Lahcen Ikassrien

Background

When Ikassrien was first captured authorities thought his name was Reswan A. Abdesalam. His real identity was revealed through his fingerprints.

Ikassrien was believed to have ties to Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, a mastermind of the Madrid bombing.

On July 3, 2005, Ikassrien was extradited to stand trial in Spain.

The International Herald Tribune reported that Ikassrien was acquitted on October 11, 2006.

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. 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.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

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

Combatant status review

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants—rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Allegations

The following allegations were presented to his Tribunal:

1. Detainee admits purchasing a Kalishnakov [sic] rifle in Kabul in May or June 2001.
2. Detainee was observed on the front line and during the retreat in Afghanistan and at Qala-I Junghi [sic] prison.
3. Detainee was injured during the U.S. bombing of Konduz.
4. Detainee took refuge in an underground hiding area with Taliban forces during the U.S. bombing of Mazar e-Sharif [sic].
5. Detainee was captured by U.S. forces with other Taliban members in Mazar e-Sharif.

Transcript

There is no record that Lahcen Ikassrien chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Animal Number 64

On November 19, 2006, El País published an article in which Ikassrien alleges that he had been tortured during his detention in Kandahar. He alleges that a North American soldier attached a plastic bracelet on his right hand with the words "Animal Number 64" that he had to wear during the time of his detention.

Torture claims investigation

On April 29, 2009, that Spanish investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon initiated a formal investigation into whether confessions from Ikassrien, and three other former Guantanamo captives were the result of the use of abusive interrogation techniques. Ikassrien, and the other three men: Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, Jamiel Abdul Latif al Banna and Omar Deghayes, had previously faced charges in Spanish courts, based on confessions they made while in US custody. Their charges had been dropped based on their claims that their confessions were false and were the result of abusive interrogation techniques.