(Washington) US authorities have recommended the release of a detainee from Guantanamo military prison, suspected of having attempted to participate in the September 11 attacks, and his repatriation to Saudi Arabia, according to documents published Friday.
Posted at 8:53 p.m.
The detention of Saudi Arabian Mohammed al-Qahtani is “no longer necessary” to protect the security of the United States from a “serious threat”, according to the Guantanamo Review Board.
He had been accused of being the 20and hijacker who should have participated in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The commission declared him “eligible for transfer” and recommended his participation in “a rehabilitation program” in a center intended for the reintegration of former jihadists in Saudi Arabia.
This body said it took into account “the detainee’s very poor mental health”, the “family support he could have”, and the “quality” of the care he would receive in his country.
Security measures, including surveillance and travel restrictions, were also recommended.
Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of the first prisoners transferred to Guantanamo in January 2002.
The tortures imposed on him have been widely documented. He had notably been subjected to a regime of prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation or humiliation linked to his religion.
“We tortured Qahtani,” admitted Susan Crawford, the military judge who presided over the special courts at Guantanamo, in 2009.
Mme Crawford said it was “for this reason” that she was not referring the case to the special justice created for detainees in the military prison.
Mohammed al-Qahtani had arrived at the airport in Orlando, Florida, on August 4, 2001, but his behavior caught the attention of an immigration officer, who thought he wanted to settle illegally in the USA.
His entry had been refused, and he had been sent back to Dubai.
The investigation into the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, had finally caught up with him: he had been captured in Afghanistan in December 2001.
Last month, the United States already approved the release of five detainees.
Ten others, including the alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as “KSM”, are awaiting trial by a military commission.
The infamous detention center was opened just 20 years ago, as part of the “war on terror”.