Majid Aydha Muhammad Al Qurayshi

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Majid Aydha Muhammad Al Qurayshi is a citizen of Yemen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Qurayshi's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 176. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that he was born on May 29, 1972, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

[edit] Identity

Al Qurayshi was repatriated to Saudi Arabia, although his nationality is listed Yemeni on the two official lists of the names and nationalities the Department of Defense has released.^[1][2][3]

There is notable variance between how Al Qurayshi's name is transliterated on various official documents;

• He is named Majed Eidah Mohammed Al-Qurashi on the press release from the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, announcing his repatriation, on February 21, 2007.^[2]
• He is named Majid Aydha Muhammad Al Qurayshi on the official lists of detainee names and nationalities, released on April 20, 2006, and May 15, 2006, assert that Al Qurayshi was a citizen of Yemen.^[3][1]
• He is named Majid Idha Muhammad Al Subai Al Qurashi on a memorandum prepared for his first Administrative Review Board hearing, listing the factors for and against his continued detention.^[4]

[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 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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Majid Idha Muhammad al-Suba Al Qurashi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 10 August 2004.^[5] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. Detainee is associated with al-Qaida.

1. The detainee admits traveling to Afghanistan to fight in the Jihad to atone for sins.
2. Detainee received weapons training in Afghanistan.

b. Detainee engaged in hostilities against the US or its coalition partners.

1. Detainee admits serving as a guard while in Afghanistan.
2. Pakistani forces captured detainee as he was fleeing Afghanistan.

[edit] Transcript

There is no record that Majid Idha Muhammad al-Suba Al Qurashi participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearings

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".^[6]

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 Majid Idha Muhammad Al Suba I Al Qurashi's first annual Administrative Review Board.^[4] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention

a.Detainee is associated with al Qaida.

1. The detainee admits traveling to Afghanistan to fight in the Jihad to atone for sins.
2. Detainee received weapons training in Afghanistan.

b. Detainee engaged in hostilities against the US or its coalition partners.

1. Detainee admits serving as a guard while in Afghanistan.
2. Pakistani forces captured detainee as he was fleeing Afghanistan.

c. Based upon a review of recommendations from US Government agencies and classified and unclassified documents, Enemy Combatant is regarded as a threat to United States and it’s Allies.

1. Detainee feels that participation in jihad is a means of Atoning for sins as well as providing for the needy and fighting the Oppressors of Islam. Detainee feels that it is the duty of Muslims to answer the call to jihad when it is issued by valid religious authority.
2. Approximately one week after 9/11/01, Al-Qurayshi left Saudi Arabia to fight in Afghanistan.
3. Al-Qurayshi was identified on a list of names recovered from a safehouse raid of suspected al Qaida in Karachi, Pakistan.
4. Detainee has admitted that he traveled with 100,000 Saudi Riyals (SIC) (approximately $25,000 USD) to start an orphanage.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. Enemy Combatant in his own oral testimony denied active involvement in the fighting in Afghanistan.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

Casio F91W, in daily alarm mode. The watch is currently set to ring an alarm, and flash its light, at 7:30am.

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Majid Aydha Muhammad Al Qurasyshi's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 9 July 2006.^[7] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee stated that approximately one week after 11 September 2001 he left Saudi Arabia to fight in Afghanistan.
2. The detainee stated that he traveled by airplane from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain and then went to Qatar. From there the detainee went to Tehran, Iran then crossed the border into Kandahar, Afghanistan and then to Kabul, Afghanistan. The detainee stated that he was assigned to the second line just north of Kabul.
3. The detainee stated that he was assigned as a guard at a watch center.
4. The detainee stated that after approximately two and one half months on the second line, fighting in Kabul intensified, and he was ordered to retreat. The detainee stated that he was apprehended in December 2001 crossing the Pakistani border.
5. The detainee is on a list of detainees with a Casio model F-91W watch. This model watch has been used in bombings that have been linked to al Qaida and radical Islamic terrorist improvised explosive devices.

b. Training

1. The detainee stated that during the Gulf War he volunteered for the military and received training with pistols, rifles and grenades, but his reserve unit was never activated.
2. The detainee stated that he received training on the Kalashnikov ^[sic] rifle at a watch center in Afghanistan.

c. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee stated that one week prior to the attacks on 11 September 2001 he telephoned a prominent Saudi sheikh to discuss going to jihad in Afghanistan.
2. The detainee's name is on a list of Arab names recovered from safe house raids associated with suspected al Qaida in Pakistan.

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

a.	The detainee stated that he has never owned a Casio watch.
b.	The detainee stated that he has never been in an al Qaida guest house and has no ties to al Qaida at all.
c.	The detainee denied an affiliation with Usama bin Laden or al Qaida, and states that he did not have any prior knowledge of the attacks on 11 September 2001.
d.	The detainee stated that if he was returned home he would go to his family and get his previous job back.

[edit] Transcript

Captive 176 did not attend this hearing.^[8] OARDEC distributed a four page summarized transcript of the Board's unclassified session.

The transcript records the Designated Military Officer reading out eight factors favoring his continued detention, and four factors favoring release or transfer.

Captive 176's Assisting Military Officer responded:

A paragraph was removed from the Unclassified Summary of Evidence under the factors favoring continued detention. After presentation to the detainee, the statement was identified as not adequately supported. I would like to read the paragraph that was removed. "The detainee is on a list of detainees with a Casio model F-91W watch. This model watch has been used in bombings that have been linked to al Qaida and radical Islamic terrorists improvised explosive devices." Like I said, Sir, this paragraph was removed.

The Presiding Officer of captive 176's Board ruled that the allegation about the Casio watch should be included, after all, to provide context.

The Assisting Military Officer told the Board they met on July 12, 2006. The Assisting Military Officer described captive 176 as "inattentive throughout the interview.

The Assisting Military Officer told the Board that captive 176 was wearing a tan uniform.

Further information: Guantanamo captive's uniforms

[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.^[9][10] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on February 14, 2007.

[edit] Repatriation

Seven Saudis were repatriated to Saudi custody on February 21, 2007.^[2][11] The Saudi embassy in Washington identified one of the seven men as Majed Eidah Mohammed Al-Qurashi. Saudi authorities are detaining the seven men, without charge, in Hayer Prison, until they determine whether there is evidence to charge them with crimes under Saudi law.^[12]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} OARDEC (May 15, 2006). List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Seven Saudi Guantanamo detainees return to the Kingdom. Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Washington DC (February 21, 2007). Retrieved on March 3, 2007.
3. ^ ^{a b} list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
4. ^ ^{a b} OARDEC. Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Qurashi, Majid Idha Muhammad Al Suba I pages 70-72. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
5. ^ OARDEC (10 August 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Qurashi, Majid Idha Muhammad al-Suba page 82. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
6. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
7. ^ OARDEC (9 July 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Qurayshi, Majid Aydha Muhammad pages 57-58. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
8. ^ OARDEC. Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 176 pages 1-4. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
9. ^ OARDEC (November 28, 2006). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 176 page. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
10. ^ OARDEC (14 July 2006). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 176 page. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
11. ^ "Saudi terror suspects go home", United Press International, February 22, 2007. Retrieved on March 3. 
12. ^ P.K. Abdul Ghafour. "Families Meet With Gitmo Returnees", Arab News, Saturday, February 24, 2007. Retrieved on March 3.