Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina

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Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina is a citizen of Yemen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 254. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report he was born in Ktaph, Yemen. Analysts provided a date of birth, or an estimated year of birth, for all but twelve Guantanamo captives. Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina was one of those twelve.

Contents

[edit] Identity

Captive 254 was identified inconsistently on official Department of Defense documents:

[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.[9][10] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[11]
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 Presidency 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 Presidency's definition of an enemy combatant.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 10 December 2004.[6] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida:
  1. The detainee traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan from Yemen, on or about August 2001, via Karachi and Quetta, Pakistan.
  2. The detainee is associated with an al Qaida recruiter.
  3. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan and he was aware of an individual whose purpose for going to Afghanistan was to train in an al Qaida training camp.
  4. The detainee was captured by Pakistani authorities at the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.

[edit] Transcript

There is no record that Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[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".[12]

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 Muhammad Ali Hussein Khenaina's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 1 November 2005.[7] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Muhammed Ali Husayn's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 2 July 2006.[8] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee went to Afghanistna to teach the Koran in Arabic, however, he says he did not actually teach the Koran.
  2. Initially, the detainee stated he lost his passport at the guest house he was staying at in Kabul, Afghanistan; then the detainee admitted to giving his passport to the manager of the guest house for safe keeping.
  3. The detainee was at the guest house on 11 September 2001 when he heard about the attacks. He was concerned about retaliation by the Americans and wanted to get out.
  4. Prior to Ramadan 2001, the manager of the guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan arranged for the detainee to travel to Logar, Afghanistan, and then to Khost, Afghanistan. The detainee stayed at the home of an Afghan. After staying at the house for about one and a half weeks, the detainee decided to leave with a group of five Arabs and an Afghan guide.
  5. The Afghan guide took the detainee and five other Arabs through the mountains by foot foot where they met another 19 fleeing men and joined their group.
  6. The group continued to the Pakistan border where they were detained by authorities, jailed for approximately two weeks and handed over to United States authorities.
  7. On 3 January 2002, the detainee was transferred from Pakistani control to United States military custody.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan with a person that had previously spent time in Afghanistan and offered to help the detainee with his travel.
  2. The detainee stayed in a guest house in the Karti-Barwan area of Kabul, Afghanistan. The manager of the guest house arranged transportation for guests to a Taliban training area 35 minutes north of Kabul, Afghanistan.
c. Other Relevant Data
The detainee was captured with 8,530 Pakistani Rupee Notes.

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

a.

The detainee claimed he was not in Afghanistan to participate in jihad.
b.

The detainee claimed that he did not have a weapon while in Afghanistan.
c.

The detainee denied being associated with the Taliban while in Afghanistan.
d.

The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001.
e.

The detainee denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests.
f.

In reference to the 11 September 2001 attacks, the detainee stated that he felt it was a crime and that it was wrong that so many innocent people were killed.
g.

If released, the detainee would return to Yemen and marry a cousin who has been betrothed to him and never leave again.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ OARDEC (April 20, 2006). List of detainee who went through complete CSRT process. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  3. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index for Combatant Status Review Board unclassified summaries of evidence. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  4. ^ OARDEC (August 9, 2007). Index to Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round One. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  5. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index of Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round Two. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  6. ^ a b OARDEC (10 December 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Khenaina, Muhammad Ali Hussein pages 86. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
  7. ^ a b OARDEC (1 November 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Khenaina, Muhammad Ali Hussein pages 39-41. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  8. ^ a b OARDEC (2 July 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Husayn, Muhammed Ali pages 6-7. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  9. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  10. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.