Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil

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Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil was captured and detained in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Zamil's Guantanamo ID number is 568. The Department of Defense reports that Al Zamil was born on August 23, 1963, in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

[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.

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.

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Al Zamil faced, during his Tribunal, were:^[2]

a Detainee is associated with al-Qaida.

1. The detainee admits establishing the al-Wafa organization with detainee Abu Abdel Aziz (a.k.a. Abdul Aziz al-Matrafi) and Samar Khand in Kabul, Herat and Kandahar, AF. Detainee worked in the Kandahar office.
2. The WAFA organization is listed on Executive Order 13224 as an entity that commits or poses a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism.
3. Detainee was closely associated with Suliman Abu Ghaith and admits that Ghaith was the spokesperson for al-Qaida and Usama Bin Laden.
4. Detainee stayed at a safe house for several weeks in Pakistan while waiting to flee the country. He was arrested at the house with sixteen other persons by Pakistani authorities.
5. Detainee had prior knowledge of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S.

[edit] Transcript

Al Zamil chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[3]

[edit] Testimony

[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 Zamil were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.^[4]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. Detainee had prior knowledge of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.
2. The detainee is considered a Takfiri, but would not be considered a Jihadist as he doesn’t have the fortitude to risk his own life for a cause.
3. Takfir Wa’al Hijra, or “the society that accuses nominal Muslims of unbelief,” originated in Egypt in the 1970s. The group name has been adopted outside of Egypt; those associated with it generally are outlawed because of their radical ideology, including goals supporting the overthrow of governments not based solely on Shari’a.

b. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee admits to establishing the al-Wafa organization with detainee Abu Abdel Aziz (a.k.a. Abdul Aziz al-Matrafi) and Samar Khand in Kabul, Herat, and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The detainee worked in the Kandahar office.
2. According to a foreign government service, the nongovernmental organization “Wafa” officially named “al Wafa al Igatha al Islamia” (Wafa Humanitarian Organization), headquartered in Saudi Arabia, was believed to have had connections to Usama Bin Laden and Afghan Mujahidin.
3. The detainee was closely associated with Suliman Abu Ghaith and admits that Ghaith was the spokesperson for al Qaida and Usama Bin Laden.
4. The detainee accompanied al Qaida Spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith and his family to Karachi in order to assist Abu Ghaith with their safe departure from Pakistan.
5. The detainee stated Faiz Al Kandari stayed in his house for approximately one week.
6. Faiz Al Kandari was the legal advisor for, and close friend to, Usama Bin Laden.
7. The detainee was invited to the house of a man involved in the October 2002 attack on U.S. Marines on Faylaka Island, Kuwait.
8. The detainee possessed the telephone number of an individual in Kuwait who was shot and killed in October 2002 after he killed a U.S. Marine in Kuwait.
9. The detainee has been investigated by Kuwaiti authorities of being involved with the Takfir movement.

c. Other relevant data

1. The detainee stayed at a safe house for several weeks in Pakistan while waiting to flee the country. He was arrested at the house with sixteen other persons by Pakistani authorities.
2. The detainee had a history of extremist vigilante activity.
3. The detainee is considered a hard core extremist.

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

• The detainee denied any knowledge of the al Wafa organization assisting al Qaida or the Taliban in any way.
• The detainee denies any affiliation to a Kuwaiti opposition party.
• The detainee claimed he was never a member of Takfir-Wa-Hijra.

[edit] Repatriation and Acquittal

Al Zamil was one of five Kuwaitis repatriated to Kuwaiti custody on November 4, 2005.^[5]

The five stood trial in a Kuwaiti court, and were acquitted.^[6]

The Washington Post reported that the two main charges were that the detainees had helped fund Al Wafa, an Afghan charity with ties to Al Qaeda, and that they had fought alongside the Taliban.^[7] Further, the prosecution argued that the detainees actions had endangered Kuwait's political standing and its relaitons with friendly nations.

The detainees' defense had argued that testimony secured in Guantanamo could not be used in Kuwaiti courts, because the detainees and interrogators hadn't signed them.^[7] Further, they had argued, the allegations the USA had directed at them weren't violations of Kuwaiti law.

Al Zamil's trial began in March 2006, and he was acquitted on July 22, 2006.^[8]

[edit] See also

• Abdul-Aziz al-Shimmiri
• Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi
• Saad Madhi al-Azmi
• Mohammed Fnaitil al-Dehani

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ documents (.pdf) from Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, August 18, 2004, page 19
3. ^ documents (.pdf) from Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, August 18, 2004, pages 12-16
4. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil Administrative Review Board, May 10, 2005 - page 41
5. ^ Kuwaitis released from Guantanamo, BBC, November 4, 2005
6. ^ Kuwaiti court acquits ex-Guantanamo prisoners. Independent Online (South Africa), May 22, 2006
7. ^ ^{a b} 5 Ex-Guantanamo Detainees Freed in Kuwait, Washington Post, May 21, 2006
8. ^ Kuwait's Gitmo men acquitted - again, Kuwait Times, July 23, 2006