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#REDIRECT ] |
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'''Mammar Ameur''' is a citizen of ], held in ] detention in the ] ], in ].<ref name=DoDList2>, '']'', ] ]</ref> |
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His detainee ID number is 939. |
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The ] reports that Ameur was born on ] ], in ]. |
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==Combatant Status Review Tribunal== |
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]s were held in a trailer the size of a large ]. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.<ref name=Nytimes041109>, '']'', ] ] - </ref><ref name=FinancialTimes041211>, '']'', ] ]</ref> Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.<ref name=DoDCsrtBriefing20070306> |
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{{cite web |
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| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902 |
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| title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials |
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| publisher=] |
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| date=] ] |
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| accessdate=2007-09-22 |
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}}</ref>{{POV-section|date=December 2007}}]] |
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Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the ] to captives from ]. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct ]s to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of ] status. |
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Subsequently the ] instituted the ]s. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were ''lawful combatants'' -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an ]. |
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Ameur chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.<ref name=CsrtMammarAmeur> , from ]'s '']'' - pages 61-80</ref> |
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===Seizure of Ameur's documents=== |
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Ameur's Personal Representative told his Tribunal that guards had seized his copies of some of the documents |
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the Tribunal had produced for him, in preparetion for his Tribunal. |
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Ameur's Tribunal's President explained that the seizure of his documents and notes would have been an internal |
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camp matter, and he suggested Ameur contact the camp authorities to request their return. |
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===Witness=== |
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Ameur had requested his landlord in ]. His Tribunal President ruled that his witness was relevant. |
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But when requests to the ] to request the Pakistani embassy to locate the landlord did not |
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result in a reply the Tribunal's President ruled that the witness was "not reasonably available". |
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{{main|Witnesses requested by Guantanamo detainees}} |
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===Denial of a chance to respond to the Allegations=== |
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Ameur told his Tribunal that his Personal Representative had refused to let him have a copy of the allegations against him, so that he could re-read them, and make sure he was prepared to give the Tribunal complete answers. He told his Tribunal that he knew other detainees had been allowed copies of the allegations, and had been allowed to make notes to prepare for their Tribunals. |
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The President of Ameur's Tribunal explained that whether a detainee was allowed to keep a copy of the allegations against them would depend on where they were being held. Only the more privileged detainees were allowed copies of the allegations against them. and pencils and paper in order to make notes. |
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Ameur then pointed out that he was kept in Camp four, the camp for the most cooperative, privileged detainees. |
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The Tribunal's President suggested that Ameur take up this matter with the camp authorities, because the Tribunal was not authorized to issue pencils and paper. The Tribunal's President did not address Ameur's Personal Representative's refusal to allow Ameur to study a copy of the allegations. |
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===Presumption of innocence=== |
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Ameur told his Tribunal that all the unclassified allegations were fabrications. He told them his Personal Representative had told him that the Tribunal would also be considering classified allegations, and he asked how he could be sure that they weren't fabrications too. The President of Ameur's Tribunal assured him that they would be able to tell whether the allegations were truthful. |
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Ameur responded: |
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:"''So now you are at two points; to believe me or the allegations. According to the penal code, which most Europeans deal with, is a law most countries go by. According to this law, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. In the U.S., it is the opposite; I am guilty until proven innocent. I am here on this isolated island, how could I give you proof that will support my case? How can I defend myself without my family or media?''" |
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===Summary of Evidence memo=== |
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A ] was prepared for |
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Mammar Ameur's |
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Combatant Status Review Tribunal, |
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on ] ].<ref name=CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceMammarAmeur> |
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{{cite web |
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| url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000600-000699.pdf#68 |
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| title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ameur, Mammar |
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| date=] ] |
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| pages='''pages 68''' |
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| author=] |
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| publisher=] |
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| accessdate=2008-03-07 |
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}}</ref> |
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The memo listed the following allegations against him: |
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:'''The detainee is ]: |
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:#The detainee was captured in a suspect ] ]. |
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:#The detainee worked for the ]. |
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:#The African Muslim Agency is linked to ] (AIAI). |
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:#Al-Ittihad al Islami (AIAI) is listed as a terrorist organization on the President's ]. |
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:#The detainee's computer contained a file from an Islamic website concerning ]s in the United States. |
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:#The detainee was a member of an armed Algerian resistance group. |
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:#The detainee lived in a ] that sent fighters to Afghanistan. |
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:#The detainee is associated with an organizer of Islamic fighters. |
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===Response to the allegations=== |
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Ameur denied being captured in a safehouse. He was captured in his family's home, a two room house, he shared with his wife and two children. He pointed out that even if he had known any members of al Qaida his home was too small for him to host visitors. He also informed his Tribunal that his home was near a Pakistani airbase, and several police stations - an absurd choice of location for a "safehouse". |
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Ameur acknowledged receiving training -- in how to conduct humanitarian work, from the African Muslim Agency. But he received this training in 1974, and he never worked for this agency.. Further, the Agency was a branch of the ]i government. |
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Ameur said that the literal translation of Al-Ittihad al Islami was "'''Islamic Union'''". He xplained that there were literally hundreds of organizations that included the term "Islamic Union" as part of their name. Further, he was not associated with any of them. |
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Ameur addressed the allegation that his computer contained a file on American biological weapons in detail. |
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Ameur said that during his first interrogations, starting two days after his capture, his American interrogators had his computer in the interrogation room. But they never asked him about a file about biological weapons. |
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He said that he was regularly interrogated for the first year and a half of his detention. He was only asked once about an Islamic website, and he told his interrogator he had never heard of it. He said that his interrogators at Bagram and Guantanamo told him they didn't know where his computer was. He suspected that the Pakistanis had retained it. He doubted that they had preserved it as evidence, and strongly suspected his files had been erased so it could be used by someone else. He said he didn't consider this allegation a serious one, or he would have heard about the biological weapons allegation during his interrogation, not during his Tribunal. |
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Ameur said he knew that the ] were fundamentalists and terrorists. He said this group formed two years after he left Algeria. Further he regularly visited the Algerian embassy, something no member of the GIA would ever do, because they felt all workers for the Algerian government were infidels who should be killed. |
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Ameur acknowledged that he lived in a guesthouse -- during the time the CIA was encouraging foreign volunteers to travel to Afghanistan to fight communists during the ]. However, the guesthouse did not only house fighters. It also housed humanitarian workers, like himself. |
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Regarding the last allegation, that he was associated with an organizer of Islamic fighters, Ameur expressed surprise. This allegation too was a new one for him. He had never been asked any questions about knowing organizers of Islamic fighters during his interrogation. His Personal Representative couldn't tell him the identity of this organizer, or which organization he organized for. He said he didn't know what it meant to be "associated" with someone. |
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Finally, Ameur said he had five or six pages worth of further testimony to offer, to prove he had nothing to do with the allegations. But he could tell that the Tribunal's President was growing impatient. So he concluded: |
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:"''...I don't want to waste your time, because I feel you are in a hurry. Anyway, let me tell you something. I was really shocked when I heard these accusations, and I never thought the Americans would do such a thing. The interrogators kept telling me they are trying to find out why I am here, and many times I asked this. Finally, I find myself in front of the court with all these accusaitons I have no relation to. Anyway, it would take a long time, but I'm quite sure if the American people knew what was happening here they'd be against this. Unfortunately we are isolated here, and no one knows what is happening. Nobody can determine if these allegations are true or not. This is only one side, because I'm giveing you the unclassified information...'" |
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===Ameur's neighbor=== |
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Ameur said that his small house had an upstairs suite and a downstairs suite. His upstairs neighbor was captured the same night as he was, and he had also been shipped to Guantanamo. He told his Tribunal that they shared a phone, a mailbox, and a front gate. Yet his neighbor did not face the allegation that he hosted al Qaida members. He felt that this proved that the allegation that his house was an al Qaida safehouse was false. |
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Ameur's Personal Representative told his Tribunal that if he had known about the neighbor he would have called him as a witness. |
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Ameur pointed out that it wasn't necessary to call him as a witness to see that he didn't face this allegation. Ameur then told his Tribunal that, until he was shown the allegations against him, he had thought that the reason he was detained was that the Pakistanis had rounded up all the Arabs they could lay their hands on, and told the Americans they were associated with terrorism. But, that when he saw that the allegations against him were new to him, and were obvious fabrications, he had to change his mind, and conclude that American analysts had made up allegations to justify holding him for so many years. |
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Ameur's neighbor was detainee 940, another African, a citizen of ], named ]. |
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===White uniform=== |
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Mammar Ameur disputed his Tribunal President's explanation as to why he had not bee provided pen and paper to prepare noted about the allegations agaisnt him. He pointed out that he was one of the ] captives, who was allowed to wear a white uniform. |
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{{main|Guantanamo captive's uniforms}} |
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==Administrative Review Board hearing== |
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] | pages= 1 | author=Spc ] | date=Friday ] ] | accessdate=2007-10-12 }}</ref>]] |
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Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual ] 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". |
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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. |
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Ameur chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.<ref name=ArbMammarAmeur>, from ]'s ''] hearing'' - page 228</ref> |
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===''The following primary factors favor continued detention:=== |
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:'''''a. Training |
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:#''The detainee was conscripted into the Algerian army for a mandatory term of two years. He received training on the ], ] and a small pistol. |
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:'''''b. Connections and Associations |
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:#''The detainee stayed at the Algerian ], located in the ] portion of ], Pakistan. |
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:#''The guesthouse may have been funded by the ] office in Peshawar, Pakistan. |
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:#''The detainee worked in Peshawar for a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) name ] or ]. |
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:#''In 1993, the Detainee worked for the ] (ERHO). |
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:#''In May 1994, the detainee left Afghanistan and traveled to ] to work for the African Msulim Agency NGO. |
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:#''The African Muslim Agency (AMA) is an Islamic NGO with ties to extremist activities. |
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:#''In 1994, the detainee traveled to Afghanistan to work as the office manager of an NGO hospital. |
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:#''In 1996, the detainee resigned from the EHRO and remained unemployed afterward. |
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:#''The detainee was arrested with an individual, who worked for several years for a ] organization called WAMY. |
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:#''The ] (WAMY) is an NGO operating in Afghanistan and may be associated with ] and/or al Qaida. |
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:#''The detainee is associated with ], a former leader of the ] (IIRO) and the information section within the NGO ]. |
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:#''The IIRO is am Islamic NGO with ties to extremist activities. |
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:#''The detainee is associated with ], the former leader of the ]. |
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:'''''c. Other relevant data |
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:#''On September 23, 1996, he applied for and was granted status as a ] ]. |
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:#''The detainee was arrested by Pakistani authorities at his residence on 18 July 2002 because his house was a suspected al Qaida safe house. |
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:#''The detainee had four hundred United States dollars when he was arrested. |
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:#''According to a foreign government, the detainee is a fugitive from Algeria, where he has been wanted since 1993 for belonging to an armed group. The detainee left Algeria for Pakistan in July 1990 where he worked for the NGO ]. |
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===''The following primary factors favor release or transfer:=== |
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:*''The detainee stated that as a Muslim, he felt that he should go out and do good deeds for other people and found he could best do this by joining a {{sic}} NGO. |
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:*''The detainee stated he has nothing against Americans and he has no reason to fight against Americans if he is released, because it is against his religion to kill innocents. |
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===testimony=== |
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===Board recommendations=== |
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In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to ], the ].<ref name=ArbRecommendationIsn939> |
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{{cite web |
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| url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Decision_memos_000583-000677.pdf#37 |
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| title=Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 939 |
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| date=] ] |
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| author=] |
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| publisher=] |
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| accessdate=2008-03-07 |
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| pages='''page 37''' |
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}}</ref><ref name=ArbBasisForRecommendationIsn939> |
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{{cite web |
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| url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Decision_memos_000583-000677.pdf#38 |
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| title=Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 939 |
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| date=] ] |
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| author=] |
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| publisher=] |
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| accessdate=2008-03-07 |
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| pages='''pages 38-42''' |
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}}</ref> |
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The Board's recommendation was unanimous |
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The Board's recommendation was redacted. |
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England authorized his transfer on ] ]. |
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==Ameur's refugee status== |
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The ] ] wrote the Pentagon, on ] ], seeking information on why Ameur, and another man were being detained in Guantanamo.<ref name=KansasCityStar070129>{{cite news |
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| url=http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16575242.htm |
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| title=U.N. refugee agency seeking information on 2 detainees |
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| date=Monday ] ] |
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| author=Carol Rosenberg |
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| publisher=] |
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| accessdate=February 7 |
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| accessyear=2007 |
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}}</ref> |
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The UNHCR had not known until December 2006 that the Americans were holding internationally recognized refugees in Guantanamo. |
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Ameur was granted UN refugee status in Pakistan in 1996. |
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] was granted UN refugee status in Pakistan in 1994. A third captive, ], was one of the 38 captives who was determined not have been an "enemy combatant" after all. |
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The Americans transferred him to ]. |
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==References== |
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<references/> |
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{{Rcat shell| |
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{{R from merge}} |
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{{R from person}} |
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{{R with history}} |
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{{R with possibilities}} |
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{{R printworthy}} |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ameur, Mammar}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ameur, Mammar}} |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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