Abdel Hamid al-Ghazzawi

Who is Abdel Hamid al-Ghazzawi?

Abdel Hamid Ibn Abdussalem Ibn Mifta Al Ghazzawi is a citizen of Libya who was held from June 2002 until March 2010 in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba because the United States classified him as an enemy combatant. His internment number was 654.

His attorney has disputed the determination that al-Ghazzawi was an enemy combatant, which he has denied. She has noted that the first Combatant Status Review Tribunal in November 2004 found no evidence of al-Qaeda involvement and ruled he was not an enemy combatant. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Abraham later submitted an affidavit to the United States Supreme Court about the flaws in the CSRT process, based in part on this case, for which he sat on the original tribunal.

A second tribunal was called in January 2005, 55 days later and with different members; it determined that al-Ghazzawi as an enemy combatant, claiming new "secret" information. His attorney found later that no new information had been introduced, and described the proceeding as a "kangaroo court" on behalf of the Bush administration at the time.

Al Ghazzawi's case was not heard by any other forum. He was never charged or tried by a military commission.