The detention of Saudi Arabian Mohammed al-Qahtani is not no longer needed
to protect the security of the United States from serious threat
according to the Guantanamo Board of Review.
He had been accused of being the 20and hijacker who should have participated in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The commission said eligible for transfer
and recommended his participation in a rehabilitation program
in a center for the reintegration of former jihadists in Saudi Arabia.
This body said it took into account the inmate’s very poor mental health
the family support available
and the quality
care he would receive in his country.
Guantanamo’s military prison still houses many detainees considered by the United States to be too dangerous to be released.
Photo: Associated Press/Alex Brandon
Security measures, including surveillance and travel restrictions, were also recommended.
Tortured
Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of the first prisoners transferred to Guantanamo in January 2002.
The tortures imposed on him have been widely documented. He had notably been subjected to a regime of prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation or humiliation linked to his religion.
We tortured Qahtani
had recognized in 2009 Susan Crawford, the military judge who presided over the special courts of Guantanamo.
Ms Crawford had claimed that it was for this reason
that it was not referring this case to the special justice system created for detainees in the military prison.
Arrested in Afghanistan
Mohammed al-Qahtani had arrived at the airport in Orlando, Florida, on August 4, 2001, but his behavior caught the attention of an immigration officer, who thought he wanted to settle illegally in the USA.
His entry had been refused, and he had been sent back to Dubai.
The investigation into the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, had finally caught up with him: he had been captured in Afghanistan in December 2001.
Last month, the United States already approved the release of five detainees.
Ten others, including the alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, say KSM
are awaiting trial by a military commission.
The infamous detention center was opened just 20 years ago, as part of the war on terrorism
.
