In late 2001, Abu Bakker Qassim and A'Del Abdu Al-Hakim were both captured and transferred to United States custody in Afghanistan, where they were later held at "Camp Delta" on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base as enemy combatants.
On January 17, 2006, while on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Qassim and al-Hakim petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari, which was denied without explanation on April 17, 2006.
The United States released the petitioners to Albania on May 5, 2006, three days before oral argument was to begin in the Court of Appeals.
[1] Barbara Olshansky, one of the Uighur's lawyers, characterized the sudden transfer as an attempt to: "...avoid having to answer in court for keeping innocent men in jail,[2] " On 3 July 2008 US District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan listed this habeas petition on a list where former captives were eligible to seek relief.
[3] As of July 18, 2008, Mr. Qassim continues to live in Albania where he has difficulty attempting to have a new life without his friends and family.