Prior to the Invasion of Afghanistan Al Laithi was teaching English and Arabic at Kabul University. During his stay at Camp Delta Al Laithi was rendered a paraplegic. Al Laithi says shortly after his arrival in Cuba, during a beating administered in the prison hospital, a guard threw him on the floor, and stomped on his back. He says he has been in constant pain ever since. Al Laithi says the beating crushed two of his vertebrae, confining him to a wheelchair. He says he believes that the prison authorities denied him medical care that would have prevented him from becoming crippled. Al Laithi is one of the small percentage of Guantanamo detainees who, during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, was determined not to have been an "enemy combatant" after all. Al Laithi has a long record of criticism of the Egyptian government. He does not wish the Americans to return him to Egypt, now that they have determined that he has no ties to terrorism. As of September 2005, he remained confined to Camp Delta. Al Laithi's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has asked for Al Laithi to get medical care for his injuries, for the release of his prison medical records, and for him to be released from solitary confinement. Al Lathi remained in solitary confinement, after he had been determined to have been an innocent bystander, unlike the detainees who had been determined to have been Chinese dissidents, who were housed in the more amenable Camp Iguana.
Combatant Status Review
On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a seven-page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
Allegations as read aloud during his Tribunal
The allegations, as read aloud during his Tribunal, differed markedly from those recorded on his Summary of Evidence memo:
Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant
The Washington Post reports that Al Laithy was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants.
At least three separate writs of habeas corpus were filed on his behalf. US District Court JudgesReggie Walton, Kennedy and Leon considered his detention as part of three separate habeas cases: Mohammon v. Bush, Sliti v. Bush and Aziz v. Bush. He was identified as "Alla Al Mossary", "Abdul Aziz Al Mossary" and "Abu Abdul Aziz". on those three separate habeas petitions. In September 2007, the United States Department of Defense published 179 dossiers in response to captives' habeas petitions. But they did not publish his.
Repatriation to Egypt
In early October, American authorities announced that they had repatriated an Egyptian national back to his home country. Press reports quoted American authorities as saying that the Egyptian had been determined to no longer pose a security threat through an "Administrative Review"—the follow-on to the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. However, on October 5, 2005, a Washington Post article positively identified the Egyptian being repatriated as Al Laithi. The Post quoted Commander Flex Plexico, who said:
"Prior to returning this detainee to Egypt, the United States received appropriate assurances from the government of Egypt regarding this detainee's treatment upon his return to Egypt. This includes assurances that this individual will continue to be treated humanely, in accordance with Egyptian and international legal obligations, while he remains in Egypt," Plexico said.
According to the article Pentagon spokesmen claimed: Al Laithi was interviewed by a reporter for Al Ahram on October 26, 2005. In his interview he said that before he was repatriated to Egypt he was sent, briefly, to an American hospital, for an assessment. He reports that the medical records he was given, upon his repatriation, say the loss of the use of his legs was progressive, not sudden. They say it was the result of a traffic accident, before his detention. Al Laithi continues to claim the loss was due to brutal treatment while in custody. He claims the records are a forgery.
Guantanamo medical records
On March 16, 2007, the Department of Defense published records of the captives' height and weights. Most captives' weights were recorded regularly. Sami al Laithy's weight was recorded just seven times—once in February 2002, then in March, April, May, June, September, October 2004, and finally in May 2005. Al Laithy's height was reported as 72 inches, putting the healthy range of weight for him between 136.4 and 183.6. His weight on arrival was 152 pounds. The five weights recorded in 2004 ranged from 137 to 140 pounds. His final weigh-in was 130 pounds—too low for health. The record states he refused to be weighed on the missing months in 2004 and 2005. No explanation is provided as to why no weights were recorded for 2002 and 2003.
