Jaralla al-Marri

This article is about Qatari detainee in Guantanamo. For Qatari footballer, see Jaralla al-Marri (footballer).

Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla al-Marri
File:ISN 334's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf ISN 334's Guantanamo detainee assessment
Born	(1973-08-12) 12 August 1973
Residence	Qatar
Nationality	Qatari

Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla al-Marri is a citizen of Qatar and a former detainee at the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, where he was imprisoned for six and a half years. He returned to Qatar on 27 July 2008. He was reportedly born on 12 August 1973, in Doha, Qatar according to the Department of Defense.

Jail conditions

Al Marri's Guantanamo detainee ID number was 334.

Al-Marri's position

Al-Marri participated in the hunger strikes held during the summer of 2005. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights:

As Jarallah Al-Marri, a prisoner from Qatar, stated, “I participated in a hunger strike for 17 days to protest the inhumane conditions and religious persecution I and hundreds of other prisoners have been subject to at Guantánamo.”

Further details of the seriousness of the prisoners’ claims are also emerging. Al-Marri, for example, was hospitalized as a result of his hunger strike and a deteriorating heart condition, and placed on an IV. He told his attorney, Jonathan Hafetz of Gibbons Del Deo Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione, that the government had a nurse make sexual advances towards him while he was lying in his hospital bed in a vain attempt to convince him to give up his hunger strike. Al-Marri has been in solitary confinement for over 16 months and today often goes as long as 3 weeks without being allowed outside his cell for recreation. The lights in Al-Marri's cell remain on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and he has been denied adequate bedding and clothing. Al-Marri is able to sleep only 2 hours a night, and his physical and mental health have deteriorated significantly.

According to an article in The Columbia Journalist, from 12 December 2005, al-Marri had only had two visits from his lawyers.

Detention of Al-Marri's Brother

Al-Marri's brother Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, formerly a graduate student at Bradley University, is currently held in a South Carolina naval prison.

On 10 September 2001, al-Marri came to Peoria with his family to become a graduate student at his undergraduate alma mater, Bradley University. Al-Marri was indicted and arrested on credit card fraud and lying to the FBI. He is being detained as a supposed al-Qaeda operative who came to the US to assist in a second wave of terrorist attacks. Al-Marri denies this.

Repatriation

On 28 July 2008, al-Marri was reported to have been repatriated to Qatar. His cousin and mother thanked the Emir for his help in securing his repatriation.

Detention by British authorities

In a telephone interview, al-Marri told reporters he was detained at Heathrow Airport on 23 February 2009, on the claim that his visa application had not stated that he was a former Guantanamo captive. Al Marri said he had told the British officials who helped him complete his visa application about his stay in Guantanamo. Al Marri had toured the United Kingdom on a speaking tour, with Moazzam Begg, a few weeks before his 23 February detention.

External links

• Three prisoners released from Guantánamo, including the brother of US “enemy combatant” Ali al-Marri Andy Worthington
• Ex-Guantánamo prisoner refused entry into UK, held in deportation centre Andy Worthington