Abdullah Yahia Yousf Al Shabli

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Abdullah Yahia Yousf Al Shabli is a citizen of Saudi Arabia held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] Al Shabli's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 240. The Department of Defense reports that Al Shabli was born on September 10, 1977, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive.
Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive.

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.

There is no record that Al Shabli 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 Al Shabli were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.[2]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. In August 2001, the detainee flew from San'a Yemen to Iran. He traveled through Iran to Herat, Afghanistan and then on to Qandahar. The detainee was recruited to go to al Farouq training camp by a Mujahedin fighter who had fought in Afghanistan.
  2. The recruiter gave the detainee a false Yemeni passport, travel funds, tickets and locations of guesthouses in Affghanistan.
  3. The detainee was captured fleeing the Tora Bora Mountains.
b. Training
  1. In August 2001, the detainee traveled to Afghanistan for Jihad. While in Afghanistan he attended al Farouk training camp where he trained on the Kalashnikov rifle, Siminov rifle, and Rocket-Propelled Grenade.
  2. The detainee received weapons training on anti-aircraft machine guns at the Malek Center in Afghanistan.
  3. The Malek Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, logistically supports the Taliban by providing weapons training to foreign fighters, vehicle maintenance, and lodging for soldiers assigned to the frontlines.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee resided at a layover safehouse in Kandahar name [sic] Bin Zubair Hani on Haj Habash Street.
  2. Abu Zubair (Bin Zubair) was the leader of al Qaida guesthouses in Kandahar named after the martyrs who carried out the USS Cole terrorist attack. Used for new recruits on their way to receive training and veterans cycling out, these guesthouses were located near the Haj Habash Mosque in Kandahar.
  3. The detainee stayed at two different houses in Kabul; the al-Kuaiti House [sic] and Hamza Al Ghamdi House.
  4. Al Ghamdi is one of Usama Bin Laden's [sic] most trusted people and reported directly to Usama Bin Laden. [sic]
  5. The detainee stated he saw Usama Bin Laden passing by in the Tora Bora Mountains.
  6. The detainee's name was on a list of al Qaida mujahidin and the contents of their "trust" accounts found in an al Qaida associated safehouse in Pakistan.
d. Intent
The detainee traveled to Afghanistan for jihad and was issued an AK-47 and three full 30-round magazines for combat use by his commander in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
e. Detainee Conduct
The detainee has been cited on several occasions for harassing the guards and for one hostile act against a guard.

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

  • The detainee stated that he was unaware of any Taliban or al Qaida personnel associated with either the al Farouq Camp or the Malek Center.
  • The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the U.S. prior to their execution on September 11, 2001, and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests.
  • The detainee had no knowledge of how the Taliban or al Qaida forces procured weapons, nor did he have any information on weapons sales and trafficking.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Abdullah Yahia Yousf Al Shabli Administrative Review Board, April 28, 2005 - page 25