Muhammed Yahia Mosin Al Zayla

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Muhammed Yahia Mosin Al Zayla is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Zayla's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 055. The Department of Defense reports that Al Zayla was born on July 25, 1977, in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

[edit] Identity

When he was repatriated to Saudi Arabia in December 2006 his brother Mohsen al-Zaylaei said that the USA had been transliterating their name incorrectly, as Al Zayla., not Al-Zaylaei.^[2]

[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.^[3][4] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[5]

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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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations Al Zayla faced during his Tribunal were:^[6]

a. Association

1. Detainee traveled from his home in Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan via Kuwait and Pakistan in March 2001.
2. Detainee received training in the use of AK-47 and rocket propelled grenades at the Al-Farouq training camp.

b. Hostile activity

1. Detainee voluntarily left the training base at Al-Farouq to engage in military operations against the Northern Alliance.
2. Detainee carried a weapon on the battlefield.
3. Detainee continued to participated in military operations against United States forces ^[sic] after September 11, 2001.
4. Detainee retreated from the battlefield to Pakistan where he surrendered, as part of a group of thirty individuals, to Pakistani forces.

[edit] testimony

[edit] Repatriation and Release

Al Zaylaei was repatriated to Saudi Arabia in early December of 2006.^[2][7][8] His brother Mohsen said his family was committed to finding Muhammed a wife, because so many of his letters had contained the wish that he get married and return to a normal life.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b} "16 Saudis released from Guantanamo arrive home, are immediately detained", WHDH, December 14, 2006. Retrieved on January 7. 
3. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
4. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
5. ^ 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.
6. ^ ^{a b} Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Muhammed Yahia Mosin Al Zayla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 9-18
7. ^ Anant Raut, Jill M. Friedman (March 19, 2007). The Saudi Repatriates Report. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
8. ^ Andy Worthington. "Who are the 16 Saudis Released From Guantánamo?", Huffington Post, July 18, 2007.