Mauritanian detainees at Guantanamo Bay

On May 15, 2006 the United States Department of Defense acknowledged that there were three Mauritanian captives held in Guantanamo.^[1]

The Guantanamo Bay detainment camps were opened on January 11, 2002 at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba. The Bush administration asserted that all captives taken in the "global war on terror" could be held there, in extrajudicial detention, without revealing their names. The Associated Press had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the names of all the captives. The Department of Defense justified keeping the information secret o the grounds of protecting the captives' privacy, as they had not been charged with crimes. After exhausting legal appeals, the Department of Defense were forced, by a court order, to release the identities of all the Guantanamo captives.

WTOP reported in 2006 that one of the Mauritanians held in Guantanamo had been transferred to United States officers by former leader Maaouya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya.^[2]

Known Guantanamo detainees from Mauritania

isn	name	arrival date	transfer date	notes
ISN 706	Mohammad Lameen Sidi Mohammad	2002-08-05	2007-09-26	Mohamed Lemine Ould Sidi Mohamed was repatriated on September 28, 2007.[3]
ISN 757	Ahmed Ould Abd al-Aziz	2002-10-28	2015-10-29	Ahmed Ould Abd Aziz was repatriated by the US to Mauritania on 29 October 2015.[4] He was among 53 detainees (of a total of 113 then held) recommended for repatriation in 2009 by a six-agency task force called by President Barack Obama after taking office, but his repatriation was repeatedly delayed.[5] Abd Aziz was mistakenly reported in June 2013 as having been repatriated in May 2013.[6][7][8][9] On June 1, 2013, the US disputed that they had repatriated any captives in 2013.[10]
ISN 760	Mohamedou Ould Slahi	2002-08-05		He was mistakenly thought to have been one of two Mauritanian detainees repatriated in May 2013.[6] The US denied that any were repatriated that year.[10] He has written and published a book, Guantanamo Diary (2015) about his treatment, including torture during the years of detention, while still being held in Guantanamo. The material was redacted and declassified by the US in 2013. Excerpts were published as a series in Slate in 2013.[11][12] [13] [14]

References

1. list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. Mauritania Leader Aims to Avoid Oil Curse, WTOP, April 23, 2006 - mirror
3. "Guantanamo Bay inmate handed over to Mauritanian govt". Afriquenligne. September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
4. Charles Savage and Steven Erlanger, "Guantanamo Release Ends Yearslong Battle", New York Times, 31 October 2015
5. Jenifer Fenton, "Gitmo detainee repatriated to Mauritania after 14 years in custody", AlJazeera America, 29 October 2015
6. Andy Worthington (2013-06-01). "EXCLUSIVE: Two Guantánamo Prisoners Released in Mauritania". Retrieved 2013-06-01. In news that has so far only been available in Arabic, and which I was informed about by a Mauritanian friend on Facebook, I can confirm that two prisoners from Guantánamo have been released, and returned to their home country of Mauritania.
7. وصول ولد صلاحي و ولد عبد العزيز لنواكشوط [Access Ould Salahi and Abdel Aziz in Nouakchott] (in Arabic). 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
8. عاجل: وصول ولد الصلاحي وولد عبد العزيز من غوانتنامو إلى نواكشوط [URGENT: Born Salahi access and Ould Abdel Aziz, from Guantánamo to Nouakchott] (in Arabic). 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
9. "Guantanamo'daki 2 Moritanyalı Serbest Bırakıldı: Guantanamo'da 10 yıldır tutuklu bulunan 2 Moritanya vatandaşı, ülkelerine gönderildi" [2 Mauritanian citizen detained in Guantanamo for 10 years, was sent to the countries.] (in Turkish). Sondakika. 2013-06-01. Archived from the original on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2013-06-01. Baza americana din Guantanamo Bay de peste 10 ani de închisoare și a fost eliberat două țări au fost livrate la cetățenii din Mauritania spus. Conform informațiilor de la rudele de două Moritanyalının lansat, forțele de securitate americane, Makhdoom Ould Ahmed Ould Salahi și Abdulaziz'i, autoritățile Novakșot din Mauritania predat la aeroport. Familiile au spus că se întâlnesc la petreceri.
10. Ahmed Mohamed (2013-06-01). "Mauritania group says 2 prisoners arrive from Guantanamo, but US denies transfer". Nouakchott, Mauritania: Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2013-06-02. The report that the Guantanamo detainees were transferred to Mauritania came from Hamoud Ould Nabagha, chairman of the Support Committee for Guantanamo Prisoners. He said the prisoners include Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz, both of whom were held at Guantanamo. The third is El Haj Ould Cheikh El Houssein Youness who was held at the U.S. military base at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, said Nabagha.
11. "Torture – an intimate history: Guantánamo Diary, by Mohamedou Ould Slahi". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
12. Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohamedou Ould Slahi'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 28-38
13. Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Mohamedou Ould Slahi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 184
14. Summarized transcript, from Mohamedou Ould Slahi's second annual Administrative Review Board hearing - page 75