Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby

Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby (March 1, 1961 – April 12, 2023) was a citizen of Libya who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, from May 5, 2002, until April 4, 2016.[2][3][4] Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that he was born on March 1, 1961, in Zletan, Libya.

Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby
His official Guantanamo identity portrait, showing him wearing a white uniform, indicating he was classified as “compliant” captive.
Born(1961-03-01)March 1, 1961[1]
Zletan, Libya
Released04-04-2016
Senegal
DiedApril 12, 2023(2023-04-12) (aged 62)
Libya
Detained at Guantanamo
Other name(s) 
  • Radfat Muhammad Faqi Alji Saqqaf
  • Salim Gherebi
  • Falen Gherebi
  • Salim Abd al-Salam Umran al-Ghuraybi
  • Luqman al-Libi
  • Luqman al-Zalaytani
  • Hakim Luqman,
  • Abu Abd al-Rouf
ISN189
Charge(s)no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Statusreleased to Senegal

Personal life

According to historian Andy Worthington, the author of The Guantanamo Files, Gherebi had settled in Pakistan after fleeing Muammar Gaddafi's repressive regime in Libya.[5] He was married to a Pakistani woman, and had fathered several children. He had worked as a teacher, teaching science at a primary school.

Official status reviews

Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention.[6] In 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.

Habeas corpus

Salem was the first Guantanamo captive to challenge whether he should have access to US Civil Courts.[7] Human rights lawyer Stephen Yagman filed the appeal on Salem's behalf after being contacted by Salem's brother

Justice Matz ruled against Salim, but Matz's ruling was overturned on appeal, by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, on December 18, 2003.[8]

On February 20, 2007, two of the three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that when the Military Commissions Act stripped the right to use habeas corpus from the Guantanamo captives retroactively, and that appeals, like Salem's, which were in process, were vacated.[9]

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3x5 meter trailer where the captive sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.[10][11]

Following the Supreme Court's ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.[6][12]

Scholars at the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations:[13]

  • Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are members of Al Qaeda."[13]
  • Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby was listed as one of the captives whose "names or aliases were found on material seized in raids on Al Qaeda safehouses and facilities."[13]
  • Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby was listed as one of the captives who was an "al Qaeda operative".[13]
  • Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby was listed as one of the "82 detainees made no statement to CSRT or ARB tribunals or made statements that do not bear materially on the military's allegations against them."[13]

Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment

On April 25, 2011, whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts.[14][15] His Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment was 12 pages long, and was drafted on February 20, 2008.[16] It was signed by camp commandant Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby. He recommended continued detention.

Salem's lawyer is Duke University professor Erwin Chemerinsky.[17] He handled Salem's writ of habeas corpus.

In 2002, Chemerinsky said he received death threats for his efforts on Gherebi's behalf:[7]

  • "I've never done anything that's gotten the quantity of hate mail this has gotten,"
  • "I just feel it's so important for the United States to follow the law."

Transfer to Senegal

On April 4, 2016, Abu Bakr, and another Libyan Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby, were transferred to Senegal.[3][4] Citing his formerly secret Joint Task Force Assessment, published by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks in April 2011, Fox News described Ghereby as someone who "has been involved in extremist activities since at least the mid-1990s."[18]

Death

On April 12, 2023, Ghereby died in Libya after suffering from motor neurone disease.[19]

References
  1. "JTF- GTMO Detainee Assessment" (PDF). nyt.com. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. OARDEC. "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 (PDF) from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2006-05-15. Works related to List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006 at Wikisource
  3. Charlie Savage (2016-04-04). "2 Libyan Guantánamo Inmates Are Transferred to Senegal". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The United States military has transferred two Libyan detainees to Senegal from its wartime prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, government officials said on Monday, the first time Senegal has resettled a Guantánamo prisoner.
  4. "Two Guantanamo Detainees Transferred to Senegal". Washington D.C.: Human Rights First. 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Human Rights First today praised the transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Senegal, but notes that the pace of the transfers must increase if the facility is to close by the end of President Obama's term in office. The organization also praised Senegal for the humanitarian gesture in accepting the detainees.
  5. Andy Worthington (2016-04-04). "Who Are the Two Libyans Freed from Guantánamo and Given New Homes in Senegal?". Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  6. "U.S. military reviews 'enemy combatant' use". USA Today. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Critics called it an overdue acknowledgment that the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals are unfairly geared toward labeling detainees the enemy, even when they pose little danger. Simply redoing the tribunals won't fix the problem, they said, because the system still allows coerced evidence and denies detainees legal representation.
  7. Charles Rappleye (February 6, 2002). "Frozen in Guantánamo: The L.A. case for al Qaeda". LA Weekly news. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  8. Erwin Chemerinsky, Stephen Yagman (July 1, 2005). "Protecting rights after Guantnamo". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  9. Jeannie Shawl (February 20, 2007). "Federal appeals court upholds MCA habeas-stripping provisions". The Jurist. Archived from the original on February 22, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  10. Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  12. "Q&A: What next for Guantanamo prisoners?". BBC News. 2002-01-21. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  13. Benjamin Wittes; Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study" (PDF). The Brookings Institution. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  14. Christopher Hope; Robert Winnett; Holly Watt; Heidi Blake (2011-04-27). "WikiLeaks: Guantanamo Bay terrorist secrets revealed -- Guantanamo Bay has been used to incarcerate dozens of terrorists who have admitted plotting terrifying attacks against the West – while imprisoning more than 150 totally innocent people, top-secret files disclose". The Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-13. The Daily Telegraph, along with other newspapers including The Washington Post, today exposes America's own analysis of almost ten years of controversial interrogations on the world's most dangerous terrorists. This newspaper has been shown thousands of pages of top-secret files obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
  15. "WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  16. "Salim Abd Al Salam Umran Al Ghuraybi: Guantanamo Bay detainee file on Salim Abd Al Salam Umran Al Ghuraybi, US9LY-000189DP, passed to the Telegraph by Wikileaks". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  17. Josh White (February 21, 2007). "New detainee law upheld". Washington Post.
  18. "Al Qaeda explosives experts transferred from Guantanamo Bay". Fox News. 2016-04-04. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The transfer of Ghereby and Umar reduces the Guantanamo detainee population to 89, according to the Department of Defense. They are part of the Obama administration's long-running and controversial effort to reduce the prison population and ultimately close the camp.
  19. "In Memory of former Guantanamo Prisoner, Salem Ghereby". 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
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