Interviews: Former Detainees

Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel
Kuwaiti

Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel traveled to Afghanistan via Iran in September of 2001 and was found with $15,000, wearing a Casio watch.

Abubakir Qasem
Uyghur

Abubakir Qasem was detained for over two years after he was determined “no longer an enemy combatant.”

Adel Noori
Uyghur

Adel Noori was detained for over seven years in Guantanamo, and won his habeas corpus suit in 2008.

Adel Zamel Abd al Mahsen al Zamel
Kuwaiti

In November 2005, Adel Zamel Abd al Mahsen al Zamel was one of five Kuwaitis acquitted by a Kuwaiti court and repatriated to Kuwait.

Ahmed Adil
Uyghur

In January 2006, Ahmed Adil wrote to Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, pleading for his release.

Akhtar Qasem Basil
Uyghur

After five years of detention, Akhtar Qasem Basil was determined not an enemy combatant and released to Albania.

Ayub Muhammed
Uyghur

Ayub Muhammed was born in East Turkestan (now controlled by China) and left home at 16.

Bahtiyar Mahmut
Uyghur

Bahtiyar Mahmut was detained without charge for seven and-a-half years beginning in 2002.

Bisher al Rawi
British

Brahim Yadel
French

In 2009, Brahim Yadel was released in France, only to have a retrial ordered a year later.

Feroz Ali Abbasi
British

Feroz Ali Abbasi was captured in Afghanistan and detained from December 2001 to January 2005.

Haj Boudella
Bosnian

After six years of detention, Haj Boudella was part of a landmark Supreme Court decision, Boumediene v. Bush, and was returned home to his family in Bosnia.

Imad Kanouni
French

Imad Kanouni is a French citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Jalil Jalaldin
Uyghur

After seven years in Guantanamo, Jalil Jaladin won his Habeas Corpus petition, and was sent to Bermuda.

Jamil El-Banna
British

Khaled Ben Mustafa
French

Khaled Ben Mustafah was one of five French citizens arrested in Afghanistan in 2001, and detained at Guantanamo.

Khalil Mamut
Uyghur

Khalil Mamut was captured in October 2001 and detained for seven years until set free and sent to Bermuda

Mamdouh Habib
Australian

Moazzam Begg
British

After being detained for nearly three years, Moazzam Begg was released without charge to British police in January 2005.

Mourad Benchellali
French

Mourad Benchallali is a French citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 at the age of 19.

Murat Kurnaz
German National

Murat Kurnaz was arrested in Pakistan at the age of 19, and detained from October 2001 to August 2006.

Mustafa Ait Idir
Bosnian

Mustafa Ait Idir was arrested in October 2001 on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy to bomb the U.S. embassy in Bosnia.

Ruhal Ahmed
British

Ruhal Ahmed left England for Pakistan in September 2001, joined by two other British citizens; Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal.

Saad Madi Saad al Azmi
Kuwait

After being held in the Kandahar, Bagram and Guantanamo detention facilities, Saad Madi Saad al Azmi was tried and acquitted by a Kuwaiti court.

Saber Lahmar
French National

Saber Lahma won his Habeas Corpus petition after being detained at Guantanamo for over eight years.

Salahidin Abdulahat
Uyghur

Salahidin Abdulahat was detained at Guantanamo for over seven years, and was one of four Uyghurs transferred to Bermuda in June 2009.

Shafiq Rasul
British Citizen

Shafiq Rasul was returned to the UK in March 2004, more than three months before Rasul v. Bush was decided by the US Supreme Court.

Tarek Dergoul
British

Tarek Dergoul traveled to Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 where he was wounded and sold to the U.S..

Zakirjan Asam
Uzbek

Zakirjan Asam is a citizen of Uzbekistan who was detained at Guantanamo, and later transferred to Albania after being determined not an enemy combatant.