At Guantanamo, Caught in a Legal Trap

Prosecutors accused him of being "associated with al Qaeda" and having connections to other Islamic radical groups, including the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, known by its initials in French, GIA. It was also noted that Boudella had been arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, although there was no mention that Bosnian officials had exonerated him of that claim.

The basis for the new accusations, some of which were classified, was not disclosed at the hearing. Tribunal members acknowledged they were just as confused as the detainees about the origin of some of the allegations.

"At this point, we don't know why you are being accused of being a member of the Armed Islamic Group," one military officer, whose name was redacted from the tribunal transcript, told Boudella. "Do you have any idea why you are being connected with this group?"

"I don't know," Boudella replied. "I've been here for three years and these accusations were just told to me."

In his defense, Boudella asked if the military tribunal could submit as evidence the Bosnian Supreme Court ruling that ordered his release from the Sarajevo jail, as well as a subsequent Bosnian human rights court decision awarding him $6,000 in damages on grounds that the Bosnian government had illegally deported him to Guantanamo. The documents, he said, would prove his innocence.

U.S. military officers said they had searched for the documents but that they were "unable to be located." At the time, however, the documents were readily available both on the Internet and in U.S. District Court files in Washington, according to the American defense lawyers representing the Algerians.

At the conclusion of the tribunal in October 2004, Boudella -- like the five other Algerians who were in separate hearings that month -- was declared an enemy combatant.

Since then, the military has conducted annual reviews of the six men's status.

Each time, court officers have upheld the original decision.

Records from tribunal sessions in December 2005 show the U.S. military is no longer accusing the Algerians of conspiring to attack the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. No explanation for the change is given.

The military has listed other factors in its decision to label the men a security threat.

One detainee was judged a threat in part because he was a karate expert and had taught martial arts to Bosnian orphans, tribunal records show. He was also classified as potentially dangerous because he was familiar with computers.