Lufti Bin Swei Lagha

Last updated
Lufti Bin Swei Lagha
Born (1968-11-28) November 28, 1968 (age 54)
Tunis, Tunisia
Detained at  Kandahar, Bagram, Guantanamo
Other name(s) Lotfi Lagha
ISN 660

Lufti Bin Swei Lagha is a citizen of Tunisia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. [1] The Department of Defense reports that he was born on November 28, 1968, in Tunis, Tunisia.

Contents

Background

According to historian Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, Lagha had lived for a time in Italy, prior to traveling to Afghanistan. [2] According to Worthington, Tajik captive Airat Vakhitov asserted medical staff in Kandahar unnecessarily amputated eleven of Lagha's fingers and toes, and then beat the stubs when they participated in his interrogation. [3]

After his repatriation from Guantanamo Lufti Lagha stood trial in Tunisia, was convicted, and sentenced to three years imprisonment, for "associating with a criminal group with the aim of harming or causing damage in Tunisia. [4]

Official status reviews

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. [5] [6] [7] Lagha's assessment was four pages long. [8] It was drafted on September 10, 2004, and signed by camp commandant Jay W. Hood. According to The Telegraph

"JTF GTMO recommends this detainee be transferred for continued detention to his country of origin (Tunisia) if a satisfactory agreement can be reached that allows access to detainee and/or access to exploited intelligence." [7]

Repatriation

A Tunisian named Lotfi Lagha was repatriated from Guantanamo to Tunisian custody in late June 2007. [9] [10] Bouazza ben Bouazza, of the Associated Press reports that Lofti Lagha was held in the Bagram Theater detention facility for several months in early 2002, prior to transfer to Guantanamo. Lofti Lagha reports that his all eight of his fingers were amputated, against his will, while in American custody at Bagram, even though Pakistani doctors told him amputation was unnecessary. He reports that American soldiers beat him and kicked him, when he awoke from the operation.

Lufti Lagha was held in a prison in Mornaguia "on charges of associating with a criminal group." [9]

On September 2, 2007, Jennifer Daskal, writing in The Washington Post , reported that Lufti Lagha, and another repatriated Tunisian were "...telling visitors that things are so bad they would rather be back at Guantanamo Bay." [10]

Daskall wrote that Lufti Lagha had been held in solitary confinement from June 21, 2007, to August 7, 2007, even though the Tunisian Civil Code only allows solitary confinement for ten days or less, and in spite of the Tunisian governments assurance to the US State Department that the captive would be treated humanely upon their return.

Trial and conviction

Lufti Lagha was convicted on Wednesday October 24, 2007, of "associating with a criminal group with the aim of harming or causing damage in Tunisia." [4] Several other charges were dropped. The Associated Press notes: "Authorities did not name the group that Lagha was said to participate in or specify what its planned violence was." The Associated Press notes that his hands were still bandaged in 2007, five years after his fingers were amputated.

Lufti Lagha's lawyer, Samir Ben Amor, said that he had been beaten both in Guantanamo, and upon his return to Tunisia. [4] Cynthia Smith did not respond to the specific allegations that Lofti Lagha was abused, but repeated that all US captives were treated humanely.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hisham Bin Al Bin Amor Sliti</span>

Hisham Sliti, is a citizen of Tunisia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 174. The list of the names of all the Guantanamo detainees states that his date of birth was February 12, 1966, in Hamam Lif, Tunisia. He was transferred to Guantanamo on May 1, 2002, and held there for twelve and a half years. On November 20, 2014, Sliti and Hussein Salem Mohammed were granted asylum in Slovakia.

Asif Iqbal is a British citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention as a terror suspect in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps in Cuba from early 2002 to 9 March 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid</span> Yemeni citizen (born 1977)

Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid is a Yemeni citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, for over fourteen and a half years, from January 11, 2002, to August 15, 2016. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 31. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report that he was born on August 1, 1977, in Taiz, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif</span>

Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, also known as Allal Ab Aljallil Abd al Rahman, was a Yemeni citizen imprisoned at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from January 2002 until his death in custody there, ruled a suicide.

Mohammed Saghir(also transliterated Mohammed Sanghir) is an elderly Pakistani who was held by the U.S. military in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 143. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1952, in Khohestan, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polad Sabir Sirajov</span>

Polad Sabir Sirajov is a citizen of Azerbaijan formerly held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maasoum Abdah Mouhammad</span>

Maasoum Abdah Mouhammad, a citizen of Syria, was formerly held in extrajudicial detention in the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

Lotfi Bin Ali was a Tunisian whom the United States held in extrajudicial detention for over thirteen years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was one of five men transferred to Kazakhstan in 2014. He was extensively quoted following the death by lack of medical care of one of the other captives transferred to Kazakhstan. In a September 2016 profile in The Guardian, he described exile in Kazakhstan as being very isolating, and, in some ways, almost as bad as Guantanamo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Ahmad Said Al Edah</span>

Mohammed Ahmad Said Al Edah is a citizen of Yemen who was held in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, for fourteen and a half years. His Internment Serial Number is 33. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1962, in Hay al-Turbawi Ta'iz, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Nabi Omari</span>

Mawlawi Mohammad Nabi Omari is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held for nearly twelve years in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 832. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1968, in Khowst, Afghanistan. He arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on October 28, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Ahmad Muhammad Al Rahizi</span>

Ali Ahmad Muhammad Al Rahizi is a citizen of Yemen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 45. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports he was born on October 13, 1979, in Taiz, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi</span>

Ridah Bin Saleh Bin Mabrouk al-Yazidi is a citizen of Tunisia held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba since the day it opened, on January 11, 2002. Al Yazidi's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 38.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moath al-Alwi</span> Yemeni prisoner in Guantanamo Bay prison

Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His detainee ID number is 28. Guantanamo analysts estimated he was born in 1977, in Bajor, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idris Ahmad ʽAbd al Qadir Idris</span> Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee

Idris Ahmed ʽAbd al Qader Idris is a citizen of Yemen, who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His detainee ID number is 035. American intelligence analysts estimate he was born in 1979, in Rada, Yemen. Idris was transferred to Oman on June 13, 2015, where the Government of Oman agreed to what the Department of Defense called "appropriate security measures. He arrived on June 8, 2002, he was held in extrajudicial detention, and never faced criminal charges. The Department of Defense never fully released its justification for holding Idris, but on April 25, 2011, the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published his previously secret JTF-GTMO assessment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdu Ali al Haji Sharqawi</span> Yemeni alleged Al-Qaeda associate (born 1974)

Sharqawi Abdu Ali al-Hajj, also known as Riyadh the Facilitator, is a Yemeni alleged Al-Qaeda associate who is currently being held in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby</span>

Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby is 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. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that he was born on March 1, 1961, in Zletan, Libya.

Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Al Hubayshi, who acknowledged some jihadists' activity, spent three years in Guantanamo, a further years in Saudi Arabia's al-Ha'ir Prison, prior to graduating from the Saudi jihadist rehabilitation program. Several western journalists have interviewed him, and accepted that he appears to have successfully reintegrated into the mainstream of Saudi society.

The United States Department of Defense acknowledges holding Tunisian detainees in Guantanamo. A total of 779 detainees have been held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay 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. 35 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay. By July 2012 the camp held 168 captives.

Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud al Hami is a citizen of Tunisia, who was formerly held for over seven years without charge or trial in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 892. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on 14 March 1969, in Tunisia.

Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi (1968-2015) was a citizen of Yemen, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 152. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate Al Khalaqi was born in 1968, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

References

  1. ↑ "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 2006-05-15. Wikisource-logo.svg 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. ↑ Andy Worthington (2007). The Guantanamo Files. Plute Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-7453-2664-1. ...four Tunisians captured at that time were regarded with particular suspicion. Two of the men -- 31 year old Adil bin Hamida Mabrouk and 33 year old Lufti bin Swei Lagha -- had however traveled to Afghanistan from Italy, and said they were searching for a better life.
  3. ↑ Any Worthington (2011-07-25). "WikiLeaks and the Guantánamo Prisoners Released from 2002 to 2004 (Part Five of Ten)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2012-07-27. I can recollect the guy under the name of Lufti [Lotfi Lagha, ISN 660] from Tunisia. They amputated 11 of his toes and fingers and they justified this by saying he had infected blood and gangrene. And really it was only inflammation, and his fingers and toes could have been saved easily. He told me that the doctor who operated on him was the one who interrogated him after that and while interrogating him he was beating him in all the places where he had just operated on him, this happened in Kandahar and when he was taken to Cuba, they stopped giving him any medical assistance.
  4. 1 2 3 "Former Guantanamo detainee convicted at home in Tunisia on terror charges". International Herald Tribune. October 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  7. 1 2 "Guantanamo Bay detainee file on Lufti Bin Swei Lagha, US9TS-000660DP, passed to the Telegraph by Wikileaks". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  8. ↑ Jay W. Hood (2004-09-10). "Recommendation for Transfer out of DoD Control (TRO) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9TU000660DP" (PDF). Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-17. Retrieved 2012-07-27. Commons-logo.svg Media related to File:ISN 00660, Lufti Bin Swei Lagha's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf at Wikimedia Commons
  9. 1 2 Bouazza Bein Bouazza (August 11, 2007). "Tunisian Says US Soldiers Beat Him". Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  10. 1 2 Jennifer Daskal (September 2, 2007). "A Fate Worse Than Guantanamo". Washington Post . Retrieved 2007-09-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.