Walid Said Bin Said Zaid

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Walid Said Bin Said Zaid is a Yemeni held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID is 550. Zaid was born in Ta'iz, Yemen, on February 2, 1978.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2 Administrative Review Board hearing
- 2.1 The following primary factors favor continued detention:
- 2.2 The following primary factors favor release or transfer:
3 References

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive. During the period July 2004 through March 2005 a Combatant Status Review Tribunal was convened to make a determination whether they had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Participation was optional. The Department of Defense reports that 317 of the 558 captives who remained in Guantanamo, in military custody, attended their Tribunals.

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 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.

There is no record that Zaid chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[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 Zaid were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.^[2]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

The detainee expressed interest in fighting the jihad in Palestine and said he would like to go there and fight the jihad if it is still going on when he is released.

b. Training

The detainee is a Yemen citizen who was recruited to travel to Afghanistan for jihad readiness military training.
The detainee arrived at al Farouq Training Camp in July 2001. Training began in August and included operation and maintenance of the AK-47 assault rifle, the PK machine gun, rocket propelled grenade launcher, tactice, geography and map symbols.

c. Connections/Associations

While the detainee was in training at al Farouq, Afghanistan, Usama Bin Laden and a group of guards came to visit.
The detainee’s name was on a document listing 324 Arabic names aliases and nationalities recovered from a safehouse raid of suspected al Qaida in Karachi, Pakistan.

d. Intent

The detainee sustained multiple injuries as a result of the U.S. bombing campaign in the mountains surrounding Jalalabad. The detainee was taken to a hospital in Jalalabad where he was eventually detained by U.S. forces.
The detainee explained the reason he attended training at al Farouq was because he wanted to support the Taliban in their struggle against the Northern Alliance.

e. Other Relevant Data

The detainee repeatedly stressed the only reason he supported the Taliban was because he thought they were good Muslims.

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

The detainee claims training was only a prerequisite to obtaining employment in the country of Afghanistan. The detainee claims that he did not know the camp was affiliated with al Qaida or Usama Bin Laden.
The detainee said he has no animosity towards the United States and actually considers his treatment to be fair. The detainee also stated he believees the American involvement in Afghanistan is a good thing as long as the Americans are assisting the Afghan people.