NewsA judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday granted a Guantanamo Bay detainee’s motion to compel a psychological evaluation by a mixed medical commission.
Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi Arabia national who, for the past 18 years, was detained at Guantanamo and subject to torture as a result of his alleged involvement with the September 11 attacks, had filed the motion to compel the government to set up a mixed medical commission to determine his psychological state in 2017.
Al-Qahtani claimed in his motion that, pursuant to Army Regulation 190-8 section 3-12, which allows repatriation of sick and wounded enemy prisoners of war, he was entitled to a psychological evaluation by a mixed medical commission.
According to al-Qhatani’s doctor, al-Qahtani’s prior history of mental illness (schizophrenia, major depression and a possible neurocognitive disorder) coupled with severe PTSD suffered from being tortured at Guantanamo Bay, qualifies him to be considered as a sick and wounded prisoner entitled to repatriation.
The court granted al-Qahtani’s request. It reasoned that Army Regulation 190-8 applied to al-Qahtani as “other detainee,” which the regulation defines as people who are detained by US Armed Forces but have not been classified as either an enemy of war, retained personnel or civilian internee.
Army Regulation 190-8 requires that “other detainees” be treated as enemy prisoners of war would, and because al-Qahtani was not classified as any of the three allowed classification, the court held that he qualified as an “other detainee” and Army Regulation 190-8 therefore applied to him so as to permit the psychological evaluation requested.
If the evaluation reveals that al-Qahtani’s mental health is such that he would require lifelong mental health care which he cannot receive at Guantanamo Bay, al-Qahtani will be released and repatriated to Saudi Arabia.
