Samir Naji Al Hasan Moqbel

Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel is a citizen of Yemen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number was 043. The Department of Defense reports Moqbel was born on December 1, 1977, in Taiz, Yemen.

On April 15, 2013, The New York Times published an Op-ed by Moqbel titled "Gitmo is killing me". In it he described that he would not eat "until they restore my dignity." He wrote that he had lost 30 pounds and described how it feels being force fed. "As it was thrust in, it made me feel like throwing up. I wanted to vomit, but I couldn't," Moqbel wrote. "There was agony in my chest, throat and stomach. I had never experienced such pain before. I would not wish this cruel punishment upon anyone." His Op-Ed stirred wide commentary.

In January 2016, Moqbel was among 10 Yemeni detainees that were transferred and resettled in Oman.

Background

Moqbel arrived at Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, and was held at Guantanamo for 14 years.

In the Op-Ed Moqbel described traveling to Afghanistan to look for work, as he only earned $50 USD per month in Yemen.

In his April 2013 Op-ed Moqbel described what it was like to be force-fed at Guantánamo Bay.

Official status reviews

Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention. 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

Following the Supreme Court's ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.

Samir Naji Al Hasan Moqbel was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban." The Telegraph published Moqbel's 10 page assessment, which had been drafted in April 2008. His assessment was signed by camp commandant Mark H. Buzby, and recommended Moqbel's continued detention.

The Telegraph quoted from his JTF-GTMO assessment, the claim that Moqbil had acknowledged participating in hostilities.

On June 12, 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant".

On July 15, 2008, Kristine A. Huskey filed a "NOTICE OF PETITIONERS' REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER" on behalf of several dozen captives including Samir Naji Al Hasan Moqbel.

Moqbel's letters published

Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo acquired copies of letters Moqbel had written to his lawyers. They quoted his confusion as to how he could have been cleared for release over five years ago, yet still remain in detention.