Kuwait: Continued harassment of former Guantanamo prisoner, Abd Al-Aziz Sayir Al-Shamri
Abd Al-Aziz Sayir Al-Shamri is currently being harassed by Kuwaiti authorities, due to his previous imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. He was handed over to the American forces by the Pakistani authorities during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, and subsequently transferred to Guantanamo Bay prison.
After year of imprisonment, he was tried in the American military court in Guantanamo, which acquitted him of all charges and ordered that he be returned to his country. He returned to Kuwait in 2005, where he was again tried before the Criminal Court which acquitted him of charges of belonging to Al-Qaida. He was freed in 2006.
However, Abd Al-Aziz Al-Shamri's troubles did not stop there; eventually, more suffering and persecutions were to begin. This time, the Kuwaiti authorities repeatedly summoned him for questioning, despite him having been found not guilty of all charges against him. During one of the interrogation sessions, an interrogator said to him:
"You have to leave Kuwait because you spent years in Guantanamo, and your hatred will lead to do something against them". Another one said: "If you manage to get out this time, we'll summon again".
Al-Shamri was subsequently arrested on 6 July 2009 and charged with belonging to Al-Qaida. However, once again, the court found him innocent, after being imprisoned for five months in solitary confinement and held under inhuman conditions. He was not given even the basic rights granted to him by law, and during his imprisonment, his family was not even allowed to visit him.
Alkarama intends to submit Abd Al-Aziz Al-Shamri's case to the UN special procedures, in an effort to appeal with the Kuwaiti authorities to stop this indignant harassment against Al-Shamri, in order that he is guaranteed the right to live a peaceful life as entitled to anyone who has acquitted of the charges against him.
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).