Mohamed Ben Moujane

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Mohamed Ben Moujane (also transliterated as Muhammad Ben Moujan) is a citizen of Morocco, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 160. The Department of Defense reports that Ben Moujan was born on February 14, 1981, in Casablanca, Morocco.

[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.

Ben Moujan chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] transcript

The transcript from Ben Moujan's Tribunal said simply:

"The detainee did not make an unsworn statement on his behalf.

"The detainee refused to answer any questions when asked."

[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 Prisoner of war 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 Ben Moujan were among the 120 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.^[3]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. While in Afghanistan, the detainee engaged in Jihad in the Tora Bora region.

b. Training

1. The detainee participated in weapons training in the mountains north of Qandahar ^[sic], AF, where he learned how to operate and clean an AK-47.
2. The detainee attended training at a terrorist training camp.

c. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee affiliated himself with Muslim fighters in Afghanistan.
2. The detainee admitted he tried to join with other Arab fighters prior to the commencement of the Coalition air raids
3. The detainee was captured while attempting to escape to Pakistan with other Arab fighters.

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

a. Exculpatory

1. The detainee did not know of the concept of jihad when he left for Afghanistan.
2. The first time the detainee heard of al Qaida was when he was later imprisoned in Pakistan.
3. The detainee has never engaged in combat.
4. The detainee stated his training at the mountain camp was for self-protection.

[edit] Transcript

Ben Moujan chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[4]

[edit] Testimony

Ben Moujan denied the allegation that he engaged in Jihad in the Tora Bora region. He asserted that the allegation "were brought about by Moroccan interrogators."

Ben Moujan explained his presence in Tora Bora, "I was actually fleeing from death and riots in Kandahar. I was fleeing to escape Afghanistan to Pakistan in an effort to return to my own country."

Ben Moujan acknowledged receiving training on how to clean and use an AK-47. He received this training "immediately prior to leaving Afghanistan for Pakistan and not when I was in the mountains north of Kandahar." He said that he received the rifle, and the training, from an Arab he was traveling with, for self-defense.

Ben Moujan denied the allegation that he attended a terrorist training camp.

Ben Moujan denied the allegation that he affiliated himself with Muslim fighters in Afghanistan:

"This is not true. During my attempt to flee Afghanistan into Pakistan, Afghans who were looking to kill Arabs blocked the road that I was traveling on and so I had to take another route through the mountains. I coincidentally found myself with other Arabs who were also fleeing Kandahar to Pakistan and they provided me with food and water. I had no other means of surviving without them. I was not aware that these people might have been Muslim fighters. They were not carrying any weapons and I did not know any of them personally.

Ben Moujan denied the allegation that he had admitted that he tried to join with other Arab fighters prior to the commencent of the Coalition air raids.

In response to the allegation that he "was captured while attempting to escape to Pakistan with other Arab fighters," Ben Moujan repeated that while he was traveling with other Arabs he had no reason to believe they were fighters. Further, he said that after traveling on foot for seven to eight days, he became tired, and fell behind, and was alone when he was captured.

Ben Moujan denied the allegation that he was trained in a mountain camp. He repeated that he had never attended any kind of training camp.

Ben Moujan said that if he were released he "would like to return to Morocco, to live with his parents, and look for an industrial type of job."

In answer to questioning from the Board's officers:

• Ben Moujan answered that he had a passport when he traveled from Morocco to Afghanistan, but he had left it behind with his brother-in-law in Kandahar.
• Ben Moujan answered he had traveled to Afghanistan to visit his sister.
• Ben Moujan answered the route he took from Morocco to Pakistan was to first fly to Syria, and from Syria he traveled by bus.
• Ben Moujan answered that he encountered the Moroccan interrogators who made the false allegations in Guantanamo. When a group of Moroccan detainees were sent to Guantanamo they were followed by a team of interrogators from Morocco.

One of the last questions the Presiding Officer asked prompted this exchange:

Q: ...Okay, I think I understand. You are laughing a lot and you look kind of amused, why is that?

A: What do you want me to do? Do you want me to cry?

The last exchange between the Presiding Officer and Ben Moujan was:

Q: Muhammad, do you want to be released?

A: I really don't know. Why am I captured here in the first place and want to release me? ^[sic] Why did you capture me?

Q: I didn't and I'm asking the questions.

A: I answered you. What was your motivation for me? ^[sic] You captured me and put me here so you can release me? ^[sic]

Q: Will Morocco take you back? Will your country take you back do you think?

A: First of all, I don't know what is going on in Morocco right now. We don't have TV, we don't have radio, and I don't watch the media so I don't know if they would take me or not.

[edit] Repatriation and Moroccan sentencing

The Hindustan Times reports that Ben Moujane was repatriated in October 2006.^[5] The report stated that Ben Moujane was "...charged with "membership of a criminal group with the aim of preparing to commit terrorist acts" and "failing to denounce crimes against state security". It also reported that the Moroccan court described Ben Moujane as one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. The court sentenced him to an additional ten years of imprisonment. The most severe sentence handed out to former Guantanamo captives, by Moroccan courts so far.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohamed Ben Moujane's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 90
3. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Mohamed Ben Moujane Administrative Review Board, January 27, 2005 - page 33
4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Mohamed Ben Moujane's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 100
5. ^ "Bin Laden 'bodyguard' jailed in Morocco", Hindustan Times, February 3, 2007. Retrieved on February 4.