Muktar Yahya Najee Al Warafi

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Muktar Yahya Najee Al Warafi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Warafi's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 117. American intelligence analysts estimate that Al Warafi was born in 1974, in Ta'iz, Yemen.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved.

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the [[Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Al Warafi chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] allegations

The allegattions against Al Warafi were:

'a The detainee is associated with the Taliban.

1. The detainee admitted he decided, on his own, to travel to [[Afghanistan] and assist the Taliban based on the Fatwas that were issued.
2. The detainee used primary travel routes to get to Afghanistan - Sa’nna, YM; Karachi, PK; Dubai, UAE; Quetta, PK; Kandahar, AF; Kabul, PK; and Kondur, AF.

b The detainee engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.

1. Once in Konduz, the detainee traveled in Khoja Khar, AF. He trained on the AK-47 about one week and then moved onto the front line to flight against the Northern Alliance.
2. The detainee received first aid training and helped maintain a special clinic for Arabs.

[edit] testimony

Al Warafi acknowledged traveling to Khoja Khar. He denied engaging in hostilities.

He acknowledged working in a medical clinic in Khoja Khar, but said it wasn't just for Arabs. It was for everyone. He said he worked at the clinic from September 11, 2001 until his capture.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat -- or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Al Warafi were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.^[3]

Al Warafi chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[4]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee admitted he decided, on his own, to travel to Afghanistan and assist the Taliban based on the fatwas that were issued.
2. The detainee used primary travel routes to get to Afghanistan -- Sa'naa, YM; Karachi, PK; Dubai, UAE; Quetta, PK; Kandahar, AF; Kabul, AF; and Konduz, AF.
3. The detainee said he would be the first one to sign up for a jihad against Israel and would consider a jihad against America if the reasons were right.

b. Training

1. Once in Konduz, the detainee traveled to Khoja Khar, AF. He trained on the AK-47 about one week and then moved onto the front line to fight against the Northern Alliance.
2. The detainee was trained in first aid and later assisted treating wounded Taliban soldiers at the Al-Ansar Clinic in Konduz, Afghanistan.

c. Intent

1. The detainee related he went to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban against the mistaken people (Northern Alliance).
2. The detainee felt America was not a good country and their support of Israel over the Palestinians was proof.
3. The detainee was adamant in his opinions that the only solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was through "the blood shed of the Jews."

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

a. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee related he has no problems with Americans and no real opinion of them.

[edit] Statement

Al Warafi acknowledged traveling to Afghanistan. He went on his own, and he had nothing to do with the Taliban. He went there only to help provide medical assistance to the poor and the public.

Al Warafi said that he had accreditation to his medical training, and that his lawyer was trying to obtain copies but they hadn't arrived in time to present to his Board.

Al Warafi said that the information that he had visited Dubai was also incorrect. The plane he was traveling in stopped in Dubai, but only to refuel, and he never left the plane.

Al Warafi denied making the anti-American statements recorded in the Factors. And he denied claiming he traveled to Afghanistan to fight the Northern Alliance.

Al Warafi acknowledged briefly possessing a rifle. He carried it only for self-protection. It was a gift from a doctor he had worked with. He was never near the front lines. He never engaged in any hostilies. And, while he provided first aid, it was for civilians. He denied ever treating any wounded soldiers.

Al Warafi stated he was disturbed by how the allegations he faced during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal differed from those he faced during his Administrative Review Board hearing.

[edit] testimony

In answer to questions from the Board's officers:

• Al Warafi said that the medical clinic his brother worked at had a medical lab and a pediatric unit. His brother worked there with two other doctors.
• Al Warafi duties at the Yemen clinic included administering intravenous nutritional supplements.
• Al Warafi confirmed that the lawyer who had visited him at Guantanamo was an American.
• Al Warafi repeated his denial that he had ever said he would consider a jihad against America.
• Al Warafi had been training to be a certified nurse and nurse practioner.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ documents from Muktar Yahya Najee Al Warafi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal
3. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Muktar Yahya Najee Al Warafi Administrative Review Board - pages 72-73
4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Muktar Yahya Najee Al Warafi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 64