Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi

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Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 507. American intelligence analysts estimate that Al Anazi was born in 1974, in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in 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 Anazi chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] allegations

Al Anazi faced the following allegations during his Tribunal:^[2]

a. Associations^[3]

1. The detainee traveled from Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Karachi, Pakistan; Quetta, Pakistan; [[Kandahar[[, Afghanistan; Jalalabad, Afghanistan and finally Kabul, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee's name was found on a list of "Trust Accounts" for al Qaida mujahidin found in raids at al Qaida safehouses in Pakistan, 11 September 2002 and 1 March 2003.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners.

1. The detainee fled to the Zubair Center in Tora Bora in November 2001 and was wounded in an air strike.
2. The detainee was captured by coalition forces while convalescing at an unknown location after fighting in the Tora Bora region.

[edit] opening statement

Al Anazi acknowledged traveling to Afghanistan. He said he traveled to Pakistan, as a tourist, and as one of a group of Talighi Jamaat pilgrims. He said he not originally intended to go to Afghanistan at all. But this group decided to enter the Afghanistan border area to help the local Afghans learn how other people practiced Islam. They traveled to Afghanistan prior to the attack of September 11, 2001, but were not able to cross the border before the American bombings started. Many of his fellow pilgrims were killed during the bombing in which he was injured.

Main article: American allegations against Tablighi Jamaat

Al Anazi denied participating in any hostilities. In response to the allegation that he participated in military operations, he said:

"This is simply not true; I never fought in the Tora Bora region or anywhere else in Afghanistan for that matter. I have no expertise in military weapons or tactics. In fact, I dislike the military altogether and I have no desire to join. I dislike fighting in general."

Al Anazi denied being captured by coalition forces. He said that he sought out American or coalition soldiers to whom he could surrender, so he wouldn't be killed by accident.

[edit] testimony

In response to questioning from the Tribunal's officers:

• Al Anazi denied receiving military training in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
• Al Anazi denied traveling to Afghanistan to engage in Jihad.
• When Al Anazi was asked why decided to travel with the Tablighi Jamaat teachers he responded:

  "For tourism and to learn about the Muslim religion. Also, I am ill with a term called magic and demons or magic and the devil. When someone from Jamaat al Tibliq would stand over me and read from the Koran, the demon would be cast out."

• Al Anazi said he could not explain how his name would end up on an al Qaeda list.
• When asked to describe the "Zubair Center" Al Anazi explained that his interrogators must have misunderstood him. Zubair was not the name of a place. It was the name of the leader of his group of Tablighi Jamaat pilgrims.
• Al Anazi told his Tribunal that no one in his group had ever carried any weapons.
• Al Anazi said he had not planned to join in an Tablighi pilgrimage when he first traveled to Pakistan. He met them in a Mosque, was impressed by their scholarship, and decided to join them when they left the mosque a few days later.
• Al Anazi said that he had his passport with him when he surrendered. He told his tribunal that the Afghans he surrendered to stole his passport, his wallet, his watch, even his shoes.
• Al Anazi replied that he worked as a bus driver in Saudi Arabia, and he paid for his travels out of his savings.

[edit] witnesses

Al Anazi had wanted to call other detainees as witnesses. But he couldn't because he didn't know their full names.

[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.

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

A memo summarizing the factors for and against Al Anazi's continued detention was one of 121 released on March 3, 2006.^[5]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee traveled from Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Karachi, Pakistan; Quetta, Pakistan; [[Kandahar[[, Afghanistan; Jalalabad, Afghanistan and finally Kabul, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee met a member of the Islamic-based organization, Jamaat Tabliq [sic], who convinced him to travel to Afghanistan.
3. Jama'at Al Tabligh, a Pakistan-based Islamic missionary organizaiton is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al Qaida.
4. The detainee stated he had no specific reason for traveling from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan but felt he needed a change in his life. He eventually decided to go to Pakistan, explaining he had already been in most of the Arab speaking countries (Egypt, Syria and Lebanaon).

b. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee's name was found on a list of "Trust Accounts" for al Qaida mujahidin found in raids at al Qaida safehouses in Pakistan, 11 September 2002 and 1 March 2003.
2. Due to the detainee's associations with known al Qaida operatives the detainee's name has been preauthorized for placement in appropriated United States government agency watch lists.
3. The detainee's name and telephone number were on a list recovered from a safehouse raid associated with suspected al Qaida in Pakistan.
4. The leader of the detainee's group at Tora Bora was named Zubair. Zubair was a member of the Jama'at Al Tablique and was killed in Tora Bora by bombings from U.S. Forces.

c. Intent

1. The detainee came to Afghanistan to train but all of the camps were closed when he arrived.
2. The detainee has made anti-American statements claiming that there should escpecially be a jihad in America until all Americans are dead or Muslim. This is because America supports the Jews and infidels. He has also stated that it is every Muslim male's duty to go fight the jihad and be Mujahadeen. The detainee plans to go back to Saudi Arabia if released and join the army just for the training and quit.

d. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee fled to the Zubair Center in Tora Bora in November 2001 and was wounded in an air strike.
2. The detainee was captured by coalition forces while convalescing at an unknown location after fighting in the Tora Bora region.
3. While imprisoned at Sarapuza prison in Afghanistan the detainee collaborated with other prisoners to hide money in mattresses and bed frames in his prison cell.

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

• The detainee insisted he never went to Afghanistan because of a fatwa or to fight a jihad. He was not recruited nor did he received financial or logistical assistance in traveling from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan. He stated he never received military training, he does not know any Taliban or al Qaida members and he has no knowledge of Taliban or al Qaida training.
• When asked about the September 11, 2001 attacks the detainee stated that the killing of innocents, particularly women and children, is against the teaching of Islam. He also stated that if you have an enemy you fight that enemy specifically. You do not make war against civilians.
• The detainee stated he never made the statement about a jihad in America. There must have been a misunderstanding because he did not believe in killing someone simply because he was not Muslim.
• The detainee allegedly commented a Muslim's duty to jihad and his desire to kill nonbelievers and Americans. [sic] The detainee said that any comments made earlier would have been mistranslated.

[edit] opening statement

Al Anazi told his Board that he had been tortured and humiliated.

Al Anazi assured his board that he was totally innocent.

Al Anazi explained that he believed that he was being held due to false denunciations other detainees had made in order to gain privileges or in order to secure their own release.

Al Anazi recanted any confessions he may have made while he was being tortured by American interrogators in Afghanistan.

[edit] testimony

In answer to questioning from his Board's officers:

• Al Anazi explained that he traveled by car to Bahrain because airline tickets were cheaper there.
• Al Anazi explained that Saudi Arabia was very conservative, so young people liked to travel to have fun. Some young people tried to get girlfriends during their overseas travel.
• Al Anazi clarified that he had never said there should be a jihad against America. He didn't believe that.
• Al Anazi clarified that he did not plan to join the Saudi military.
• When asked what he thought about the attacks on America on September 11, 2001 he said:

"As I stated before, I do not support [or] agree with this event at all. The one who did that doesn't have the right to do this because they were innocent, they were children, they were elderly and they don't have a reason to do it. That's all."

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b} Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 20-30
3. ^ Note: elements of the allegations against Al Azani were missing from the transcript of his Tribunaal -- including the specific allegation of how he was associated with terrorism.
4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 44
5. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi, Administrative Review Board, May 2, 2005 - page 8