List of French detainees at Guantanamo Bay

The United States Department of Defense held seven French detainees in Guantanamo.[1] All of those French detainees were released from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp by 2005.[2]

A total of 778 detainees have been held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo detention camps, in Cuba since the camps opened on January 11, 2002. The camp population peaked in 2004 at approximately 660. Only nineteen new detainees, all "high value detainees" have been transferred there since the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Rasul v. Bush. As of May 2023, 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.[3]

The last French citizens were repatriated in March 2005.[2] Six of the men faced charges in France upon repatriation.[4] Five of the men were convicted. Their convictions were overturned, on appeal, in February 2009. On February 17, 2010, the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France, ordered a re-trial of the five men.[4]

French detainees in Guantanamo
French detainees in Guantanamo
isnnamenotes
161Mourad Benchellali
  • Published a book on his experience.
  • Claims he was misled into traveling to Afghanistan by his older brother Menad Benchellali.
  • Acknowledges spending two months in a military training camp in Afghanistan, just prior al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001.
  • Claims he tried to leave Afghanistan; claims he never engaged in hostilities.
  • Convicted of terrorism related offenses, and received a four-year sentence.
  • Conviction overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009.[5]
164Imad Achab Kanouni
173Ridouane Khalid
  • Convicted of terrorism related offenses in a French court upon his repatriation.[5]
  • Conviction overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009.[5]
236Khaled ben Mustafa
  • Convicted of terrorism related offenses in a French court upon his repatriation.[5]
  • Conviction overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009.[5]
325Nizar Sassi
  • Also alleged to have been tricked into traveling to Afghanistan by Menad Benchellali.
  • Convicted of terrorism related offenses in a French court upon his repatriation.[5]
  • Conviction overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009.[5]
371Brahim Yadel
  • Convicted of terrorism related offenses in a French court upon his repatriation.[5]
  • Conviction overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009.[5]
649

Mustaq Ali Patel
  • Allegedly provided a false identity to his interrogators.[6]
  • Allegedly initially identified himself as a Saudi.[6]
  • Denied all the allegations against him.[6]
  • Reported being tortured, to force him to falsely confess to being a Saudi.[6]
  • Saudi security officials visiting Guantanamo confirmed he was not a Saudi.[6]
  • His CSR Tribunal determined he had never been an "enemy combatant" after all.[7]

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. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  2. "Last of French Prisoners Return to France from Guantanamo". Voice of America. 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2015-07-08. Note that there is a 2009 date above the article, but the actual date of the article is in the URL.
  3. "The Guantánamo Docket". The New York Times. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. Nicolas Vaux-Montagny (2010-02-17). "France orders 5 former Gitmo inmates back to court". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2010-02-17.
  5. "Paris Court Acquits Former Guantanamo Detainees". Huffington Post. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  6. OARDEC (3 December 2004). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Patel, Mustaq Ali (Al Akram, Muhammad Ibn Ismail)" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  7. "Detainees Found to No Longer Meet the Definition of "Enemy Combatant" during Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. November 19, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  1. Countries of Citizenship of Guantanamo detainees from the New York Times
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