World Prisons
All persons
Bensayah Belkacem

Bensayah Belkacem

1962

Incarceration history

Biography

Bensayah Belkacem (born September 10, 1962) is a citizen of Bosnia, previously held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. Born in Algeria, he was arrested in his home in Bosnia, on October 8, 2001, shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Bensayah Belkacem arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on January 21, 2002, and was held there for 11 years, 10 months and 14 days. In October 2008, his case was heard by the US District Court for the District of Columbia, which recommended his continued detention. This was later overturned on appeal. Belkacem and five other men, native-born Algerians who were charity workers and colleagues of his, were arrested on suspicion of plotting to bomb the American embassy in Bosnia. They are known as the Algerian Six. The other five men were released in 2009. This followed the Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v. Bush (2008) that said the military commissions were unconstitutional and provided for detainees to have their habeas corpus petitions heard by the US federal civilian court. After reviewing their cases, US District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled each of the five was being held illegally, but he ordered the continued detention of Belkacem. His decision was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On June 28, 2010, a three-judge panel reversed Leon's ruling, holding that Belkacem could not be considered a member of al-Qaeda. The Justice Department said it would respond. On December 5, 2013, U.S. Department of Defense released a statement saying that Belkacem had been returned to Algeria.

Related people

Same nationality and era where possible; falls back to shared nationality or era.

  • Julian Hessenthaler
  • Muhammad Saad Iqbal
  • Valery Skoptsov
    1951–2004Soviet Union
  • Mikhail Makarov
    1962–1988Soviet Union

    Mikhail Olegovich Makarov (Russian: Михаи́л Оле́гович Мака́ров; 12 March 1962 – 1988), known as The Executioner (Russian: Палач), was a Soviet serial killer, who from February to May 1986 committed three murders and one attempted murder in Leningrad.

  • Salvador Franco
    1977–2021Venezuela

    Salvador Franco (c.

  • Saifullah Paracha
    Saifullah Paracha
    1947Pakistan

    Saifullah Abdullah Paracha (born August 17, 1947) is a citizen of Pakistan who was held without charge in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba for over 18 years.