kateoplis: Gitmo’s most controversial prisoners Ten years after it was established, 171 detainees are still being held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Despite promises at the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency, the facility seems unlikely to be shut down anytime soon. While the very existence of the camp is controversial, some cases have drawn particular attention.  Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha  This former professional soccer player fled to Britain in 1999 after receiving death threats from Islamist militants in his home country. He was traveling in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and was turned over to U.S. forces by opportunistic villagers who claimed he was a member of al Qaeda. After six years of imprisonment, he was cleared for release in 2007 by George W. Bush’s administration but has remained at the facility for four years, fighting against repatriation to Algeria, where he fears both imprisonment by the government — which tried him in absentia and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for belonging to an overseas terrorist group — and attacks by militant groups. Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha’s former country of residence, Britain, has rejected his request for asylum. The town of Amherst, Massachusetts, has offered him asylum, but federal law prevents Guantánamo detainees from being resettled in the United States. Read on.
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kateoplis:

Gitmo’s most controversial prisoners

Ten years after it was established, 171 detainees are still being held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Despite promises at the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency, the facility seems unlikely to be shut down anytime soon. While the very existence of the camp is controversial, some cases have drawn particular attention. 

Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha 

This former professional soccer player fled to Britain in 1999 after receiving death threats from Islamist militants in his home country. He was traveling in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and was turned over to U.S. forces by opportunistic villagers who claimed he was a member of al Qaeda. After six years of imprisonment, he was cleared for release in 2007 by George W. Bush’s administration but has remained at the facility for four years, fighting against repatriation to Algeria, where he fears both imprisonment by the government — which tried him in absentia and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for belonging to an overseas terrorist group — and attacks by militant groups. Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha’s former country of residence, Britain, has rejected his request for asylum. The town of Amherst, Massachusetts, has offered him asylum, but federal law prevents Guantánamo detainees from being resettled in the United States.

Read on.

Source: foreignpolicy.com

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    Ten years after it was established, 171 detainees are still being held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Despite...
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