Guantánamo Bay
Algerian prisoner Sufiyan Barhoumi, 48, was repatriated in early April, after spending almost 20 years at Guantánamo. Kidnapped in Pakistan, he was never put on trial, and was cleared for release by the periodic review board in 2016. It took an additional six years to reunite him with his family in Algeria.
There are currently 37 prisoners held at Guantánamo, most of whom have been cleared for release.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-60970825
The last Algerian prisoner held at Guantánamo, Said Bin Brahim Bin Umran Bakhush, has also been cleared for release this month by the periodic review board.
In addition, the youngest prisoner currently held at Guantánamo, Yemeni Hassan Bin Attash, who was handed over to the US by Pakistani security forces in 2002, has been cleared for release. He was 17 at the time and has never been charged. Brother of one of the 9/11 defendants, he was brought to Guantánamo in 2006 at the same time as his brother but has never met him there.
Former Mauritanian prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, is suing the Canadian government for $35 million for its alleged role in his 14-year detention at Guantánamo. Ould Slahi claims that the Canadian government, “caused, contributed to and prolonged [his] detention, torture, assault and sexual assault at Guantanamo Bay."
“Slahi, a Mauritanian national, lived in Montreal from November 1999 to January 2000, during which time he was investigated by security services. Slahi, 51, is accusing Canadian authorities of harassing him during their investigation, with the stress forcing him to return to Mauritania.
“The core of Slahi's claim is that Canadian authorities shared false information about his activities and otherwise contributed to events that eventually led to his arrest, after which he was transported first to Jordan and Afghanistan, and then Guantanamo Bay, where he spent 14 years imprisoned without charge.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/guantanamo-bay-detainee-lawsuit-canada-1.6428886
Defence lawyers have visited the now-closed CIA-run camp 7 at Guantánamo where prisoners were held from 2006 to 2021. They have described the conditions they saw as “exceedingly disturbing” and that the prisoners, who were considered “high-value detainees” and had previously spent several years in various secret CIA torture prisons around the world, were held in conditions similar to being “buried alive”. They have called for any sentences given to prisoners held there currently facing trial to be reduced in view of the ordeal of being held prisoner there.
The lawyers “are currently gathering information and evidence, including taking photographs and bringing experts to inspect the now-abandoned site. The attorneys also want anything that the men said while detained at the camp to be excluded from their cases, arguing that the camp was "indistinguishable" from the CIA black sites where detainees were tortured.”
Pre-trial hearings in the 9/11 case involving five prisoners due to be held next month have now been cancelled.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/guantanamo-detainees-cia-camp-reduced-sentences
A pre-trial hearing did, however, take place in the case of Yemeni prisoner Abd Al-Nashiri in the last week of April. Key witnesses in the hearing include CIA torture architect James Mitchell and army torturer Damien Corsetti. Other witnesses include agents who had interviewed another suspect in this same case.
