Brahim Yadel

Brahim Yadel (born March 17, 1971) is a citizen of France who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 371. Born in Aubervilliers, France, the Department of Defense has reported his date of birth.

Brahim Yadel
BornBrahim Yadel
March 17, 1971 (1971-03-17) (age 52)
CitizenshipFrance
Detained at Guantanamo
ISN371
StatusReleased

Although originally convicted in France, his trial was overturned and he was released in February 2009.[2] On February 17, 2010, the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France, ordered a re-trial of Brahim Yadel and four other men.[3]

Allegations of ties to terrorism

A Time magazine article, published on March 16, 2003, reported that Brahim Yadel was recruited by Karim Bourti.[4][5] According to the article, Karim Bourti was: "...a self-described Paris-based recruiter for international jihad."

Brahim Yadel, and three other French Guantanamo captives, were repatriated to French custody on July 28, 2004.[6][7][8] Brahim Yadel was repatriated to France one day prior to the institution of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals in July 2004.[9]

French authorities held Brahim Yadel, Nizar Sassi, Mourad Benchellali and Imad Kanouni on charges of "associating with criminals engaged in a terrorist enterprise."[10]

French authorities suspected Brahim Yadel helped organize jihadist training camps in the forest of Fontainebleau.[5][8]

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.[11][12] His Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment was two pages long, and was drafted on January 31, 2004.[13] It was signed by camp commandant Geoffrey D. Miller. He recommended Bradel be detained under DoD control.

French trial

Brahim Yadel and five other returned Guantanamo detainees were to stand trial in France in 2006.[14][15]

While all the other men free on conditional release, preceding the trial, Brahim Yadel was kept in detention.[16] He had violated the terms of his conditional release.[17]

Trial delayed

The trial was delayed to allow an investigation into the conduct of French intelligence agents who interrogated the men in Guantanamo.[18][19] France had insisted French agents had not interrogated the men in Guantanamo, but leaked memos showed this was untrue.

Judge Jean-Claude Kross apologized, saying: "I am sorry, we have to start again from scratch".[18]

The Prosecutor has recommended lenient, one-year prison sentences, to take into account their "abnormal detention" in Guantanamo.[18]

Conviction and appeal

Brahim Yadel, and four other French citizens, were convicted in 2007 of "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise."[20] They had their convictions overturned on appeal on February 24, 2009. Their convictions were overturned because they were based on interrogations conducted in Guantanamo, and the interrogations were conducted by French security officials, not law enforcement officials.[2]

McClatchy interview

On June 15, 2008, the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Brahim Yadel in France.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] According to his McClatchy interviewer, Brahim Yadel was disgusted by al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001, and tried to flee Afghanistan immediately after he heard of them, and never engaged in hostilities against US forces. However, he acknowledged receiving military training in Afghanistan, and "even took advanced al Qaida courses in electronics that would have led to bomb making."

  • I always differentiated between war to defend Islam and terrorism. I went to Afghanistan to defend Islam, for jihad. Had this been a military engagement, I would have stood and fought. Of course, it was not, and I wanted nothing to do with it.
  • I simply told the truth, that I wished to be a soldier to fight soldiers, that I had no intention of fighting civilians. I always told the entire truth. I think they respected that.

He told his McClatchy interviewer that he saw the USS Cole as a legitimate military target, but felt his non-western companions in Afghanistan had no idea how appalling the attack on the World Trade Center was:

"I knew bin Laden was against the Americans," he said. "In the logic of war, attacking a warship made sense. It wasn't my battle, but I could understand it. Unlike the Afghans, I'd grown up in Western culture, which means American culture. They didn't understand the enormity of what had happened. I did. It was horrible. I didn't believe in this war."

See also

References
  1. 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 September 30, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2006. 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
  2. "Terror convictions overturned in France". The New York Times. February 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. Vaux-Montagny, Nicolas (February 17, 2010). "France orders 5 former Gitmo inmates back to court". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 17, 2010.
  4. Crumley, Bruce (March 16, 2003). "Uncle Osama Wants You". Time. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  5. Beyler, Clara (February 16, 2006). "The Jihadist Threat in France". The Hudson Institute. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  6. Sciolino, Elaine (2004-07-28). "4 Detainees Are Returned to France After 2 Years at Guantánamo". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  7. "6 French Guantanamo detainees repatriated: report". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. July 27, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  8. "US hands over four French terror suspects". China Daily. July 27, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  9. "List of prisoners" (PDF). US Department of Defense. April 20, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007.
  10. "France: Court Rejects Appeal Of Guantánamo Men". The New York Times. August 10, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  11. Hope, Christopher; Winnett, Robert; Watt, Holly; Blake, Heidi (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.
  12. "WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database". The Telegraph (UK). April 27, 2011. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  13. Miller, Geoffrey D. (April 27, 2011). "Guantanamo Bay detainee file on Brahim Yadel, US9FR-000371DP, passed to the Telegraph by Wikileaks". The Telegraph (UK). Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  14. "France tries Guantanamo suspects". BBC. July 3, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  15. "Ex-Guantanamo French 'face trial'". BBC News. April 24, 2006. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  16. Smith, Craig S. (July 3, 2006). "6 once held in Guantánamo go on trial in France". The New York Times. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  17. "France 2006". The Knowledge Base. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  18. "Verdict for 'Guantanamo six' delayed". September 26, 2006. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  19. Lichfield, John (July 6, 2006). "French agents questioned detainees in Guantanamo". The Independent.
  20. "Paris Court Acquits Former Guantanamo Detainees". Huffington Post. February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  21. Lasseter, Tom (June 15, 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Page 3". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  22. Lasseter, Tom (June 18, 2008). "U.S. hasn't apologized to or compensated ex-detainees". Myrtle Beach Sun. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  23. Lasseter, Tom (June 15, 2008). "Pentagon declined to answer questions about detainees". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  24. Lasseter, Tom (June 16, 2008). "Documents undercut Pentagon's denial of routine abuse". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  25. Lasseter, Tom (June 19, 2008). "Deck stacked against detainees in legal proceedings". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  26. Lasseter, Tom (June 16, 2008). "U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  27. Lasseter, Tom (June 15, 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Brahim Yadel". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
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