Adel Hassan Hamad

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Adel Hassan Hamad is a citizen of Sudan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] His detainee ID number is 940.

Contents

[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 his 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.
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 his 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.

Hamad chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[2]

[edit] Name correction

Hamad corrected the Tribunal's President, informing them his name was Adel Hassan Hamad, not Adel Hassan Hussein.

[edit] Allegations

Hamad faced the following allegations during his Tribunal:[3]

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida.
  1. The detainee was employed by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) in Afghanistan and Pakistan for approximately one and one half years until the time of his capture 18 July 2002.
  2. WAMY supports terrorist ideals and causes.
  3. During the Period 1986 through 1999, the detainee was employed by Lajanat Dawa Islamiya (LDI) in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  4. LDI has been one of the most active Islamic non-governmental organizations to give logistical and financial support to mujahaddin operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan area.
  5. During the course of his duties with LDI, the detainee came in contact with persons who held positions of responsibility in al Qaida.

[edit] Testimony

Hamad denied being a member of al Qaida, and said that he disagreed with their views. In his opinion Islam forbids killing innocents. Hamad pointed out that if he was a member of al Qaida he never would have traveled to Sudan on his annual vacation in June 2002.

Hamad denied that WAMY supports al Qaida. He said his charity worked to help Afghan refugees, providing them with food, medicine, clothes and education, building charter schools, educational training, and also works in the health department by establishing hospitals, small clinics, and also digging water wells, building mosques.

Hamad confirmed that he worked for LDI for fourteen years. But he denied it had any ties to terrorism.

Hamad denied ever having any contact with any members of al Qaida.

Hamad went on to assure his Tribunal that he did not have any enmity towards the USA.

In answer to questions from his Tribunal's officers:

  • Hamad said his last job for WAMY was hospital administration and the distribution of food, clothing and medicine to refugees.
  • Hamad said he had a diploma in air conditioning systems and a Master in Islamic studies.
  • Hamad said he left LDI in 1999 due to layoffs which had been triggered by policy changes due to the Gulf War. LDI was a Kuwaiti charity.

Hamad concluded by telling his Tribunal that his interrogators had decided within his first month and a half of detention that he was innocent, and told him that he could expect to be released shortly.

[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 were not authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they were not authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

Instead, 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.

Hamad chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[4]

[edit] Factors for and against Hamad's continued detention

The factors for and against a detainee's continued detention were always separated out into categories. Most detainees’ transcripts preserved this breakdown. However the Recorder for Hamad's hearing did not preserve this breakdown in Hamad's transcript.


Although Hamad had explained to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal that his name was really Adel Hassan Hamad the officers on his Board kept calling him Hussein.

  • The detainee related he joined the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan during the early 1980's [sic]. He stated he was a student in school and his friends joined the group, so he did as well.
  • The detainee was a member of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood until 1986.
  • The detainee took a teaching job with the Hira Islamic Institute in 1986 where he worked until 1999.
  • The detainee worked for the Hira Institute as a teacher at the Jelazee Refugee Camp. The Hira Institute is run by an organization named Lajnat Al-Da'wa al Islamia (LDI).
  • Lajnat Al-Da'wa al Islamia (LDI) is a non-governmental organization that operated in Afghanistan and may be affiliated with Usama Bin Laden and al Qaida operations.
  • In 1996 the detainee received a promotion and moved from Hira Institute to the LDI office in Peshawar, Pakistan. In 1997 the detainee was promoted againt to the head of the Public Relations Division in Peshawar, Pakistan.
  • After being laid off from LDI in 1999, the detainee was hired as the Director of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) Hospital in Afghanistan.
  • WAMY is a non-governmental organization operating in Afghanistan that may be affiliated with Usama Bin Laden and al Qaida operations.
  • According to top WAMY officials, both the United States and Israel must be destroyed. WAMY provides financial support to the Palestinians fighting against Israel. In addition, WAMY has put forward a proposal that the Palestinians should declare open war on Israel.
  • After the 9/11 attacks, and due to the war and increased violence in the area, the detainee was told by Afghan government officials to leave Afghanistan.
  • A 23 September 2001 copy of "The Brotherhood Letter" published by the Muslim Brotherhood Information Center was found during the capture raid in the detainee's home.
  • Several identification documents were seized from the detainee's home at the time of the raid and his arrest, including a [sic] U.N. refugee card for his downstairs neighbor.
  • The detainee initially claimed neither the Muslim Brotherhood newsletter nor copies of his neighbor's United Nations refugee cards reportedly found at his home were his.
  • The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) developed as a fundamentalist Islamic belief community in Egypt. Foundations of organizations under the umbrella of the Egyptian MB were in other Arab countries and started the armed fight by MB activists. They attacked what the considered to be un-Islamic representatives of the government of Egypt based on its cooperation with Russia. The MB developed into an underground organization.
  • The detainee stated he did have copies of "The Brotherhood Letter" in his residence, as he was a former member of the Musllim Brotherhood.
  • The detainee met Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at the Jelazee Refugee Camp in 1987. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed operated a "cultural center" located at the camp. The center was used to prepare Afghan people who had been recruited for the jihad against the Russians.
  • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's older brother, Zahid Al-Sheikh, was the director of the Jelazee Refugee Camp and LDI in Peshawar, Pakistan.
  • Zahid Al-Sheikh has been identified from other sources as an extremist with terrorist ties.
  • The detainee stated he was familiar with Shamshani Refugee Camp. He distributed food to the camp on two occasions. The detainee stated the camp was run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
  • Gulbuddin Hikmatyar (variant of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) found Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long established ties with Bin Laden.
  • In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ran several terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic conflcts. Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Laden after the latter fled Sudan in 1996.
  • The detainee took a vacation to Sudan in June 2002. Before he returned to the office, detainee called his supervisor to find out about the situation of NGOs in Peshawar, Pakistan after hearing about the arrests of the [[Revival of Islamic Heritage Society workers. He was told that everything was normal, and that they needed him back at work.
  • The detainee stated Al-Zawahiri and Usama Bin Laden were not Muslims and any acts their group perpetrated were against the Muslim faith.
  • The detainee did not know of any connections between WAMY and al Qaida.
  • The detainee did not like what the al [sic] Qaida stood for.
  • The detainee believed the al Qaida/WAMY connection to be a false accusation.
  • The detainee did not know any al Qaida individuals through relationship or just meeting.

[edit] Representing Adel: The Case of Guantanamo Detainee 940

William Teesdale, a Portland, Oregon public defender, who is part of a team defending several Guantanamo captives, wrote a description of his team's work representing Adel.[5] He wrote:

"Then, in May, 2005, the Government produced the factual return, as ordered by the District Court. We learned something stunning. There was a dissenting voice on the military CSRT panel that declared Adel an Enemy Combatant. An army major, whose name is classified, had the courage to file a dissenting report calling the result in Adel’s case 'unconscionable.'"

Teesdale described traveling to Afghanistan, and searching for witnesses who could prove Adel's innocence.[5] Teesdale wrote:

"All of the information gathered in this investigation was filed with the court in Mr. Hamad’s case in the form of a motion for summary judgment. On October 17th, 2006 President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act, which attempts to strip the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear Guantanamo detainee habeas cases. All of our cases are presently stayed pending resolution of this issue."

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Adel Hassan Hamad's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 37-43
  3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Adel Hassan Hamad's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 37-43
  4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Adel Hassan Hamad's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 244
  5. ^ a b William Teesdale. "Representing Adel: The Case of Guantanamo Detainee 940", The Jurist, January 11, 2007. Retrieved on February 5.
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