The Empty Quarter

The information in this article is that there is no information…”vague” is a good word. The rehab center, “most likely” to be affiliated with Political Security, is “officially” under construction in Sana’a. According to the president it will be completed in three months, yet nobody seems to know where it is being built. There is no clear timeline for the transfer of detainees, and Yemen has yet to reach an agreement with the U.S. on how the center will be funded. While I understand what he means by “Yemen should not have to pay for America’s mistakes,” the statement is a bit nervy.

Vague plans for Gitmo returnees’ rehabilitation center

By Kawkab al-Thaibani For the Yemen Times

 

SANA’A, Jan. 28 — President Ali Abdullah Saleh confirmed last week the government’s eight-month old announcement to set up a rehabilitation center for Yemeni returnees from Guantanamo. The center will be operational within three months from now.

“Ninety-four Yemeni detainees will be here among us” stated President Saleh during the security conference last week. He also mentioned that the former US administration had suggested sending the Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia rather than Yemen because of the lack of a rehabilitation environment in the country.

“We can take care of our people here in our country,” said President Saleh, indicating previously announced rehabilitation measures for returning detainees such as the rehabilitation center.

This center is Yemen’s fulfillment of the US Department of State’s condition to return the Yemeni detainees. The US government said that Yemen should treat returnees humanely and that Yemen should guarantee that returnees will not pose a threat to the US or to the world.

So far, no accurate details on this center have been revealed, as both Yemeni and US officials declined to provide any. The Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern that such a center needs funding from the US government, while the US explained that they have not reached a decision on this issue yet.

The President’s directive was issued to the security institutions in Yemen. However, upon contacting the National Security Bureau, they referred this matter to the Ministry of the Interior. Officials from the Ministry of the Interior could not be found to comment.

Similarly, no information could be obtained from the President’s media office despite numerous attempts. Sources hinted that if such a center is to be established, it would most likely be affiliated with the Political Security Office.

“Yemen’s official statement on the center is that it is under construction in Sana’a,” said Mohi Al-Dhabi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“However,

the time and the transfer procedures are not clear,” continued Al-Dhabi, despite the fact that president Saleh gave a three month duration for the construction of the center.

Yemen has not yet reached an agreement with the US on how this center will be funded. According to Al-Dhabi, Yemen had asked the US government to finance the rehabilitation center.

“Yemen should not pay for America’s mistakes, and this issue is one of the reasons stalling the return of the detainees,” he said.

The Public Affairs Officer at the US embassy in Sana’a, Ryan Gliha, declined to add details on the center, although he confirmed the US government’s dedication to shutting down Guantanamo.

Gliha indicated that before this happens, the US government has to make sure that the Yemeni government has a verifiable system of monitoring returnees, to include incarceration if appropriate, and rehabilitation programs to ensure prisoners’ re-integration into Yemeni society.

“We are working to return Yemeni detainees to their home country; however, we must be certain that they will not return to extremist activities,” Gliha said.

The main concern, as stated by the US government, is that by returning the detainees they would reengage in terrorist acts. This is especially considering that Said Ali Al-Shihr, a man released from Guantanamo Bay, became the Deputy leader of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, according to US officials.

Gliha further added that the US Government is working with the Yemeni government to make sure that returned Yemeni detainees do not pose a security risk.

However, considering the lack of transparency in the Yemeni judiciary system, national and international human right organizations and experts fear that a rehabilitation center for former Guantanamo detainees, if created, could be another Guantanamo.

“We [Human Rights Watch] want to make sure the repatriation center is not a disguised prison or a proxy Guantanamo,” said Letta Tayler, a researcher in terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch.

The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, also known as HOOD, despite its agreement with the Yemeni government on demanding the return of Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo, rejects the idea of a rehabilitation center altogether. The organization has played an active role in defending Yemeni Guantanamo detainees’ and their return to Yemen.

“After spending years in prison, it is not fair that they [detainees] return to another one,” said Khaled Al-Anesi, executive Director of HOOD. Alternatively, returnees can be among their families and subjected to different rehabilitation programs.

Jane Novak, an American researcher who specializes in Yemeni politics, explained that the environment and political system in Yemen is somewhat lenient towards extremists, as some convicted terrorists historically haven’t stayed in jail for long. “It is extremely difficult to have confidence in the regime’s commitment to security issues,” she said.

Novak added that returning detainees can be used as tools for government purposes since Yemen’s administration supports the Iraqi resistance in public statements and in other ways. “I believe the detainees may be exploited by the regime as a bargaining chip with both the US and Al-Qaeda,” Novak stated.

Despite governmental assurance that the detainees will be rehabilitated upon their return to Yemen, during their visit to Yemen last year, officials from the US Department of State termed the rehabilitation center’s project as a “concept note” proposed by Yemen to encourage the US government to release Yemeni detainees who form 41 percent of the prison population.

The latest rehabilitation program organized by the Yemeni government for former Yemeni Al-Qaeda members was in 2004, when Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, the current Minster of Endowment, lead a dialogue process called the “Dialogue Committee” with former Al-Qaeda members to reintegrate them into the Yemeni system as peaceful and productive members of the society.

The latest news from Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo was related to their hunger strike that lasted for more than 40 days, when the prisoners demanded that they be returned to Yemen. Some of the protestors were reported to be in bad health conditions. The strike was because of their long detention despite not being charged, and because of the release of Salem Hamdan, Osama Bin Laden’s driver, who although was charged with supporting terrorism was recently handed over to Yemen. American lawyers interested in defending Guantanamo detainees repeatedly said that Yemen should be more proactive in getting its citizens back.