Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir

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Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Bwazir's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 440. American intelligence analysts estimate Bwazir was born in 1980, in Howra, Yemen.

[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.^[2][3] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[4]

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] Allegations

During the winter and spring of 2005 the Department of Defense complied with a Freedom of Information Act request, and released five files that contained 507 memoranda which each summarized the allegations against a single detainee. These memos, entitled "Summary of Evidence" were prepared for the detainee's Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The detainee's names and ID numbers were redacted from all but one of these memos, when they were first released in 2005. But some of them contain notations in pen. 169 of the memos bear a hand-written notation specifying the detainee's ID number. One of the memos had a notation specifying Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir's detainee ID.^[5]

The allegations Bwazir would have faced, during his Tribunal, were:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban and al Qaida:

1. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan using counterfeit travel documents.
2. The detainee attended weapons training on the Kalashnikov, PK, M-16, and G-3 at the al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan.
3. The detainee was transferred with a group of Arabs from Kabil ^[sic] to Mazar-e-Sharif ^[sic] on a Taliban owned aircraft.

b. The detainee engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners:

1. The detainee fought with the Taliban in Taloqan, Afghanistan after 11 September 2001, and was present in Taloqan after the U.S. air campaign began.
2. The detainee fired his weapon in battle at the United States or its coalition partners.
3. The detainee was captured in Mazar-e-Sharif ^[sic] while fighting with the Taliban.

[edit] Witness

The Tribunal's President ruled that Mamar Diann's testimony would be relevant. But a November 9, 2004 request to the State Department to request the cooperation of the Yemen Government did not generate a reply, so the Tribunal's President ruled Mamar Diann "not reasonably available".^[6]

[edit] Transcript

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

[edit] Response to the allegations

• Bwazir denied that he travel documents were counterfeit: "I got my passport from the Yemen government, but the only thing that changed was my last name from Muhammad to Osama."
• Bwazir said that when he entered Afghanistan all the training camps were closed. He said the only weapons training he had ever received was some training on the AK-47 when he was 7 years old.
  • Bwazir's Personal Representative reminded Bwazir to expand on two points they discussed during their interview.
  • Bwazir explained that he traveled to Afghanistan because his grandfather stabbed someone, triggering a local feud, and he didn't feel safe in Yemen anymore.
  • Abdul Salam Abdul Salam, a man he met in Sana, suggested he work for a charity group in Afghanistan.
  • Bwazir acknowledged that the passport he was issued was under a false name.
  • When he arrived in Afghanistan he worked for a rich man, named Abu Haree, helping to distribute food to refugees, and the needy.
• Bwazir acknowledged flying to Mazari Sharif, but on a commercial aircraft, not a Taliban aircraft.
• Bwazir denied fighting with the Taliban. He acknowledged being present in Taloquan, after the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan, but said there was no bombing and hostilities there. He said he was teaching "Sarafee" there, until the Taliban shut his school down.
• Bwazir said he found the allegation he attacked Americans very strange: "This is a strange thing I am hearing. Why would I fight the United States of America? I have nothing against them. The rice and flour we have is American. Why would I fight them? They are our food source. I was in that city but it is not a battlefield. I wasn't a fighter. You can ask Abdul Wado. I was staying with him at the time. We were working; digging trenches for gas lines at the time."
• With regard to the allegation that Bwazir was captured in Mazari Sharif, he responded with this account of his capture:

"This is not true at all; when I was captured I was in Konduz. When the city of Taloqan was captured I went to the city of Konduz. Me and some ^[sic] group, the Taliban left Konduz another group named Tustun (ph) came in; an ^[sic] they found out I was with a different group and they decided to interrogate me then gave me to the United Nations ^[sic] . I was with an Arabic guy and some guy from al Wafa. They took us to jail and from there to an intelligence agency. They said they were going to investigate some things and turn us over to the United Nations ^[sic] ."

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

• Bwazir's Personal Representative asked him to explain to the Tribunal that he went to the police and the tribal leaders, to take responsibility for his grandfather. Bwazir confirmed this, and said he was waiting for letters from Yemen to confirm this part of his account of himself. Bwazir confirmed because he took responsibility for his grandfather's act he cannot go back home. The family and friends of his grandfather's victim would retaliate against him. This is why he had his passport issued in a a different name.
• Bwazir confirmed he arrived in Afghanistan approximately 8-9 months before the American attack.
• Bwazir told the Tribunal he paid for his own traveling expeenses.
• Bwazir repeated that all he ever did in Afghanistan was work for a charity group. The group was named Ahfad al Sabah. He acknowledged that during the last days of his freedom in Afghanistan his group had some association with al Wafa.
• Bwazir said he taught the Koran to children. He told his Tribunal training videos he used for teaching the children were captured with him, and would support his account.
• Bwazir said that when he was in Afghanistan he didn't carry any weapons. He did carry a small knife, for peeling fruit.
• Bwazir said he flew to Mazari Sharif because it was only a three hour drive from his real destination, Taloquan.
• Bwazir said that he didn't know when the letters from Yemen would arrive.

[edit] Testimony

[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.

Bwazir chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[7]

[edit] Enemy Combatant Election Form

Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir's Assisting Military Officer told his Board that he learned he was on a hunger strike on December 5, 2005, when a guard was accompanying him to their first meeting.

Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir told his Assisting Military Officer that he didn't think it would matter what he said during his hearing because he felt he had been prejudged. His Assisting Military Officer told the Board he had assured Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir that the ARB was a fair proceeding.

His Assisting Military Officer's notes record Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir's demeanor as "...very cordial, attentive, but very skeptical of the ARB based on his experience with the CSRT.

[edit] Torture

Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir told his Board that he had been tortured while in detention. His Presiding Officer asked the Assisting Military Officer to note the allegation of torture and "...take the appropriate action."

[edit] Factors for and against continued detention

• The detainee met a man who suggested the detainee go to Afghanistan to receive religious instruction. This man gave the detainee $150 U.S. dollars ^[sic] and helped him obtain an alias, a visa and airplane tickets.
• The same man provided the detainee with papers from a doctor stating he required medical treatment in Pakistan. The detainee was able to obtain a passport with these papers.
• The same man provided the detainee with a letter of introduction to the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan. When the detainee learned that camp was closed he attended the al Farouq training camp.
• While at al Farouq, the detainee stated he trained on rocket propelled grenades and the AK-47, M-16, G-3, Beka and Garanov machine guns.
• The detainee stayed at a Taliban house in Quetta, Pakistan on the way to Afghanistan.
• The detainee stayed at the Said Center near Kabul where his recruiter provided him with three fatwas. These fatwas convinced the detainee to assist the Taliban and to join the fighting against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.
• The detainee was identified as an al Qaida soldier seen at the Ashara guesthouse in Kabul.
• The detainee traveled to the Bilal Center where he was issued an AK-47 and was subsequently wounded. After the detainee recovered he was stationed at Khwaja Ghar for about seven months.
• The detainee served in the Arab Taliban unit in the vicinity of Khwaja Ghar when the 11 September 2001 attacks occurred in the United States.
• The detainee stayed in Afghanistan thinking that fighting would continue. He traveled to Taloqan, Afghanistan to join the fight between the Taliban and the Norhtern ALliance.
• In Taloqan, the detainee was welcomed to join an Afghani Taliban unit that was engaged in fight wth the Northern Alliance. The detainee fled to Kondz when Mazari-E-Sharif fell to Northern ALliance Forces.
• The detainee surrendered to General Dostum's forces near Mazar-E-Sharif around 24 November 2001 after hearing radio announcements that any Taliban who surrendered and gave up their weapons would be allowed to return to their homes.
• The detainee stated that he knew the Taliban and liked them.
• The detainee attended Usama Bin Laden's daughter's wedding in Kandahar.
• Usama Bin Laden attended a funeral at al Farouq while the detainee was training there.
• The detainee and about 100 other soldiers from the front lines in Kabul, Afghanistan attended a speech given by Usama Bin Laden.
• The detainee denied having any knowledged of the attacks in the U.S. prior to their execution on 11 September 2001.
• The detainee stated he didn't fight Americans before so he doesn't plan to fight Americans if released.

[edit] Responses to the factors

• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir stated he paid for his plane tickets from his own funds. He withdrew $1000 to cover his travel expenses. His passport was an official passport, legally obtained. He asserted that although the name had been changed on it, it was a legal, official passport.
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir acknowledged that he had been ill. He had an ulcer, and had ulcer surgery. A doctor did give him a medical certificate.
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir denied attending the al Farouq training camp. Northern Alliance interrogators had tortured him into falsely confessing to attending the training camp.
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir pointed out that Yemen was full of weapons. Weapon ownership was legal there. He said it was illogical to presume he would travel all the way to Afghanistan for training he could get without leaving home.
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir acknowledged he had stayed in a Taliban house in Quetta, while traveling to Afghanistan.
• In response to the allegation that he stayed at the Said Center, and responded to three fatwas to fight the Northern Alliance, Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir said:

"Yes, I came to the Said center that is true. But I did not come to fight along with the Taliban or with the Northern Alliance. I came to Afghanistan to visit a friend of mine. His name is Muteeh Bakliyan. I went to Afghanistan to visit this person. Yes, it's true that I went to the front line. I went there and I saw the Taliban. I saw the people there. I never fought with the Taliban or with the Northern Alliance. I went to an agency that was run by Abu Khalid who was from my hometown in Yemen. This person who had this agency of office service it was a service to help the Taliban in case they were fighting and they got injured. If the Taliban went in on a certain village, the people in that village would get out of it by force and they would go to this agency, which was run by Abu Khalid. Frankly, I saw the Taliban and I saw the villages and the places where they fought between each other but I never fought. Sometimes we visited the Taliban trenches with sheikh Abdul Waldud. We went there and I saw everything. This sheikh Abdul Waldud would question people [by] asking what are fighting about? Do you know Allah? Do you know [if] Allah wanted you to fight this? What reason are fighting for? What is the purpose of fighting?"

• In response to the allegation that he was identified as an al Qaida soldier at the Ashara guesthouse in Kabul, Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir responded:

"When I entered Kabul I entered into one, single Arabic place called Fahim Khana. It means guesthouse Fahim or house of Fahim. The house belongs to the Ministry of Defense of the Taliban, the Arabs that belong to the Taliban. I have entered this house one time."

• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir acknowledged that he was injured. But he denied carrying any weapons. He traveled to the Bilal Center to visit the grave of his friend
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir said that the Americans could verify that he spent the three months prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001 in Taloquan. He denied he was ever in Khawaja Ghar.
• In response to the allegation that he traveled to Taloqan to fight the Northern ALliance Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir responded:

"This allegation contradicts the first allegation that you said from the beginning. You're telling me [that] first I went to get religious instructions and now your (sic) telling me that I traveled to Taloqan to join the fighting between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. I only went there to see my friend Abu Khalid, the one I mentioned. He is a friend of mine from my hometown [in] Yemen. He has a humanitarian agency there [and] I went to help him. I stayed for awhile with Abu Khalid and than after that I went to see another friend of mine. He's a sheikh and his name was Abu Walid al Palestine. I stayed there with him and he introduced me to Abdul Waldud to go with him to give some religious lessons in Taloqan in the north. In Taloqan there is this big, big legal center to give lessons about Islam."

• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir's account of his apprehension differed from that in the factors. He denied traveling to Mazar-E-Sharif to surrender. He said:

"First of all I did not surrender myself in Mazar-E-Sharif. When Taloqan fell to the Northern Alliance they came and got me from my house. They came to Konduz and they took me and told me they would like to investigate me and everything was normal with me. I did not surrender to anybody. I went with them. All we seek is humanitarian deeds. I have nothing to do with al Qaida. They wanted al Qaida. They were looking for people that belonged to al Qaida and the Taliban, but we are only people that seek humanitarian deeds. They were here to ask me simple questions so I went with them then they deliverd me to the United Nations]] (sic) I believed them. They took me to a prison. I stayed there for one week and then they transferred me to Mazar-E-Sharif."

• In response to the alleagation that he had stated that he knew and liked the Taliban Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir responded:

"Yes, I've seen the Taliban and all I have for them is respect and love. They are not my enemies."

• In response to the allegation that he had attended Usama Bin Laden's daughter's wedding Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir testified:

"I don't know that to tell you Sir. I really don't. I don't know if I attended his daughter's wedding or if I married his daughter. When I cane to Mazar-E-Sharif they questioned me [and asked] if I was from al Qaida, if I was an Arab from al Qaida. They used to hit me physically until they broke my skull. I was nineteen years old then. Then I had to say yes I had met Usaam Bin Laden, that I talked with the Taliban, that I knew about nuclear rockets, and that I know everything about what al Qaida is up to. I really put my signature there that I said this. Yes."

• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir asserted that the statement that he saw Osama Bin Laden attend a funeral at Al Farouq was another false confession that had been extracted from him under torture.
• Mohamed Ali Abdullah Bwazir asserted that the statement that he heard Osama Bin Laden give a speech was another statement extracted from him, under torture.

[edit] Hunger strike

The Washington Post reports that Bawazir's lawyers assert that Bawazir was one of the hunger strikers, and that the new harsher procedures camp authorities instituted to break te hunger strike violated last fall's proscription on torture.^[8]

Camp authorities have been force-feeding hunger strikers. In January 2006 camp authorities started using "restraint chairs" to feed detainees.^[9]

The Center for Constitutional Rights quoted from the emergency injunction Bawazir's lawyers filed on his behalf, in reaction to what they described as the unnecessary violence of his force-feeding in the restraint chair:^[10]

• Forcibly strapped Mr. Bawazir into a restraint chair, tying his legs, arms, head, and midsection to the chair.
• Inserted of a feeding tube that was larger than the tube that had previously been left in Mr. Bawazir's nose, increasing the pain of the insertion and extraction.
• Poured four bottles of water into his stomach through the nasal gastric tube every time he was fed even though Mr. Bawazir has never refused to drink water by mouth.
• Restrained Mr. Bawazir in the chair for extended periods at each feeding.
• Denied Mr. Bawazir access to a toilet while he was restrained and then for an additional hour or more after he was released from the chair.
• Placed Mr. Bawazir in solitary confinement.

Medical records show Bawazir's weight had dropped to 97 pounds, during the 140 days of his hunger strike.^[11] Medical records show Bawazir was restrained in the chair longer than the manufacturer's directions.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Martin asserted that the force-feedings were conducted humanely. He explained the extraordinary duration of the detainee's confinement to the restraint chair was due to the length of time the force-feeding took.

U.S. government lawyers argued that the bans on torture and cruel and unusual treatment didn't apply to captives in Guantánamo Bay.^[12] Justice Gladys Kessler called the allegations "extremely disturbing".

[edit] References