Mahmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef

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Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His detainee ID number is 202. American intelligence analysts report that Bin Atef was born in 1980, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[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.
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 Tribunal. 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 Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 7 October 2004.[2] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is a member of the Taliban and associated with al Qaida:
  1. The detainee arrived in Afghanistan in June 2001 from Saudi Arabia via Pakistan.
  2. The detainee went to Afghanistant to fight the jihad.
  3. The detainee is a member of the Taliban.
  4. The detainee completed military training at Al Farouq.
  5. The detainee received weapons training on the Kalashnikov rifle, rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and pistols.
  6. The detainee met Usama Bin Laden.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners:
  1. The detainee was engaged in the conflict at the Konduz line.
  2. The detainee was engaged in the conflict at the Khoshaghar line.
  3. The detainee was present at the Al Janki uprising [sic] at Mazur-e-Sharif [sic] .

[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".[3]

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] First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 8 June 2005.[4] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee was influenced by everyday events, videos about Jihad, people talking. He stated, "The thought wsa in my head."
  2. The detainee went to Afghanistan to fight in the jihad.
  3. The detainee funded the trip to Afghanistan with his own funds.
  4. The detainee arrived in Afghanistan in June 2001 from Saudi Arabia via Pakistan.
  5. The detainee traveled from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Bahrain; from there he went to Karachi, Pakistan. Once in Karachi he traveled by bus to Quetta, Pakistan, then Afghanistan, and stayed at a guesthouse.
  6. The detainee stated that his enemies were the Northern Alliance.
  7. Even though the detainee is an Arab he considers himself a Taliban, because he fought for them, and alongside them.
  8. The detainee was engaged in the conflict on the Konduz line.
  9. The detainee was engaged in the conflict at the Koshaghar line.
b. Training
  1. The detainee completed military training at al Farouq.
  2. The detainee received weapons training on the Kalashnikov rifle, rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and pistols.
c. Connections/Associations
The detainee met Usama Bin Laden.
d. Other Relevant Data
  1. The detainee knew of a fatwa about fighting Jews and Christians and expelling them from the Arabian Peninsula
  2. The detainee was present at the al Janki uprising at Mazur-e-Sharif.

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

a. The detainee was asked to take an oath to Usama Bin Laden but stated that he did not take one.
b. The detainee never trained with explosives, chemicals, biological agents or nuclear material.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mahmmouud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 22 March 2006.[5] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee was recruited at the local mosque called the al Shinqity Mosque in Jeddah. The detainee was also influenced by everyday events, videos about jihad, and people talking. The detainee stated that the thought was in his head.
  2. The detainee traveled from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Bahrain and from there he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. Once in Karachi the detainee traveled by bus to Quetta, Pakistan and then to Afghanistan and stayed at a guest house.
  3. The detainee funded the trip to Afghanistan with his own funds.
  4. After training at al Farouq, the detainee proceeded to the front lines in Khvajeh Ghar, Afghanistan, where he was told he would fight with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.
  5. Even though the detainee is an Arab he considered himself a Taliban because he fought for them and alongside them.
  6. The detainee stated that his enemies were the Northern Alliance.
  7. The detainee fought on the front lines in Konduz, Afghanistan under a senior al Qaida leader until the detainee's capture in December 2001.
b. Training
While at al Farouq training camp the detainee received training in how to use light weapons, Kalashnikov, rocket-propelled grenades, and pistols. The training lasted about three weeks.
c. Other Relevant Data
  1. During the detainee's time at al Farouq around July 2001, Usama bin Laden visited and gave a speech about the behavior of Mohammed's followers.
  2. The detainee was present at the al Janki uprising at Mazar-e-Sharif.

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

a. The detainee stated that he never trained with explosives, chemicals, biological agents or nuclear material.
b.

The detainee never got paid. However, one time when the detainee was on the Konduz line money came in. One of the detainee's co-workers passed out two thousand rupees, but the detainee gave it away to charity.
c.

The detainee was asked to take an oath to Usama bin Laden but the detainee did not take one since he might have been obligated to do things that he might not want to do.
d.

The detainee was never screened for or asked to participate in a martyrdom mission.
e.

The detainee stated he never shot at or killed anyone.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ OARDEC (7 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Bin Atef, Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed pages 18-19. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
  3. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  4. ^ OARDEC (8 June 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Bin Atef, Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed pages 51-52. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
  5. ^ OARDEC (22 March 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Bin Atef, Mahmmouud Omar Mohammed pages 15-17. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.