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Ahcene Zemiri
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
Ahcene Zemiri (also known as Hassan Zumiri) is an Algerian citizen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
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Background
Zemiri arrived in Canada in 1994, where he applied for refugee status. His application was rejected on National Security grounds in 1996. Nevertheless, he married a Canadian woman, Karina Dereshteanu. After his refugee claim was turned down Zemiri should have been deported, but he and Dereshteanu lived in Canada until July 2001, when they moved to Afghanistan.
Dereshteanu, was able to flee Afghanistan in November 2001, around the time of invasion. Zemiri was captured.
Dereshteanu filed an affadavit with a US court where she attested that, to the best of her knowledge, her husband had no ties to terrorism. She reports that bounty hunters sold her husband to United States forces of $5,000 USD.
Status determination in Guantanamo
In June of 2004 the Supreme Court of the United States considered the habeas corpus petition of Rasul v. Bush. They ruled that the captives held in Guantanamo should have an opportunity to learn the allegations against them, and an opportunity to try to refute them. They recommended that the Department of Defense model these procedures on the Tribunals described in Army Regulation 190-8.
The Department of Defense assigned the responsibility for these Tribunals to the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants. The Tribunals were called Combatant Status Review Tribunals, and they were very similar in form to those described in AR 190-8 -- except that they differed in their mandate. The AR 190-8 Tribunals were authorized to determine that captives were innocent civilians, who should be released, or "lawful combatants", who should enjoy all the protections of the Geneva Conventions, or that they were combatants who not met all the criteria for being considered a lawful combatant, who could stand trial for war crimes. The CSR Tribunals were only authorized to confirm whether a captive met the definition for a new classification -- the "enemy combatant".
Captives whose CSR Tribunal determined they were "enemy combatants" had annual Annual Review Board hearings convened to determine whether they continued to pose a threat to the USA, or whether their detention held continuing intelligence value.
Combatant Status Review Tribunal
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 18 October 2004.[1] His name was spelled Hassan Zumiri on this document. It listed elevan allegations against him, which were paraphrased in the Montreal Gazette and the Ottawa Citizen on July 11th, 2005.[2]
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Former Montreal resident Ahcene Zemiri has been held as an "enemy combatant" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2001. U.S. court documents reveal their allegations against him, none of which have been proven in court:
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Administrative Review Board hearings
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Hassan Zumiri's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 31 October 2005.[3] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Hasan Zamiri's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 1 November 2006.[4]
The October 2005 memo listed 31 factors favoring his continued detention, and one factor that favored release or transfer. The factors favoring detention focussed on his associates. The factor favoring his release or transfer stated: "The detainee expressed that in the future he will no longer have friends like the ones he had before. The detainee has learned his lesson."
The November 2006 memo listed 19 factors favoring his continued detention, and 3 factors favoring his release or transfer.
Transcript
He chose to attend his first annual Board hearing.[5] The summarized transcript from his hearing is 8 pages long.
Zemiri's [[Assisting Military Officer, reading from his Enemy Combatant election form, told his board they met on December 16th 2005 for one hour, to prepare for Zemiri's hearing. His Assisting Military Officer described Zemiri's demeanor as "...responsive, attentive, but very reserved during the interview." His Assisting Military Officer described making efforts to convince Zemiri to attend, reassuring him that he could choose to attend, and also choose not to answer any questions. His Assisting Military Officer told his Board that Zemiri decided to attend and to respond verbally to each factor. His Assisting Military Officer said Zemiri would be submitting a witness statement, as well as letters from his wife and a friend.
Zemiri did attend but declined to respond the factors listed in his summary of evidence memo, on his lawyer's advice.
Affidavits from Zemiri, his wife, and a friend named Mokhtar Haouari.[5]
References
- ↑ OARDEC (18 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Zumiri, Hassan pages 57-58. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- ↑ {{cite paper | url=http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=33839427-f6bd-4244-9260-94df7d4ac68e | title=Montrealer sold to U.S. troops: wife | publisher=[[Montreal Gazette | date=July 11, 2005 | accessdate=2005-07-12 }}
- ↑ OARDEC (31 October 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Zumiri, Hassan pages 91-94. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ↑ OARDEC (1 November 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Zamiri, Hasan pages 20-22. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 OARDEC (December 2005). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 533 pages 73-80. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
