Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry

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Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry
Born: December 14, 1984(1984-12-14)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Detained at: Guantanamo
Alias(s): Abdul Salam Ghetan, Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zaydani Al Shihri
ID number: 132
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status repatriated
Occupation: student

Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry (also transliterated Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zayda Al Shihri) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 132. The US Department of Defense reports that he was born on December 14, 1984, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Identity

The Department of Defense asserts that Al Shehry was born on December 14, 1984, in Riyadh.[1] An article by human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, entitled, "The kids of Guantanamo", published on June 15, 2005 stated he was born in April 1987.[2]

Main article: Guantanamo detainees whose identity is in doubt
Main article: minors detained in the global war on terror

[edit] Press reports

In January 2005, his family received a letter from al Shehry.[5] He apologized for his errors in traveling to Afghanistan and asked them to find him a wife. Al Shehry's attorney, Kateb al Shammary, argues that the fact that his client is seeking a fiance demonstrates his innocence.

[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. Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed. The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007)Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
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.[6][7] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[8]
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zaydani Al Shihri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 4 October 2004.[3] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is a member of Al Qaida and the Taliban.
  1. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan after 11 September 2001.
  2. The detainee assisted anti-coalition troops while at a Taliban Center near Khwajajaghar, Afghanistan.
  3. The detainee received weapons training in Afghanistan.
  4. One of the detainee's known aliases was on a list of captured Al Qaida members that was discovered on a computer hard drive in an alleged Al Qaida residence.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. The detainee admitted he went to Afghanistan to fight.
  2. The detainee was captured with an AK-47 rifle near Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] .

[edit] Transcript

Al Shehry chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[9]

[edit] Witness

Al Shehri and his Tribunal's President had dialogue about Al Shehri's witness requests.

Al Shehri said he thought his Personal Representative had told him he couldn't call any off-island witnesses. Al Shehri's Personal Representative said he thought Al Shehri had changed his mind about calling off-island witnesses.

The allegations against Al Shehri originally stated that he traveled to Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. Al Shehri said that if he had been allowed to call the witnesses he wanted he could have proven he traveled to Afghanistan prior to September 11, 2001. Al Shehri Tribunal recessed. When it reconvened Al Shehri was told the Tribunal would assume he had traveled to Afghanistan prior to September 11, 2001.

[edit] Response to the allegations

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".
Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".[10]

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zaydani Al Shihri's Administrative Review Board, on 19 September 2005.[4] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Transcript

Al Shihri chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. [11] Summarized transcript (.pdf)], from Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 158</ref>

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[12][13] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized transfer to Saudi Arabia on December 19, 2005.

[edit] Transfer to Saudi Arabia

On June 25, 2006 14 men were transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia. [14][15] One of the released men was identified as Abdulsalam Ghaithan Mureef al-Shehri.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ The Kids of Guantanamo, cageprisoners, June 6, 2005
  3. ^ a b OARDEC (4 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Shihri, Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zaydani page 44. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  4. ^ a b OARDEC (19 September 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Shihri, Abd Al Salam Ghaytan Murayyif Al Zaydani pages 62-64. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  5. ^ Youngest Guantanamo Detainee Seeks Marriage, Arab News, May 5, 2005
  6. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  7. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  8. ^ Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. United States Department of Defense (March 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  9. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 39-50
  10. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", The Wire (JTF-GTMO), Friday March 10, 2006, pp. 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  11. ^ OARDEC (October 9, 2005). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 132. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  12. ^ OARDEC (December 19, 2005). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 132. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  13. ^ OARDEC (4 October 2005). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 132 pages 16-22. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  14. ^ Thirteen Saudis and a Turkistani return to Saudi from Guantanamo, Middle East News, June 25, 2006
  15. ^ Anant Raut, Jill M. Friedman (March 19, 2007). The Saudi Repatriates Report. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.