seeks parole hearing, return of belongings
| newspaper = [[Miami Herald]]
| author = Carol Rosenberg
| author-link = Carol Rosenberg
| date = 2015-06-10
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150726062102/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article23664175.html
| archive-date = 2015-07-26
| access-date = 2015-07-30
| url-status = live
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Cbs2017-03-10>
{{cite news
| url = http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-gitmo-detainee-on-torture-they-broke-me/
| title = Ex-Gitmo detainee on torture: "They broke me"
| publisher = [[60 Minutes]]
| date = 2017-03-09
| access-date = 2017-03-08
| quote = Now, in his first television interview since being released last October, he tells his remarkable story on 60 Minutes.
}}
</ref>

}}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{cite news |title=An unlikely friendship in Guantanamo Bay |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz37q |access-date=7 September 2019 |series=Outlook |work=BBC |date=24 August 2019}}
*[http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=33839427-f6bd-4244-9260-94df7d4ac68e Montrealer sold to U.S. troops] [[Montreal Gazette]] reprint of [[Ottawa Citizen]] article about the other former Canadian resident, being held in Guantanamo Bay, that mentions Slahi, [[July 11]], [[2005]] -[http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=8251&PHPSESSID=de5ad4a8574cb5286335928b59aca02a mirror]
* {{cite news |title=Me, Guantanamo Bay, and a new friend |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz37p |access-date=7 September 2019 |series=Outlook |work=BBC |date=17 August 2019}}
*[http://www.n-tv.de/613266.html Verhör in Guantánamo], ''[[n-tv]]'', [[December 15]], [[2005]]
* {{cite news |title='Forever Prisoner' Writes Book About Guantanamo; He's One Of 107 Still There |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/01/04/461878675/forever-prisoner-writes-book-about-guantanamo-he-s-one-of-107-still-there |work=NPR |date=January 4, 2016 |first=David |last=Welna |access-date=January 5, 2016}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/22/inside_the_us_torture_chambers_prisoners
| title = Inside the U.S. Torture Chambers: Prisoner's Guantánamo Diary Details 12 Years of Abuse, Terror
| date = January 22, 2015
| website = Democracy Now!
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150122155626/http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/22/inside_the_us_torture_chambers_prisoners
| archive-date = January 22, 2015
| url-status=live
}} Includes interviews with [[Morris Davis]], Nancy Hollander (Salahi's lead lawyer), and Larry Siems. Includes [http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/22/inside_the_us_torture_chambers_prisoners transcript], [http://traffic.libsyn.com/democracynow/dn2015-0122-1.mp3 audio], and [http://publish.dvlabs.com/democracynow/ipod/dn2015-0122.mp4 video].
* {{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_how_the_united_states_kept_a_gitmo.html | title=The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi: How the United States kept him silent for 12 years | work=Slate | first=Larry | last=Siems | date=April 30, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130501031025/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_how_the_united_states_kept_a_gitmo.html | archive-date=May 1, 2013 | url-status=live}}
* {{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guantanamo_memoirs_a_timeline_of_a_detainee_s_life.html | title=A Timeline of Detention | first1=Larry | last1=Siems | first2=Chris | last2=Kirk | date=April 30, 2013 | access-date=August 14, 2014 | work=Slate}} Covers 2000 to 2010.
* {{cite news | title=Torture at Guantánamo: Lt. Col. Stuart Couch on His Refusal to Prosecute Abused Prisoner | url=http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/22/torture_at_guantnamo_lt_col_stuart | work=Democracy Now! | date=February 22, 2013 | access-date=January 17, 2015}}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/imagine-the-worst-possible-scenario-why-a-guantanamo-prosecutor-withdrew-from-the-case/273013/?single_page=true |title='Imagine the Worst Possible Scenario': Why a Guantánamo Prosecutor Withdrew From the Case |first=Jess |last=Bravin |date=February 11, 2013 |access-date=January 17, 2015 |work=Atlantic}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/the911decade/2011/09/20119921423384148.html | title=Fate of Guantánamo detainee still uncertain | work=alJazeera.com | last=Hanna | first=Mike | date=September 9, 2011 | access-date=August 29, 2012}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.thetorturereport.org/report/chapter-5-part-4-battle-lab
| title = Chapter 5, Part 4 - The Battle Lab : Endgame
| publisher = ACLU National Security Project
| work = TheTortureReport.org
| last = Siems
| first = Larry
| date = March 23, 2011
| access-date = August 29, 2012
}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.thetorturereport.org/report/chapter-5-part-3-battle-lab | title=Chapter 5, Part 3 - The Battle Lab : Force Drift
| publisher = ACLU National Security Project | work=TheTortureReport.org | last=Siems | first=Larry | date=January 21, 2011 | access-date=August 29, 2012}}
* {{cite web
| title=Mohamedou Ould Slahi Challenges Guantánamo Detention: Salahi v. Obama
| url=https://www.aclu.org/national-security/mohamedou-ould-slahi-challenges-guantanamo-detention
| publisher=American Civil Liberties Union
| access-date=29 August 2012
| date=November 5, 2010}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/09/28/heads-you-lose-tails-you-lose-the-betrayal-of-mohamedou-ould-slahi/
| title = Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose: The Betrayal of Mohamedou Ould Slahi
| last = Worthington
| first = Andy
| author-link = Andy Worthington
| date = September 28, 2010
| access-date = September 29, 2010
| work = andyworthington.co.uk
}}
* {{cite web
| url = https://www.lawfaremedia.org/2010/09/why-salahi-is-important/
| title = Why Salahi Is Important
| last = Wittes
| first = Benjamin
| author-link = Benjamin Wittes
| date = September 15, 2010
| access-date = September 29, 2010
| work = LawfareBlog.com
}}
* {{cite news
| url = http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/03/22/16/slahi.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf
| title = The Slahi File
| newspaper = Miami Herald
| access-date = November 5, 2010
| archive-date = October 2, 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111002161128/http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/03/22/16/slahi.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite news
| url = http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0910.pdf
| title = A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantánamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq
| author = Office of the Inspector General
| publisher = U.S. Department of Justice
| date = October 2009
| access-date = August 29, 2012
| archive-date = March 11, 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130311235948/http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0910.pdf
| url-status = dead
}} FBI concerns about military interrogations at GTMO, pages 122-128 (PDF pages 166–172). Allegations of mistreatment by FBI personnel, pages 295-299 (PDF pages 339–343) [http://humanrights.ucdavis.edu/projects/the-guantanamo-testimonials-project/testimonies/testimony-of-the-department-of-justice/allegations-of-mistreatment-of-specific-prisoners/mohamedou-ould-skahi-760/ HTML version]
* {{cite news
| url = http://documents.nytimes.com/report-by-the-senate-armed-services-committee-on-detainee-treatment#document/p166
| title = Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody
| author = United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
| newspaper = The New York Times
| date = November 2, 2008
| access-date = September 21, 2010
}}
* {{cite web
|url = http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/08307-etn-tortured-justice-web.pdf
|title = Tortured Justice: Using Coerced Evidence to Prosecute Terrorist Suspects
|last1 = Colson
|first1 = Deborah
|last2 = Cover
|first2 = Avi
|website = [[Human Rights First]]
|date = April 2008
|access-date = September 29, 2010
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100928174322/http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/08307-etn-tortured-justice-web.pdf
|archive-date = September 28, 2010
}}
* {{cite web
| url = https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/04/07/double-jeopardy?print
| title = Double Jeopardy
| date = April 7, 2008
| publisher = Human Rights Watch
| access-date = October 1, 2010
}}
* {{cite news
| url = http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/760-mohamedou-ould-slahi/documents/5
| title = Mohamedou Ould Slahi - The Guantánamo Docket
| newspaper = The New York Times
| access-date = March 16, 2016
}}
* {{IMDb name|id=8877502}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | title=The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay | first=Jess | last=Bravin | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2013 | isbn=9780300191349}}
* {{cite book | title=The Torture Report: What the Documents say about America's Post 9/11 Torture Program | first=Larry | last=Siems | publisher=OR Books | date=2012 | isbn=978-1-935928-55-3}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Taub |first=Ben |date=April 15, 2019 |title=Guantánamo's Darkest Secret |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/22/guantanamos-darkest-secret |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |author-link=Ben Taub (journalist)}}

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:1972 births|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:Living people|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda members|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees]]
[[Category:Canadian terrorists|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:Electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Guantanamo Bay detainees|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released]]
[[Category:Interrogations]]
[[Category:Mauritanian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States|Slahi]]
[[Category:Mauritanian people|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:Mauritanian torture victims]]
[[Category:People from Montreal|Slahi, Mohamedou Ould]]
[[Category:21st-century Mauritanian people]]
[[Category:People from Rosso]]
[[Category:People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States]]

Latest revision as of 01:42, 19 December 2024

Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Born (1970-12-21) December 21, 1970 (age 54)[1][2]
Rosso, Mauritania[3]
Detained at Jordan
Bagram
Guantánamo
Other name(s) Mohammedou Ould Slahi, kunya: Abu Musab
ISN760
StatusReleased on October 17, 2016
OccupationWriter

Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Arabic: محمدو ولد الصلاحي; born December 21, 1970) is a Mauritanian engineer who was detained at Guantánamo Bay detention camp without charge from 2002 until his release on October 17, 2016.[4]

Slahi traveled from his home in Germany to Afghanistan in December 1990 "to support the mujahideen."[5]: 4  Slahi trained in an al Qaeda camp and swore allegiance to the organization in March 1991. He returned to Germany soon after, but traveled back to Afghanistan for two months in early 1992. Slahi said that, after leaving Afghanistan the second time, he "severed all ties with ... al-Qaeda."[5]: 5  The U.S. government maintains that Slahi "recruited for al-Qaeda and provided it with other support" since then.[5]: 5  He lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from November 1999 to January 2000. Slahi was suspected of involvement in the attempted LAX bombing and was investigated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Due to the scrutiny, Slahi returned to live in Mauritania where he was questioned and cleared of involvement.

After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. again was interested in Slahi. He was brought in for questioning by Mauritanian authorities on November 20, 2001, after which he was detained for seven days and questioned by Mauritanian officers and by agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[6] The CIA then transported Slahi to a Jordanian prison through its extraordinary rendition program; he was held for eight months. Slahi said he was tortured by the Jordanians. After being flown to Afghanistan and held for two weeks, he was transferred to military custody and the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba on August 4, 2002, under the authority of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).[7] Slahi was subjected to sleep deprivation, isolation, temperature extremes, beatings and sexual humiliation at Guantánamo. In one documented incident, he was blindfolded and taken out to sea in a boat for a mock execution. Lt. Col Stuart Couch refused to prosecute Slahi in a Military Commission in 2003. He said that "Salahi's incriminating statements—the core of the government's case—had been taken through torture, rendering them inadmissible under U.S. and international law."[8]

In 2005, the internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Nancy Hollander got involved in Slahi's case, together with lawyer Theresa Duncan. They argued Slahi's rights to a fair trial, despite criticism for defending a terrorist suspect.[citation needed] In 2010, Judge James Robertson granted a writ of habeas corpus, ordering Slahi to be released on March 22. In his unclassified opinion, Judge Robertson wrote: "... associations alone are not enough, of course, to make detention lawful."[9]: 29  The Department of Justice appealed the decision.[10][11][12] The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the ruling and remanded the case to the District Court on November 5, 2010, for further factual findings.[5]: 3 [13][14] The District Court never held the second habeas hearing.

On July 14, 2016, Slahi was approved by a Periodic Review Board for release from detention.[15] Slahi was freed and returned to Mauritania on October 17, 2016; he had been imprisoned at Guantánamo for over fourteen years.

Slahi wrote a memoir in 2005 while imprisoned, which the U.S. government declassified in 2012 with numerous redactions. The memoir was published as Guantánamo Diary in January 2015 and became an international bestseller.[16] Slahi is the first Guantánamo detainee to publish a memoir while imprisoned.[17] Slahi wrote four other books while in detention, but he has not been allowed to access these books since being removed from Guantanamo.[18]

1988–1999

[edit]

Slahi was an exceptional student in high school in Mauritania. In 1988, he received a scholarship from the Carl Duisberg Society to study in West Germany, where he earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Duisburg.[3][6][19] In 1991, Slahi travelled to Afghanistan to join the Mujahideen fighting against the communist central government.[19] The United States had supported the Mujahideen against the Soviet occupation starting in 1979, and funnelled billions of dollars of weapons and aid to the "freedom fighters".[20] After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, there was a civil war between Mohammad Najibullah's government and the Mujahideen. Slahi trained for several weeks at the al Farouq training camp near Khost, which was run by al Qaeda, one of many Mujahideen groups in the civil war.[21] At the end of his training in March 1991, he swore bayat to al Qaeda and was given the kunya (nom de guerre) of "Abu Musab."[7][22] However, he did not participate in the civil war, instead returning to Germany.

In February 1992, Slahi travelled again to Afghanistan and was assigned to a mortar battery in Gardez. Six weeks later, the Najibullah regime fell and he returned to Germany.[9]: 12  In hearings in Guantanamo, Slahi has stated that he travelled to Afghanistan twice, attended the al Farouq training camp, and fought against the Afghan central government in 1992, but that he was never an enemy combatant against the United States.[7][11][23]: 2–4 [24]: 4–6  In fact, he was fighting on the same side as the United States, which in 1992 supported the Mujahideen fight against the communist government in Afghanistan.[11]

Slahi's cousin and former brother-in-law is Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, also known as Abu Hafs al-Mauritani. Before the September 11 attacks in the United States, Al-Walid was a spiritual adviser to Osama bin Laden, was on the Shura council of al Qaeda, and headed the sharia council.[9]: 21 [25] Two months before the attacks, al-Walid, along with several other al Qaeda members, wrote a letter to bin Laden opposing the planned attacks.[26] Al-Walid left al Qaeda after the attacks.

While al-Walid was in Sudan, where al Qaeda was based in the mid-1990s, he twice asked Slahi to help him get money to his family in Mauritania, about $4,000 in December 1997 and another $4,000 in December 1998. In the 2010 habeas corpus opinion for Slahi, the judge wrote: "the government relies on nothing but Slahi's uncorroborated, coerced statements to conclude that the money transfers were done on behalf of and in support of al-Qa'ida."[9]: 26  In 1998, Slahi was heard by U.S. intelligence talking to al-Walid on a satellite phone traced to bin Laden.[22][24][27][28]: 12 

The 9/11 Commission Report, based on the interrogations of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, stated that in 1999, Slahi advised three members of the Hamburg Cell to travel to Afghanistan to obtain training before waging jihad in Chechnya.[29][30] The federal District Court in 2010 that reviewed Slahi's case found that Slahi "provided lodging for three men for one night at his home in Germany [in November 1999], that one of them was Ramzi bin al-Shibh and that there was discussion of jihad and Afghanistan."[9]: 19  Besides Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Mr. Slahi's other two houseguests were future September 11 hijackers. Slahi claims it was merely a matter of hospitality to fellow Muslims.[31]

1999–2002

[edit]

Slahi moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in November 1999 because German immigration authorities would not extend his visa for residence in Germany.[23] Since he was a hafiz, he was invited by the imam of a large mosque to lead Ramadan prayers.[24][28] Ahmed Ressam, who was caught with explosives crossing the Canada–U.S. border in December 1999 as part of the 2000 millennium attack plot, had attended the same mosque.[22] Since Slahi was known to U.S. intelligence through contact with his cousin Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, he was suspected by them of activating Ressam.[27]

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) put Slahi under surveillance for several weeks but did not find any grounds to arrest him.[27][32] According to a classified report of German intelligence, "there is not only no evidence of any involvement by Ould Slahi in the planning and preparation of the attacks, but also no indication that Ressam and Slahi knew each other."[6]

Frustrated by Canada's refusal to arrest him, the CIA worked with Mauritanian intelligence to lure Slahi back by forcing his mother to call him under the false premise that Canada was going to arrest him and he had to return to Mauritania to be protected.[33] Slahi left Canada on January 21, 2000, where he was arrested in Senegal at the request of United States authorities and questioned about the millennium plot.[34] He was transferred to Mauritania to be interrogated by local authorities and United States FBI agents.[32] After three weeks in custody, during which Slahi was accused of being involved in the millennium plot, he was released.[27]

Slahi worked at various companies in Mauritania as an electrical engineer starting in May 2000.[9][23][35] After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. renewed scrutiny of everyone suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. On September 29, he was again detained by the Mauritanian authorities for questioning.[32] He cooperated with the authorities several more times and then for the last time starting on November 20, 2001.[6][27] Slahi was interrogated by both Mauritanian officials and the FBI for seven days.

Then the CIA transported him to Jordan using extraordinary rendition. The CIA supervised his interrogation at a Jordanian prison for eight months.[6][36] Slahi claims he was tortured and forced to confess to involvement with the millennium plot. On July 19, 2002, the CIA transported Slahi to Bagram, Afghanistan, where he was transferred to military custody and held at the detention facility. The US military flew Slahi to Guantanamo Bay detention camp on August 4, 2002.[6]

Guantánamo Bay detention, 2002-2016

[edit]
Detainee Assessment written in Guantánamo prison

Slahi was assigned detainee ID number 760 and was initially held in Camp Delta. Officials belonging to the CSIS interviewed Slahi in February 2003.[37] He was among 14 men classified as high-value detainees, for whom United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized use of what were called enhanced interrogation methods, which have since been classified as torture. By January 2003, US military interrogators pressed to make Slahi their second "Special Project," drawing up an interrogation plan like that used against Mohammed al-Qahtani. Declassified documents show that Slahi was transferred to an isolation cell near the end of May and abusive interrogation started.[38] He was subjected to extreme cold and noise, extended sleeplessness, forced standing or other postures for extended periods of time, threats against his family, sexual humiliation and other abuses.[38]

In February 2015, a series in The Guardian reported that one of his interrogators was Richard Zuley, a career homicide detective with the Chicago Police Department, who was called in on assignment with the United States Navy Reserve. In Chicago, Zuley has been the subject of civil suits by inmates attributing similar abuse, including shackling, threats and coerced confessions.[39]

In September 2003, Slahi was moved to Camp Echo.[22] Memos summarizing meetings held on October 9, 2003, and February 2, 2004, between General Geoffrey Miller and Vincent Cassard of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) acknowledged that camp authorities were not permitting the ICRC to have access to Slahi, due to "military necessity."[40][41]

Lt. Col V. Stuart Couch, a Marine Corps lawyer, was appointed as Slahi's prosecutor at Guantanamo. He withdrew from the case in May 2004 after reviewing it in depth.[8][42][43] Couch said that he believed that Slahi "had blood on his hands," but he "could no longer continue the case in good conscience" because of the alleged torture, which tainted all confessions Slahi had made.[8] Couch said that "the evidence is not believable because of the methods used to obtain it and the fact that it has not been independently corroborated."[42]

The Wall Street Journal published a letter that Slahi wrote to his lawyers on November 9, 2006.[44] In the letter, Slahi said all his confessions of crimes were the result of torture. He laughed at being asked to recount "everything" that he had said during interrogations, joking that it was "like asking Charlie Sheen how many women he dated."[44]

In 2005, the internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Nancy Hollander got involved in Slahi's case, together with lawyer Theresa Duncan. They argued Slahi's rights to a fair trial, despite criticism for defending a terrorist suspect.[citation needed]

Guantánamo Diary

[edit]

Slahi started writing a memoir of his experiences in 2005, continuing into the next year. The 466-page manuscript was in English, a language Slahi learned at Guantánamo.[17] After litigation and negotiation, the US government declassified the memoir in 2012, making numerous redactions.[45] Excerpts were published by Slate magazine as a three-part series beginning April 30, 2013. On May 1, 2013, Slate also published a related interview with Col. Morris Davis, the military's chief prosecutor at Guantánamo from September 2005 to October 2007.[46] Guantánamo Diary was published as a book in January 2015,[17] the first work by a still-imprisoned detainee at Guantánamo. It provides details of Slahi's harsh interrogations and torture,[17] including being "force-fed seawater, sexually molested, subjected to a mock execution and repeatedly beaten, kicked and smashed across the face, all spiced with threats that his mother will be brought to Guantánamo and gang-raped."[47] It has become an international bestseller. Prison officials prevented Slahi from receiving a copy of his published book.

Joint Review Task Force

[edit]

When he assumed office in January 2009, President Barack Obama repeated his commitment to close Guantanamo. He convened a six-agency task force to review the detainees and recommend those who could be released.[48][49][50] In its 2010 report, the Guantánamo Review Task Force recommended Slahi be considered for prosecution in a military commission.[51] The task force recommended that detainees deemed too dangerous to release, but without sufficient evidence for prosecution, receive a Periodic Review Board hearing. In 2013, Slahi was listed as one of 71 detainees eligible for a review.[52] In March 2016, Slahi was granted a hearing before the Board in June.[53]

Further interrogation request

[edit]

U.S. district court James Robertson had issued an order to the Department of Defense barring them from interrogating Slahi while his habeas corpus case was under consideration. Guantánamo authorities in October 2014 seized all of Slahi's privileged legal papers and all his personal belongings, including a computer.[54] They also stripped Slahi of his "comfort items," including letters from his late mother, in an attempt to force him to agree to interrogations.[16] Slahi wrote in an unclassified letter to his attorneys in April 2015 that officials had offered to return these items if he agreed to interrogations, which had been barred for six years. Prosecutors in the case of Ahmed al-Darbi wanted to interrogate Slahi about him.[16]

Torture

[edit]

Slahi was last interrogated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 22, 2003. He claimed an FBI interrogator warned him "this was our last session; he told me that I was not going to enjoy the time to come."[8] Three months later Defense Secretary Rumsfeld approved the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques". Slahi was subjected to isolation, temperature extremes, beatings and sexual humiliation by military interrogators. In one incident, he was blindfolded and taken out to sea for a mock execution.[3][8]

A 2007 Wall Street Journal report paraphrased an incident described in the 2005 Schmidt-Furlow Report, an investigation by the Department of Defense into detainee treatment at Guantanamo following FBI allegations of torture used by DOD interrogators in the early years of Guantanamo:

On July 17, 2003, a masked interrogator told Mr. Slahi he had dreamed of watching detainees dig a grave.... The interrogator said he saw "a plain, pine casket with [Mr. Slahi's] identification number painted in orange lowered into the ground."[8][55]

In the summer of 2003, Slahi was repeatedly subjected to the use of an interrogation technique which the Schmidt-Furlow Report stated had been prohibited by the Secretary of Defense on December 2, 2002.

What was not revealed until 2008 was that in a March 14, 2003, legal opinion memo issued by John Yoo of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Yoo advised that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogations overseas.[56] At that point the Bush administration contended that Guantanamo Bay was outside US jurisdiction. The Defense Department used this memo to authorize the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" at Guantanamo and in Iraq.[56][57] Also, by 2005, The New York Times reported that by an April 2003 memo from Rumsfeld to General James T. Hill, commander of United States Southern Command, responsible for Guantanamo Bay, Rumsfeld authorized 24 specific permitted interrogation techniques to be used.[58] Jack Goldsmith, head of the Office of Legal Counsel, withdrew the Yoo Torture Memos in June 2004 and advised federal agencies not to rely on them.[57]

Slahi's lawyers in 2008 threatened to sue Mauritanian, Jordanian and U.S. officials over his torture.[59]

The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services produced a report titled Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody on November 20, 2008.[60] It contains information about the treatment of Slahi and others at Guantanamo before 2005.[19]

According to Peter Finn of The Washington Post in 2010, Slahi, along with Tariq al-Sawah, were "two of the most significant informants ever to be held at Guantanamo. Today, they are housed in a little fenced-in compound at the military prison, where they live a life of relative privilege – gardening, writing and painting – separated from other detainees in a cocoon designed to reward and protect."[22]

Habeas corpus proceedings

[edit]

In Rasul v. Bush (2004), the United States Supreme Court ruled that detainees at Guantánamo Bay detention camp had the right of habeas corpus to challenge their detention. Slahi had habeas petitions submitted on his behalf. In response, the Department of Defense published 27 pages of unclassified documents from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) on July 14, 2005.[61]

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) mandated that Guantánamo detainees were no longer entitled access to the U.S. federal courts, so all pending habeas petitions were stayed. However, in June 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v. Bush that the MCA of 2006 could not remove detainees' right to habeas and access to the federal court system. All previous habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.

Before submitting briefs in the habeas case, the U.S. government dropped its previous allegations that Slahi had participated in the Millennium Plot and that he knew about the 9/11 attacks before they happened.[7]

Release order

[edit]

After review of the case, U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson granted the writ of habeas corpus and ordered Slahi's release on March 22, 2010.[62] Robertson's ruling was criticized by several Republican Party politicians.[63] Slahi was the 34th detainee whose release was ordered by a federal district court judge reviewing government materials associated with his habeas petition.[64] The unclassified decision was filed on April 9, 2010.[10]

Referring to the government's charge that Slahi gave "purposeful and material support" to al Qaeda, Judge Robertson wrote:

Salahi may very well have been an al-Qaida sympathizer, and the evidence does show that he provided some support to al-Qaida, or to people he knew to be al-Qaida. Such support was sporadic, however, and, at the time of his capture, non-existent. In any event, what the standard approved in Al-Bihani actually covers is "those who purposefully and materially supported such forces in hostilities against U.S. Coalition partners." 530 F.3d at 872 (emphasis added). The evidence in this record cannot possibly be stretched far enough to fit that test.[9]: 5 

Judge Robertson addressed the other government allegation, that Slahi was "part of" al Qaeda at the time of his capture. He said the law was not as clear in this instance:

neither Al-Bihani nor any other case provides a bright-line test for determining who was and who was not "part of" al-Qaida at the time of capture. The decision, in other words, depends on the sufficiency of the evidence. The question of when a detainee must have been a "part of" al-Qaida to be detainable is at the center of this case, because it is clear that Salahi was at one point a sworn al-Qaida member.[9]: 6 

Judge Robertson discusses other factors in his decision, including which side had the burden of proof and considering the reliability of coerced or hearsay testimony.[9]: 7–12  In conclusion, Judge Robertson stated:

The government had to adduce evidence – which is different from intelligence – showing that it was more likely than not that Salahi was "part of" al-Qaida. To do so, it had to show that the support Salahi undoubtedly did provide from time to time was provided within al-Qaida's command structure. The government has not done so.[9]: 31 

Appeal

[edit]

The Department of Justice appealed the decision.[10] Oral arguments were heard on September 17, 2010, by a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In oral arguments, Judge David S. Tatel questioned whether swearing bayat in 1991 is evidence of actions a decade and more later against the United States. He noted, "When he swore bayat, the United States and al-Qaeda had a common goal. Both the United States and al-Qaeda were opposing a communist government of Afghanistan."[11] The panel discussed sending the case back to the District Court or over-ruling the decision, based on other recent D.C. Circuit rulings on the criteria that justify detention, which were still being developed.[12]

On November 5, 2010, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision and remanded the case to the D.C. District Court for further factual findings, based on guidance it had given to the D.C. District Court about review of such habeas corpus cases of detainees.[13][65][66] The Circuit Court panel said the following questions needed to be answered:

  • whether Slahi understood that he was referring recruits to work in al-Qaeda's "jihad" against the U.S.,
  • what Slahi may have said to bin al-Shibh in a discussion of jihad in Afghanistan,
  • whether he had been asked by al-Qaeda to help with communications projects in Afghanistan and elsewhere,
  • whether he had taken a role in planning computer "cyberattacks," and
  • whether he remained "a trusted member" of al-Qaeda up to the time of his capture.[66]

The District Court never held any hearings after the Court of Appeals decision.

Slahi had his first Periodic Review Board review on June 2, 2016.[53] A month later, the board recommended that Slahi be released.[15]

Life after detention

[edit]

On October 17, 2016, Slahi was freed and returned to Mauritania, after being detained without charge for over 14 years.[4]

In 2017, CBS News journalist Holly Williams traveled to Mauritania to interview Slahi.[67] CBS News' flagship news show, 60 Minutes, broadcast the story on March 12, 2017. CBS News described it as Slahi's first television interview since his repatriation. In this interview Mohamedou said he "wholeheartedly [forgives] everyone who wronged [him] during [his] detention." Slahi filed in April 2022 a legal claim against the Canadian government on the grounds that "faulty intelligence provided by Canadian authorities contributed to his detention" in 2002, seeking $35 million in compensation.[68]

In May 2018, Slahi's former guard at Guantanamo, Steve Wood, visited him in Mauritania during Ramadan.[69][70][71] It was covered in the 2020 documentary short film My Brother's Keeper.[72]

On January 29, 2021, the New York Review of Books published an open letter from Slahi, and six other individuals who were formerly held in Guantanamo, to newly inaugurated President Biden, appealing to him to close the detention camp.[73]

In February 2021, a film adaption of his memoir titled The Mauritanian directed by Kevin Macdonald, and starring Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley was released.[74]

Personal life

[edit]

As of 2019, Slahi's passport had not been returned to him as was promised during his release. He has not been able to leave Mauritania to treat his health condition or see his newborn son in Germany.[75] After his academic graduation in Germany in 1999 Slahi had registered himself as unemployed while also being involved in commercial activities which he failed to declare to the authorities, resulting in a suspended sentence for social fraud and an unlimited entry ban.[76]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "JTF GTMO Detainee Profile" (PDF). nyt.com. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Guantanamo Detainee Profile –Detainee ISN: MR-760" (PDF). United States Government. 18 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Rosenbach, Marcel (April 29, 2011). "Obtained Under Torture: Slahi's Guantanamo File Full of Dubious Information". Der Spiegel. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Ackerman, Spencer (October 17, 2016). "Guantánamo Diary author Mohamedou Ould Slahi freed after 14 years". The Guardian. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Salahi v. Obama, 625 F.3d 745 (D.C. Cir. 2010).
  6. ^ a b c d e f "From Germany to Guantanamo: The Career of Prisoner No. 760". Der Spiegel. October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Worthington, Andy (April 21, 2010). "Mohamedou Ould Slahi: How a Judge Demolished the U.S. Government's Al-Qaeda Claims". Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Bravin, Jess (March 31, 2007). "The Conscience of the Colonel". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2012. mirror
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Salahi v. Obama, 710 F.Supp.2d 1 (D.D.C 2010). mirror.
  10. ^ a b c Fisher, William (April 12, 2010). "Guantanamo Detainee Ordered Freed". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  11. ^ a b c d Pickler, Nedra (September 17, 2010). "Appeals court: Once al-Qaida, always al-Qaida?". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Hsu, Spencer (September 17, 2010). "U.S. appeals court: How do you quit al-Qaeda?". Washington Post. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  13. ^ a b Rosenberg, Carol (November 5, 2010). "Appeals panel upends judge's order to release Guantánamo captive". Standard.net. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  14. ^ Worthington, Andy (September 27, 2010). "The Betrayal of Mohamedou Ould Salahi". Future of Freedom Foundation. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Savage, Charlie (21 July 2016). "Board Recommends Releasing Detainee Who Wrote 'Guantánamo Diary'". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Spencer Ackerman (2015-07-29). "Guantánamo detainee says his 'comfort items' were taken to force interrogations". The Guardian. New York City. Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-07-30. Slahi alleged that the military "prosecuting team" pursuing confessed terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi "offered to help me on condition to ask the court to lift its order regarding my interrogation".
  17. ^ a b c d Flood, Allison (August 12, 2014). "Guantánamo prisoner to publish 'harrowing' memoirs". Guardian. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  18. ^ Ben Taub (13 April 2019). "Guantánamo's Darkest Secret". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  19. ^ a b c Cobain, Ian (January 16, 2015). "Guantánamo diarist Mohamedou Ould Slahi: chronicler of fear, not despair". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  20. ^ "Cold War (1945–1991): External Course". The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History. Oxford University Press. 8 January 2013. p. 219. ISBN 978-0199759255.
  21. ^ Tinti, Peter (February 26, 2015). "A Postcard from Guantánamo: How Mohamedou Ould Slahi Became a Suspected Terrorist, Then a Best-Selling Author". Vice. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  22. ^ a b c d e Finn, Peter (March 24, 2010). "For two detainees who told what they knew, Guantanamo becomes a gilded cage". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  23. ^ a b c "Combatant Status Review Tribunal transcript" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  24. ^ a b c "Administrative Review Board Round One transcript" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  25. ^ "Former Member Of Al-Qaeda Shura Council, Abu Hafs Al-Mauritani: 'I Advised The Americans… To Reach An Agreement With The Taliban'". Middle East Media Research Institute. October 19, 2012. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  26. ^ "Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa'ida from 1989-2006" (PDF). Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. September 2007. p. 18. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  27. ^ a b c d e Bravin, Jess (March 31, 2007). "On the Trail of Slahi". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2012. mirror Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ a b Freeze, Colin (July 17, 2007). "Tortuous tale of Guantanamo captive". Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 12, 2014. mirror
  29. ^ 9/11 Commission (July 22, 2004). "The 9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5" (PDF). pp. 165–166.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ 9/11 Commission (July 22, 2004). "The 9/11 Commission Report, Notes" (PDF). p. 496, notes 89 and 90.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (12 September 2021). "The Legacy of America's Post-9/11 Turn to Torture". The New York Times.
  32. ^ a b c "CSIS watched terrorist suspect in 1999". CBC News. October 3, 2001. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  33. ^ "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Mohamedou Ould Slahi EP 195". Jordan Peterson. June 7, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  34. ^ Johnston, David (January 29, 2000). "Terror Suspect Is Rearrested In Africa at U.S. Request". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  35. ^ Roger, Olivier (September 29, 2001). "Mauritanian arrested in connection with Bin-Ladin's network". Mauritania. Radio France Internationale – via ProQuest: 82368037.
  36. ^ "Rendition – torture – trial? The case of Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi". Amnesty International. September 20, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  37. ^ Shephard, Michelle (July 27, 2008). "CSIS grilled trio in Cuba". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  38. ^ a b "The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Part One: Endless Interrogation". Slate. April 30, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  39. ^ Guantánamo torturer led brutal Chicago regime of shackling and confession, The Guardian, 18 February 2015; 15 January 2017
  40. ^ "ICRC Meeting with MG Miller on 09 Oct 2003" (PDF). Washington Post.
  41. ^ "ICRC Meeting 2 Feb 2004" (PDF). Washington Post.
  42. ^ a b Scheer, Robert (April 16, 2007). "Leave Your Morals at the Border". The Nation. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  43. ^ Horton, Scott (April 2, 2007). "Colonel with a Conscience". Harper's Magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  44. ^ a b Slahi, Mohamedou Ould (November 9, 2006). "Mohamedou Ould Slahi letter to his attorneys" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  45. ^ Slahi, Mohamedou (April 30, 2013). "Guantánamo Memoirs: Part One". Slate. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  46. ^ Siems, Larry (May 1, 2013). "He Reminded Me of Forrest Gump". Slate. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  47. ^ "Blame game: After years of legal wrangling, Mohamedou Ould Slahi's prison diary finally comes out. A sad and sickening read". The Economist. 31 Jan 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  48. ^ Peter Finn (January 22, 2010). "Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  49. ^ Peter Finn (May 29, 2010). "Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-05-10. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  50. ^ Andy Worthington (June 11, 2010). "Does Obama Really Know or Care About Who Is at Guantánamo?". Archived from the original on 2010-06-16. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  51. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (October 29, 2015). "U.S. repatriates long-cleared Guantánamo detainee to Africa". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  52. ^ "71 Guantanamo Detainees Determined Eligible to Receive a Periodic Review Board as of April 19, 2013". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  53. ^ a b Hussain, Murtaza (March 15, 2016). "Mohamedou Slahi, Author of "Guantánamo Diary," to Get Hearing on Possible Release". The Intercept. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  54. ^ Carol Rosenberg (2015-06-10). "'Guantánamo Diary' author seeks parole hearing, return of belongings". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  55. ^ Lieutenant General Randall Schmidt; Brigadier General John Furlow (June 9, 2005). "Investigation into FBI Allegations of Detainee Abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Detention Facility: Executive Summary" (PDF). US Department of Defense. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
  56. ^ a b Isikoff, Michael (April 4, 2008). "Justice: Torture Memo Fallout". Newsweek. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  57. ^ a b Rosen, Jeffrey (September 9, 2007). "Conscience of a Conservative". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  58. ^ "A Guide to the Memos on Torture". The New York Times. 2005. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  59. ^ Champagne, Noiselle (March 10, 2008). "Mauritanian was tortured in Guantanamo - lawyers". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  60. ^ United States Senate Committee on Armed Services (20 November 2008). "Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody" (PDF). Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  61. ^ OARDEC. "Publicly Filed CSRT Records" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 1–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  62. ^ Pelofsky, Jeremy (March 23, 2010). "U.S. judge orders release of Guantanamo detainee". Reuters (U.K.). Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  63. ^ Crabtree, Susan (March 24, 2010). "GOP denounces terror suspect release". The Hill. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  64. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (March 3, 2010). "Judge orders release of detainee abused at Guantánamo". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  65. ^ Wittes, Benjamin (5 November 2010). "Comments on Salahi". Lawfare. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  66. ^ a b Denniston, Lyle (November 5, 2010). "Caution urged in detainee cases". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  67. ^ "Ex-Gitmo detainee on torture: "They broke me"". 60 Minutes. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2017-03-08. Now, in his first television interview since being released last October, he tells his remarkable story on 60 Minutes.
  68. ^ The Canadian Press, 23 April 2022, Ottawa Citizen, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/ex-guantanamo-detainee-sues-canada-over-14-year-detention-and-torture
  69. ^ "A Guantanamo Guard And His Detainee Reunite". NPR. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  70. ^ "An unlikely friendship in Guantanamo Bay". BBC. Outlook. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  71. ^ "Me, Guantanamo Bay, and a new friend". BBC. Outlook. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  72. ^ Topham, Laurence (1 March 2021). "Guantánamo, torture and friendship: how we made My Brother's Keeper". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  73. ^ Mansoor Adayfi; Moazzam Begg; Lakhdar Boumediane; Sami Al Hajj; Ahmed Errachidi; Mohammed Ould Slahi; Mosa Zi Zemmori (2021-01-29). "An Open Letter to President Biden About Guantánamo". New York Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-30. At your inauguration, you told the world: "We will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. We will rise to the occasion." It is therefore our suggestion that the following steps are taken to close Guantánamo
  74. ^ Susanne Koelbl (10 June 2020). "The Story of Prisoner No. 760". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  75. ^ Thomas-Johnson, Amandla (22 August 2019). "'I'm being punished': Guantanamo's 'most tortured detainee' still can't leave Mauritania". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  76. ^ "Ex-Guantánamo-Häftling darf nicht nach Deutschland". Tagesschau (in German). 21 February 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]