Abdul Aziz Naji is an Algerian citizen who was held without charges in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

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. His Guantanamo

Internment Serial Number An Internment Serial Number (ISN) is an identification number assigned to captives who come under control of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) during armed conflicts. History On March 3, 2006, in compliance with a court order from D ...

was 744. American

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analysts report that he was born on May 4, 1975, in

Batna, Algeria Batna ( ar, باتنة, Latn, ar, Bātnah) is the main city and commune of Batna Province, Algeria. With a population of 290,645 (2008 census) it is the fifth largest city in Algeria. It is also one of the principal cities of the Chaoui area and ...

. Naji arrived at Guantanamo on August 5, 2002, and was repatriated to Algeria, against his will, in July 2010. The

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

transferred Abdul Aziz Naji to Algeria in July 2010. Naji argued that he would face a high risk to be

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d in Algeria when he would be forced to return to that country but he lost his case before the

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has heavily criticized the Obama administration for their decision. On July 25, 2010, he was indicted by the government of Algeria and placed under judicial supervision though it is not known what he had been charged with or what the supervision entailed.

Background

Abdul Aziz Naji asserts he was in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

as an aid worker, performing

zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...

—charitable work. He described losing a leg to a

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

while performing charitable service near embattled

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He lost his leg prior to

al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

's attack on the USA, and spent a year in medical rehabilitation in Pakistan. His capture came shortly after his release from the hospital during a trip to

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, where he was to meet a marriage broker.

Clearance by Obama Administration's Guantanamo Review Task Force

No charges have ever been brought against Mr. Naji by the US government. On May 20, 2009, he was cleared for transfer by the Guantanamo Review Task Force established by President Obama’s Executive Order of January 22, 2009.

Habeas corpus

Abdul Aziz Naji had a

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

appeal initiated on his behalf in 2005. On July 15, 2008, Kristine A. Huskey filed a ''"NOTICE OF PETITIONERS’ REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER"'' on behalf of these captives whose names are not on any of the official lists. His most recent attorneys are Ellen Lubell and Doris Tennant, of

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. Lubell and Tennant appealed to Newton's city council to follow the example of neighboring Amherst and offer sanctuary to their client.

Disappearance alleged

In an email, dated July 23, 2010, Bill Quigley, Legal Director of

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional RightsThe Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) is a political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

in Switzerland, and his application was proceeding through the Swiss courts.

January 2012 conviction

Naji was convicted on January 16, 2012, of ''“belonging to a terrorist group abroad”''. Naji had asserted he had been a charity worker in Afghanistan—not a fighter. According to the

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

group Reprieve the prosecution didn't introduce new evidence against him, only introducing the untested allegations from Guantanamo.

Swiss asylum request

In June 2013, the ''

Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (german: Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft; french: Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision; it, Società svizzera di radiotelevisione; rm, Societad Svizra da Radio e Televisiun; SRG ...

'' reported that Abdul Aziz Naji had requested asylum in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in 2009. Switzerland's Federal Migration Office turned down his asylum request. His lawyer appealed to Switzerland's Federal Administrative Court, which ruled, on December 10, 2009, that the justifications for turning down the asylum request were vague and inadequate. They ruled that the decision on his asylum request would have to be re-done. In June 2013, the Federal Migration Office responded to queries as to why it had not reviewed Abdul Aziz Naji's request. They wrote: :''“The duration of asylum proceedings is dependent on various factors, notably possible additional investigations being done to clarify the case, but also the priority order in which cases are being treated.”''

References

External links

UPDATE 2-"Missing" Guantanamo returnee back at home -family

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

Jul 26, 2010
UPDATE 1-Whereabouts of former US detainee unknown-lawyers

Jul 21, 2010
UN experts urge US to ensure no Guantánamo detainees are forcibly returned

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Six detainees would rather stay at Guantanamo Bay than be returned to Algeria

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

July 10, 2010
Profiles of Guantanamo Detainees in Need of Safe Haven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naji, Aziz Abdul 1975 births Living people Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Guantanamo detainees known to have been released People from Batna, Algeria Algerian expatriates in Pakistan