Ahmed Abdul Qader

Ahmed Abdul Qader is a citizen of Yemen, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba from June 18, 2002, to January 14, 2015. In 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants According to their study: Ahmed Abdul Qader was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban." A 13-page Joint Task Force Guantanamo detainee assessment was drafted about him on May 20, 2008. It was signed by camp commandant Rear Admiral David M Thomas Jr. who recommended continued detention.

Guantanamo Review Task Force

On January 21, 2009, the day he was inaugurated, United States President Barack Obama issued three Executive orders related to the detention of individuals in Guantanamo. He established a task force to re-review the status of all the remaining captives. Where the OARDEC officials reviewing the status of the captives were all "field grade" officers in the US military (Commanders, naval Captains, Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels) the officials seconded to the task force were drawn from not only the Department of Defense, but also from five other agencies, including the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security. President Obama gave the task force a year, and it recommended the release of Qader and 54 other individuals.

Transfer to Estonia

He was accepted as a refugee by Estonia on January 14, 2015.

On July 7, 2015, an article in Postimees stated, that: "Up to now, the man has not been outside the country."

New York Times interview

On July 29, 2016, Charlie Savage of The New York Times, profiled Qader after an extensive interview. According to Savage, Qader reported 'terrible anxiety problems'. He reported that Qader was too anxious to travel, and sometimes could not leave his apartment. He described feeling anxious to go anywhere, for fear that, coincidentally, there is an explosion nearby, and his proximity makes him the prime suspect.

The Estonian government provides Qader with a studio apartment, a stipend, language lessons, health care, and a coach to help him adjust to life in Estonia.