Attorneys asked Obama for releasing Algerian detainees in Guantanmo

Attorneys of twenty detainees in Guantanamo, including two Algerians, sent a letter to the new American president, Barrack Obama, demanding the release of their clients, after an American court found they are not guilty after they were accused of terrorism. These attorneys consider their detention “a disgrace to the USA”.  

• They called for their transfer to prisons that are less severe than Guantanamo and “Give orders to treat them like humans and respect them in accordance with law.
• Among the twenty detainees, there are two Algerians, who were living in Bosnia and Herzegovina when arrested in 2001, as well as other four Algerians, suspected of carrying attacks on the U.S embassies in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.
• Three Algerians with Bosnian citizenship were released, while there are two others who are still in detention without a clear reason, despite they were declared not guilty by the U.S Supreme Court.
• The American authorities said they are looking for a country, other than Algeria, in order to release two Algerian prisoners, and neglected the third one, despite eight years of detention.
• A judge called for immediate release of the Algerian detainees, on 20 November 2008, after one Lakhdar Boumdiene started a hunger strike since December 2005.