Exile in Guantanamo or Home in Algeria: One Terror Suspect who Didn’t Make It…..
“A prisoner who begs to stay indefinitely at the Guantánamo Bay detention center rather than be sent back to Algeria probably has a strong reason to fear the welcoming reception at home. Abdul Aziz Naji, who has been held at Guantánamo since 2002, told the Obama administration that he would be tortured if he was transferred to Algeria, by either the Algerian government or fundamentalist groups there. Though he offered to remain at the prison, the administration shipped him home last weekend and washed its hands of the man. Almost immediately upon arrival, he disappeared, and his family fears the worst. It is an act of cruelty that seems to defy explanation. ……The court, which issued a terse order rejecting his plea, apparently accepted the Obama administration’s assurance that the Algerian government promised not to torture Mr. Naji………..” New York Times
Saudi Arabia and some of the Gulf states are probably the only place where an al-Qaeda suspect can actually get a better treatment than at Guantanamo. Maybe: it depends. In a tribal society, as in the Persian Gulf states, tribes advocate strongly for their members with the government, no matter how heinous the crime suspected (or committed). That explains the Saudi program of 're-education' and forgiveness and some of the success they have had with it. It wouldn't work in places like Egypt, Algeria, etc.
If the suspect is a Shi'a (Shi'ite) he usually cannot expect any mercy from his own government, especially in Saudi Arabia. There is no tribe to advocate for him: he will vanish and he'd be lucky if that means he is dead. This is not an issue with Guantanamo detainees since they are all Sunni Salafis, and often tribal to boot.
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mhg
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