{{Short description|Algerian Guantanamo detainee}} {{Lead too short|date=April 2010}} {{Infobox War on Terror detainee | name = Fethi Boucetta | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1963|09|15}} | birth_place = Algiers, Algeria | date_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest= | arresting_authority= | date_of_release = | place_of_release= | death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = | group = | alias = | charge = No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Transferred to Albanian custody, in an Albanian refugee camp. | csrt_summary = | csrt_transcript= | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} '''Fethi Boucetta''' (aka ''Abu Mohammed'') is a citizen of Algeria, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.<ref name=DoDList2> {{Cite web | url=http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf | title=List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006 | author=OARDEC | author-link=OARDEC | publisher=United States Department of Defense | date=May 15, 2006 | access-date=2007-09-29 }}</ref> His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 718. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on September 15, 1963, in Algiers.
== Combatant Status Review == {{main|Combatant Status Review Tribunal}}
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his tribunal. The memo listed the following allegations against him:<ref name=CsrtFethiBoucetta>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/guantanamo/FethiBoucetta.pdf#1 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)], from Fethi Boucetta's ''Combatant Status Review Tribunal'' - [{{DoD detainees ARB|Set_30_2048-2144.pdf#50}} mirror - pages 50-54]</ref><ref name=CsrtMemoFethiBoucetta> {{Cite web |url = http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000500-000599.pdf#86 |page = 86 |title = Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Boucetta, Fethi |publisher = United States Department of Defense |author = OARDEC |author-link = OARDEC |date = 2004-10-27 |access-date = 2008-09-28 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080510103354/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000500-000599.pdf#86 |archive-date = 2008-05-10 }} </ref>
{{Blockquote| a. The detainee supported the Taliban and al Qaida forces. #The detainee is an Algerian national who has traveled between Pakistan and Afghanistan between 1989 through 2002. #the detainee reportedly was an active member of the Islamic Salvation Front. #The Islamic Salvation Front is a terrorist and armed militant group. #The detainee reportedly left Yemen and went to Afghanistan at the request of the Taliban. #In Afghanistan, the detainee reportedly organized combatants to fight for the Taliban. #The detainee reportedly has organized extremist networks in Arab countries and has contacts throughout the Middle East. #The detainee was arrested in Pakistan during a raid of al Qaida residences, on May 27, 2002. }}
==Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant== ''The Washington Post''reports that Boucetta was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.<ref name=WapoNlec> {{Cite news | url=http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/nlec/ | title=Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classified as "No Longer Enemy Combatants" | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2008-03-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070204065424/http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/nlec/ | archive-date = 2007-02-04 }} </ref> They report that Boucetta has been released.
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' speculates that Boucetta may be one of a select number of detainees under consideration for an offer of Asylum.<ref name="Ottawa">{{Cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=9924e200-a3d9-4fcd-8331-0c3dc9fc95f7&k=66684|title=U.S. detainees eye Canada as new home|last=McGregor|first=Glen|date=June 14, 2006|work=Ottawa Citizen|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119021748/http://www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=9924e200-a3d9-4fcd-8331-0c3dc9fc95f7&k=66684|archive-date=January 19, 2013|via=Canada.com|access-date=June 14, 2006}}</ref>
==Habeas corpus== At least one habeas corpus petition was submitted on his behalf.<ref name=MotionToDismissExhibitC>{{Cite news | url=http://www.pegc.us/archive/In_re_Gitmo/gov_mot_to_dismiss_20070419.pdf | title=Exhibit C: List of No Longer Enemy Combant Detainees With Pending Habeas Corpus Petitions Who Have Been Released From United States Custody | page=64 | publisher=United States Department of Justice | date=April 17, 2007 | access-date=2008-05-05 | archive-date=2009-03-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327090515/http://www.pegc.us/archive/In_re_Gitmo/gov_mot_to_dismiss_20070419.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> On April 17, 2007, the United States Department of Justice submitted a motion to dismiss his habeas corpus petition, and approximately 100 other habeas corpus petitions, because he was no longer in US custody. The motion says his case was amalgamated into Mohammon v. Bush. The motion identifies him as: "Abu Mohammed", "Dr. Abu Mohammed", and "Boucetta Fihi". His case was heard before US District Court Judge Reggie Walton.
The United States Department of Defense published 179 habeas petitions, but they didn't publish his.<ref name=OardecPubliclyFiledDocuments20070910> {{Cite web | url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_publicly_filed_CSRT_records.pdf | title=Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases | author=OARDEC | author-link=OARDEC | publisher=United States Department of Defense | date=August 8, 2007 | access-date=2007-09-29 }}</ref>
==Release== Three of the remaining Guantanamo captives who were determined not to have been enemy combatants were released to Albania in November 2006.<ref name=PeoplesDaily061119>{{Cite news | url=http://english.people.com.cn/200611/19/eng20061119_323068.html | title=Albania to take over released Guantanamo detainees | publisher=People's Daily | date=November 19, 2006 | access-date=2007-03-01 }}</ref><ref name=Iht061118>{{Cite news | url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/18/europe/EU_GEN_Albania_US_Guantanamo.php | title=Albania confirms it will shelter 3 released Guantanamo detainees | publisher=International Herald Tribune | date=November 18, 2006 | access-date=2007-03-01 }}</ref><ref name=Iht061120>{{Cite news | url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/20/europe/EU_GEN_Albania_US_Guantanamo.php | title=3 released Guantanamo detainees arrive in Albania | publisher=International Herald Tribune | date=November 20, 2006 | access-date=2007-03-01 }}</ref> The men were not identified, other than by nationality. One of the released men was an Algerian. They were reported to have been the last of the men classified as "no longer enemy combatants to have remained in custody.
==UN refugee status== An article in the ''Kansas City Star'' describes how the United Nations High Commission for Refugees only learned in December 2006 that the Americans had been holding internationally protected refugees in Guantanamo.<ref name=KansasCityStar070129>{{Cite news | url=http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16575242.htm | title=U.N. refugee agency seeking information on 2 detainees | date= January 29, 2007 | author=Carol Rosenberg | author-link=Carol Rosenberg | publisher=Kansas City Star | access-date=2007-02-07 }}</ref> The article says the UNHCR wrote the Pentagon, on December 20, 2006, seeking information on why Mammar Ameur and Mohammed Sulaymon Barre were being detained in Guantanamo. The article stated that Fethi Boucetta, was also an internationally protected refugee, and that the Americans had transferred him to Albania. The article added that Boucetta was a medical doctor.
The BBC later interviewed him in Albania, where he was using the name "Abu Mohammed" <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6668167.stm Neil Arun: Guantanamo refugee rues asylum deal], BBC, 18 May 2007, Retrieved November 30, 2007</ref> He told the BBC:
{{blockquote|Those Americans brought me here by force. I refused to come here.}}
==McClatchy interview== On June 15, 2008, the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Abu Mohammed.<ref name=McClatchyCaptiveDatabasePg7> {{Cite news |url = http://services.mcclatchyinteractive.com/detainees?page=7 |title = Guantanamo Inmate Database: Page 7 |publisher = McClatchy News Service |author = Tom Lasseter |author-link = Tom Lasseter |date = June 15, 2008 |access-date = 2008-06-16 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110714055938/http://services.mcclatchyinteractive.com/detainees?page=7 |archive-date = 2011-07-14 }} </ref><ref name=MyrtleBeach20080618> {{Cite news |url = http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/611/story/491372.html |title = U.S. hasn't apologized to or compensated ex-detainees |publisher = Myrtle Beach Sun |author = Tom Lasseter |author-link = Tom Lasseter |date = June 18, 2008 |access-date = 2008-06-18 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20080619010921/http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/611/story/491372.html |archive-date = 2008-06-19 }} </ref><ref name=McClatchyPentagonDenied> {{Cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38771.html |title=Pentagon declined to answer questions about detainees |publisher=McClatchy News Service |author=Tom Lasseter |author-link=Tom Lasseter |date=June 15, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615214204/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38771.html |archive-date=2008-06-15 }} </ref><ref name=McClatchyDocumentsUndercut> {{Cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38776.html |title=Documents undercut Pentagon's denial of routine abuse |publisher=McClatchy News Service |author=Tom Lasseter |author-link=Tom Lasseter |date=June 16, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619001329/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38776.html |archive-date=2008-06-19 }} </ref><ref name=McClatchyDeckStacked> {{Cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38887.html |title=Deck stacked against detainees in legal proceedings |publisher=McClatchy News Service |author=Tom Lasseter |author-link=Tom Lasseter |date=June 19, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620122327/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38887.html |archive-date=2008-06-20 }} </ref><ref name=McClatchyAbuseRoutine> {{Cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38775.html |title=U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases |publisher=McClatchy News Service |author=Tom Lasseter |author-link=Tom Lasseter |date=June 16, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620001639/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38775.html |archive-date=2008-06-20 }} </ref><ref name=McClatchyAbuMohammed> {{Cite news |url = http://detainees.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/67 |title = Guantanamo Inmate Database: Abu Mohammed |publisher = McClatchy News Service |author = Tom Lasseter |author-link = Tom Lasseter |date = June 15, 2008 |access-date = 2008-06-15 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080920042950/http://detainees.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/67 |archive-date = 2008-09-20 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20100303025841/http://services.mcclatchyinteractive.com/detainees/67 mirror] </ref> He reports he remains mystified as to why he was originally captured, and why he continued to be detained.
He reports he was held for two months in the Bagram Theater Detention Facility, was told he was being sent home, but, instead, was sent to Guantanamo.<ref name=McClatchyAbuMohammed/>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.mcclatchydc.com/guantanamo/ McClatchy News Service - video]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucetta, Fethi}} Category:Living people Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees Category:People from Algiers Category:1963 births Category:Algerian expatriates in Pakistan Category:Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States