Adel Abdulhehim or Adel Abdul Hakim is a citizen of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from the Uighur ethnic group. He was held in

extrajudicial detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

-controlled

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

s in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) is a U.S. military joint task force based at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on the southeastern end of the base. JTF-GTMO falls under US Southern Command. Since January 2002 the command ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

analysts report he was born on October 10, 1974, in

Ghulja YiningThe official spelling according to ( zh, s=伊宁), also known as Ghulja () or Kulja ( Kazakh: ), is a county-level city in northwestern Xinjiang, China. It is the administrative seat and largest city of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. Abdulhehim was captured in late 2001 and detained in

Camp Delta Camp Delta is a permanent American Guantanamo Bay detention camp, detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay that replaced the temporary facilities of Camp X-Ray. Its first facilities were built between 27 February and mid-April 2002 by Seabee (US Navy), ...

. He is one of the 38 detainees whose

Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...

concluded he had not been an "illegal combatant" after all. Abdulhehim is one of approximately two dozen detainees from the Uighur ethnic group. According to an article distributed by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, Abdulhehim, his compatriot Abu Baker Qassim and eight others were moved from imprisonment at the main compound of Camp Delta to a less harsh imprisonment at

Camp Iguana Camp Iguana is a small compound in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, detention camp complex on the United States Navy, US Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Camp Iguana originally held three child detainees, who camp spokesmen then claimed w ...

. A February 18, 2006, article in ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' claimed that Abu Bakker Qassim and ''A'Del Abdu al-Hakim'' had received

military training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It reported they were not classified as "illegal combatants" because they intended to go home and employ their training against the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

and were released. Some earlier reports had described them as economic refugees who were slowly working their way to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Bounty

Hakim and Abu Bakker Qassim report they were sold to

US forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

Press reports

In January 2007, Abdulhehim told the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

that "

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n people are very welcoming and there are many Muslim brothers here".Guantanamo Uighurs' strange odyssey
, ''

'', January 11, 2007 However, in Albania, Hakim was separated from his wife and their three children, as Albania did not permit family-reunification. In November 2007, he was granted a 4-day visa to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, to lecture about

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Since his sister lived in Sweden, he applied for asylum there. However, in June 2008, the immigration authorities in Sweden announced that Hakim had been denied

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

.Frisläppt Guantánamofånge utvisas
19 juni 2008, Swedish State Broadcaster. On June 15, 2008, the

McClatchy News Service McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it b ...

published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Adel Abdulhehim. The McClatchy interview records his account of his "military training" in the Uyghur construction camp:

References

External links

Judge Asks Status of Gitmo Detainees
'' South Georgia Online'', August 25, 2005
Judge Weighs Order to Release Two at Gitmo
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', December 13, 2005
Guantánamo’s Uyghurs: stranded in Albania
Andy Worthington
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Former Guantánamo detainee seeks asylum in Sweden
Andy Worthington
Bad News And Good News For The Guantánamo Uighurs
Andy Worthington {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulhehim, Adel 1974 births Living people Chinese extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Uyghur people Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Chinese expatriates in Pakistan