Alternate name Mohammed Abdul Rahman | ISN 894 | |
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Charge(s) no charge, extrajudicial detention Status transferred to Kazakhstan Detained at Guantanamo Bay detention camp | ||
Lotfi Bin Ali is a Tunisian who the United States held in extrajudicial detention for over thirteen years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was one of five individuals 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.
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Health
Lotfi's health is poor. A 2004 medical summary stated he had chronic heart disease that had required the placement of a mechanical heart valve; that he had kidney stones; latent tuberculosis, depression and high blood pressure. It stated he needed to have his blood tested, twice a month, to ensure he was receiving the right dose of anti-coagulants.
According to his Guantanamo weight records he was 76.5 inches (194 cm) tall, and weighed 225 pounds (102 kg) on his arrival. His weight showed a sudden drop in late fall of 2005, he weighed 218 pounds (99 kg) on November 27, 2005. On December 10, 2005, his weight had dropped to 192.5 pounds (87.3 kg). On both December 12 and 13 his weight was recorded as exactly 173.4 pounds (78.7 kg). On December 16 his weight was recorded as exactly 163.9 pounds (74.3 kg). By December 29, his records showed he had gained 29 pounds (13 kg). By January 27, 2006, his weight had risen to 201.4 pounds (91.4 kg), and his weight oscillated around that weight for the rest of 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.
Scholars at the Brookings Institute, 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:
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. His two-page Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment was drafted on June 27, 2004. It was signed by camp commandant Jay W. Hood. He recommended release, due to Lotfi's serious health problems, but noted the Criminal Investigative Task Force regarded him as a high risk.
Cleared for release by the Guantanamo Joint Task Force
President Barack Obama enacted three Executive Orders pertaining to Guantanamo on the day he took office. Executive Order 13492 established the Guantanamo Joint Task Force, which established a new review process for the remaining captive, one where those reviewing their status were senior officials representing several cabinet departments, including the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Lotfi was cleared, yet again, by his review.
Transfer to Kazakhstan
On December 30, 2014, Lotfi and four other men were transferred to Kazakhstan, where they were kept under onerous security conditions. The four other men were Asim Thahit Abdullah al Khalaqi, Adel al-Hakeemy, Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna and Sabri Mohammed Ebrahim Al Qurashi.
Kazakhstan security officials routinely enter the men's homes, without a warrant.