Adel Abdulhehim

Adel Abdulhehim
Born (1974-10-10) October 10, 1974 (age 50)
Ghulja, Xinjiang, China
Detained at Guantanamo
Other name(s) A'Del Abdu al-Hakim
ISN293
StatusRefugee in Albania

Adel Abdulhehim or Adel Abdul Hakim is a citizen of the People's Republic of China from the Uighur ethnic group. He was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States-controlled Guantanamo Bay detainment camps in Cuba.[1]Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report he was born on October 10, 1974, in Ghulja, Xinjiang.

Abdulhehim was captured in late 2001 and detained in Camp Delta. He is one of the 38 detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal concluded he had not been an "illegal combatant" after all.

Abdulhehim is one of approximately two dozen detainees from the Uighur ethnic group.

According to an article distributed by the Associated Press, Abdulhehim, his compatriot Abu Baker Qassim and eight others were moved from imprisonment at the main compound of Camp Delta to a less harsh imprisonment at Camp Iguana.[2]

A February 18, 2006, article in The Washington Times claimed that Abu Bakker Qassim and A'Del Abdu al-Hakim had received military training in Afghanistan.[3] It reported they were not classified as "illegal combatants" because they intended to go home and employ their training against the Chinese government and were released.[4] Some earlier reports had described them as economic refugees who were slowly working their way to Turkey.

Bounty

The caption to this bounty poster, distributed in Afghanistan, states: “You can receive millions of dollars for helping the Anti-Taliban Force catch Al-Qaida and Taliban murderers. This is enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life. Pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people."

Hakim and Abu Bakker Qassim report they were sold to US forces by bounty hunters.[5][6]

Press reports

In January 2007, Abdulhehim told the BBC that "Albanian people are very welcoming and there are many Muslim brothers here".[7]

However, in Albania, Hakim was separated from his wife and their three children, as Albania did not permit family-reunification. In November 2007, he was granted a 4-day visa to Sweden, to lecture about human rights in Stockholm. Since his sister lived in Sweden, he applied for asylum there. However, in June 2008, the immigration authorities in Sweden announced that Hakim had been denied political asylum.[8]

On June 15, 2008, the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Adel Abdulhehim.[9][10] The McClatchy interview records his account of his "military training" in the Uyghur construction camp:

“They had some guns, some AK-47s, and asked us if we wanted to learn to use them. Really, I was curious. I'd never been allowed to handle one before. We went out once, for an hour or so. I think I shot three or four bullets, at rocks. That was it.”

References

  1. ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  2. ^ Knowlton, Brian (April 17, 2006). "Supreme Court Rejects Bid by Guantanamo Detainees". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2006.
  3. ^ U.S. hit on human rights Archived July 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. The Washington Times. 18 February 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
  4. ^ "Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classifed [sic] as 'No Longer Enemy Combatants'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 11, 2006.
  5. ^ "Parhat v. Gates Case No: 06-1397" (PDF). Department of Justice. December 18, 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
  6. ^ Warren Richey (February 13, 2006). "Innocent, but in limbo at Guantánamo: Five Chinese Muslims, captured in Pakistan by mistake, try to get the US Supreme Court to take their case". The Christian Science Monitor.
  7. ^ Guantanamo Uighurs' strange odyssey Archived November 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC, January 11, 2007
  8. ^ Frisläppt Guantánamofånge utvisas[permanent dead link‍], 19 juni 2008, Swedish State Broadcaster. [dead link‍]
  9. ^ Tom Lasseter (June 15, 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Page 2". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  10. ^ Tom Lasseter (June 15, 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Adel Abdulhehim". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.