Abd Al Razzaq Abdallah Ibrahim Al Tamini

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Abd Al Razzaq Abdallah Ibrahim Al Tamini (also transliterated Abd Al Razaq Abdallah Hamid Ibrahim Al Sharikh) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Al Tamini's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 067. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on January 18, 1984, in Shaqqara, Saudi Arabia.

Main article: Minors detained in the global war on terror

1 Identity
2 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
3 First annual Administrative Review Board hearing
4 Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing
5 References

[edit] Identity

Guantanamo captive 067's name was transliterated inconsistently on the two official lists the US Department of Defense has released on April 20, 2006 and twenty-five days later on May 15, 2006:

Abd Al Razzaq Abdallah Ibrahim Al Tamini on the list released on April 20, 2006.^[2]
'Abd Al-Razaq 'Abdallah Hamid Ibrahim Al-Sharikh on the list released on May 15, 2006.^[1]

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.^[3]^[4] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[5]

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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 Tamini chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[6]

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Al Tamini faced during his Tribunal were:

a The detainee is a member of Al Qaida.

In about late 2000, the detainee traveled from his native Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan via Pakistan.
The detainee was motivated to travel to Afghanistan to become a martyr like his brother, who died in combat in Chechnya.
Upon arriving at a safe house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the detainee informed the safe-house facilitator that he wanted to go to the “front lines.”
The detainee received two months of training at the Al Farouq training camp.
While at Al Farouq, the detainee received training on small arms including the Makarov, AK-47, Dragunov SVD, RPG-7, and the RGD-5 hand grenades.
During his training at Al Farouq, the detainee attended a speech given by Usama Bin Laden.
While at the Al Farouq training camp, the detainee observed that the number of recruits training at the camp grew substantially during the summer months of 2001.

b The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.

The detainee admits that he served on the “front lines” where fighting occurred.
The detainee used the Makarov, Dragunov SVD and AK-47 weapons while serving on the front lines.
The detainee was captured by Pakistani police while traveling with a group of Arabs and Afghanis, some of whom were security guards for Usama Bin Laden.

[edit] Response to the allegations

Al Tamini denied he was a member of al Qaida.
Al Tamini acknoweldged traveling from Sauid Arabia to Afghanistan, but expressed confusion as to how this was evidence of a crime.
Al Tamini confirmed he had a brother who was killed in Chechnya.
Al Tamini confirmed he asked to be sent to the front lines when he arrived in Kandahar.
Al Tamini confirmed that he received two months training at the al Farouq training camp.
Al Tamini confirmed that he received weapons training while at al Farouq, but said that he didn't receive training on all the weapons listed in the allegations -- only on the AK-47, the Dragunov and the RPG.
Al Tamini acknowledged attending a speech given by Osama bin Laden.
Al Tamini corrected the allegation that he observed the number of recruits growing substantially while he was at the camp. He acknowledged noticing more recruits, but after he left the camp. Further, he said he realized it wasn't a notable, exceptional growth, merely a seasonal growth, reflecting that it was easier to find recruits, and easier to train them during the good weather in the summer.
Al Tamini acknowledged participating in military operations against the coalition.
Al Tamini acknowledged serving on the front lines.
Al Tamini acknowledged carrying a weapon while on the front lines -- but not the full list in the allegations -- just an AK-47. When asked -- "Was there anybody to fight on the front lines?" -- Al Tamini replied: "None. We were in bunkers and just shooting."
Al Tamini denied being captured with a group that included Osama bin Laden bodyguards. He said he traveled to Pakistan with two men. When he was turned over to the Americans he was added to another group of captives, which included the Osama bin Laden bodyguards.

[edit] Response to Tribunal questioning

Al Tamini confirmed that his brother died in Chechnya.
Al Tamini confirmed that he was still in Saudi Arabia when his brother died.
Al Tamini testified that he decided to go to Afghanistan two to three months after he heard his brother died.
Al Tamini confirmed that he had received help in Saudi Arabia to get to Afghanistan.
Al Tamini said his brother's death traumatized him, because they were so close.
Al Tamini said he knew nothing of al Qaida prior to his arrival on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Al Tamini said he had heard a little bit about Osama bin Laden by listening to his short-wave radio, but he didn't know his reputation. He said he didn't know if he was an Islamic clergyman, an Islamic teacher, a Sheik or a Mullah.
Al Tamini said no one ever asked him to take an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden:

"Before I went to Afghanistan, my brother's friend gave me some instructions to follow once I got to Afghanistan. I was warned about how the societies or organizations are working in Afghanistan. I was watching out and staying away from the organizations my brother's friend told me about. No one told me to take an oath to be loyal to Usama Bin Ladne."
Al Tamini said he was warned to stay away from the Takfir.
Al Tamini said he was told he would be fighting the Northern Alliance.

Q:	*Who did you believe the Northern Alliance was made up of?*
A;	The Northern Alliance was nothing more than a group of people that got together and I was supposed to fight them. The people were Massoud, Fahim, Rabbani...those are the people that formed the Northern Alliance.
Q:	*Did you realize they were also Muslims?*
A:	The Saudi Arabian clerics told me that even though they were Muslims, I was supposed to fight them. The Northern Alliance and the other organization I mentioned, they were attacking the Muslims. I followed the Saudi Arabia clergyment's advice to fight the Muslimms of the Northern Alliance.
Q:	*What responsibilities did you have after you left the training camp and went to the front line?*
A:	I went over there just to fight and I didn't really fight because I was in the bunker.

[edit] First annual 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.

There is no record of Al Tamini participating in his First Annual Administrative Review Board hearing.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing

Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal confirmed their original classification as enemy combatnats have the value of continuing to detain them at Guantanamo reviewed on an annual basis. The BBC offered an account of the Second Administrative Review Board hearing of a young Saudi named Abdul-Razzaq.^[7] Guantanamo contained about half a dozen detainees named Abdul-Razzaq, or something similar. but Al Tamini is the only one who is a Saudi. The detainee the BBC identified as Abdul-Razzaq said:

"I was 17-years-old and full of enthusiasm for jihad, but now after five years in Guantanamo I have changed. I need to go back to my country, lead a simple life care for my old parents and have a wife and kids."

The BBC reports that the detainee told his Board that two of his brothers were died during jihad, one in Chechnya, and one in Afghanistan, while a third brother was captured at the same time he was.

According to the BBC his Board promised to investigate when he reported:

"...that some of the evidence presented to the board - especially evidence kept from detainees - is false or was taken under pressure or psychological torture."

Main article: Guantanamo detainees who officially reported abuse