Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani

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Mus`ab Omar Ali Al Mudwani is a citizen of Yemen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 839. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate Al Mudwani was born in 1980, Al-Hudida, Yemen.

[edit] Identity

Captive 839 was identified inconsistently on official Department of Defense documents. Al Mudwani is one of the 58 detainees whose full unclassified Combatant Status Review Tribunal dossier was acquired by the Associated Press and made available for download from their site. On those documents

• His name is spelled Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani on page 1 and page 24 of his unclassified dossier.^[2]
• His name is spelled Musab Omar Ali Al-Madoonee on the document on page 26 of his unclassified dossier, dated September 9, 2004
• His name is spelled Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani on the official list of names released on April 20, 2006.^[3]
• His name is spelled Musab Omar Ali Al Madoonee on the official list released 25 days later, on May 15, 2006.^[1]

[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.^[4][5] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[6]

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 a competent tribunal 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 whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Al Mudwani chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] Allegations

The allegations against Al Mudwani were:^[7]

a The detainee is an Al Qaeda fighter:

1. In July 2001, Al Mudwani was recruited by two men, who identified themselves as former mujahid, to go to Afghanistan and train to fight.
2. The detainee stated that he stayed at the Daftar Al-Taliban guesthouse for four hours, prior to going to Kandahar, where he stayed at the Madafat Al-Nibras guesthouse where he was fed and given new clothes.
3. The detainee stated that after seven (7) days at the guesthouse in Kandahar, he traveled to the Al Farouq training camp, a known Taliban training camp.
4. The detainee stated that he received training on the Kalahnikov rifle, pistol BEKA, RPG, and the Magnoona. The detainee stated the he only trained for twenty-five (25) days because the camp closed due to the U.S. bombing campaign.
5. The detainee stated that he saw Usama Bin Laden (UBL) several times and at various training facilities during his time in Afghanistan and last saw Bin Laden in Khowst about a month before the fall of Kabul.

b The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.

1. The detainee stated that he left Al-Farouq on a military bus with twenty-five (25) other students from Al-Farouq and went to Kabul.
2. The detainee stated that he went to Kabul, and three days after his arrival Kabul fell.
3. After the fall of Kabul, the detainee went to Pakistan where he was captured by the Pakistani police, after a shootout, on September 11, 2002.

[edit] Testimony

Al Mudwani acknowledged many of the allegations including traveling to Afghanistan and receiving training at Al Farouq.^[2]

Al Mudwani’s Personal Representative had prepared a list of questions with him, to serve as a memory aid. He asked Al Mudwani : "When you were in Yemen prior to leaving, you were given a ticket to go and observe the cultural conditions under the Taliban in Afghanistan.” Al Mudwani replied:

"Yes, under the Taliban - how the Muslims were doing under the Taliban. There were rumors that these were evil or bad people. In Islam, you cannot judge another Muslim unless you see it with your own eyes. As for myself, the expenses were covered by someone that was doing good. So I said I did not have anything to lose. I planned to go for one month. I had a visa for one month only. I wanted to see how things were and come back home. When the events happened, I still had a few days left on the visa. The roads were closed and I could not leave."

Al Mudwani explained that he had not planned to undertake military training, that he had only arranged a one month visa, but that after he arrived in Afghanistan, and surrendered his passport and money, for safekeeping, he was informed that all visitors had to pass through the camp.

[edit] Brother's letter

Al Mudwani's dossier contained a letter from his eighteen year old brother. According to his brother Al Mudwani had attended business school, and was not very religious. According to his brother Al Mudwani traveled to Pakistan to study, arriving on July 29, 2001. Al Mudwani phoned every couple months, and, so far as his family knew, he had been studying in Pakistan from his arrival in July 2001 until his capture on September 11, 2002.

[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".^[8]

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 he continued to pose a threat, whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

Al Mudwani chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[9]

[edit] Enemy Combatant Election Form

Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani's Assisting Military Officer read from his notes on the Enemy Combatant Election Form from pre-hearing interviews on December 12, 2005, and December 13, 2005. The interviews lasted 138 minutes and 30 minutes. Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani's copy of the Summary of Evidence memo was translated into Arabic.

His Assisting Military Officer described Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani as "...cooperative and calm throughout both interviews."

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. This subheading was missing from the transcripts

1. The detainee was recruited to go to Afghanistan in his hometown of Al-Hudaida.
2. The detainee said he wanted the opportunity to train in Afghanistan because it was his duty as a Muslim to be trained. He had no intentions of fighting in Afghanistan.
3. The detainee left for Pakistan at the end of July 2001. He traveled to Karachi and stayed at the Dubai hotel and the Madafat Riyad guesthouse. The detainee then traveled to Quetta where he stayed at the Daftar al Taliban guesthouse. From there he went to Kandahar and stayed at the Madafat al Nibras.
4. The detainee stayed at a school, where a senior al Qaida operative was working, in the vicinity of Bermal, Afghanistan when he was fleeing Afghanistan.
5. From Kabul, Afghanistan, the detainee fled to Zurmat. He then crossed over the border and went to Lahore Pakistan.
6. The detainee then left Lahore and went to Karachi, Pakistan, where he was hidden in several places. When things got dangerous in Karachi, he was told to go to Chabehar, Iran.
7. While [the] detainee was attempting to travel to Yemen via Chabahar, Iran he and his travel companion were detained, questioned and released by Iranian polce at a roadside checkpoint located on the main road to Chabahar from Zahedan, Iran.
8. While at the Iranian checkpoint, the detainee claims he was beaten and questioned. The Iranian police officers attempted to speak to [the] detainee in several languages. The detainee claimed he did not speak throughout the encounter with the Iranian police because he had been given instructions at the start of his journey to not reveal that he was an Arab.
9. The detainee went back to Quetta, Pakistan with eight other Arabs and then went to Lahore. He stayed one month in Lahore, Pakistan.
10. The detainee stated he attended a religious speech to al Qaida operatives.
11. The detainee was identified as an al Qaida member.

b. This subheading was missing from the transcripts

1. The detainee then traveled to the al Farouq training camp. He stayed at a reception tent that was located about 50 meters from the actual camp for five days before starting training with his group. He received training on the Kalashnikov, pistol, Beka, RPG and the Magnoona. The detainee only trained for 25 days because the camp was closed due to United States bombing.
2. All the trainees in the al Farouq camp were told to go home because it was not safe there due to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. On approximately 13 September 2001, trainees were transported to the al Nibras guesthouse in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
3. An identified al Qaida member claimed the detainee took part in explosives training.

c. This subheading was missing from the transcripts

1. the detainee said he saw Usama Bin Laden at several lectures.

d. This subheading was missing from the transcripts

1. The detainee was arrested at the apartments ^[sic] in Karachi's defense II commercial area ^[sic] where a two and one half hour firefight between Arabs and Pakistani security forces ensued. Two handguns and three Russian style grenades were. recovered from the scene. A Kalashnikov rifle and a submachine gun used by the Arabs were also seized by police officials.
2. The detainee stated the weapons were kept in a small suitcase in a common room. Also in the room were some computer equipment and other things kept behind a curtain.
3. A computer was recovered in the safe houses where the detainee was arrested. The computer contained information on flight navigation maps and flight simulators.
4. The computer recovered during the detainee's arrest contained a manual that discussed kidnapping, hijacking, smuggling various things into countries of states and al Qaida documents about artillery and different types of mortars.

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

a.	According to the detainee he never used the computer and did not know what was on it.
b.	The detainee stated he had no information regarding imminent terrorist attacks worldwide.
c.	The detainee emphatically denied he trained on explosives. He insisted that whoever claimed that he had explosives training is either lying or mistook his identity.
d.	The detainee expressed some anger about Sheiks who issue fatwas, then recant. The detainee said that clerics make you believe you will burn in hell if you do not participate in fatwas or jihad.

[edit] Responses to the factors

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani said he was tricked into traveling to Afghanistan. He had no idea he would end up in Afghanistan for training.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani said he had no intention of training or fighting.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged that he stayed in various guesthouses in Karachi, Quetta and Kandahar.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged staying at a school while trying to leave Afghanistan. He acknowledged there was someone at the school helping people leave Afghanistan but he did not know he was an al Qaida member.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged fleeing from Kabul, through Zurmat, to Lahore.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged hiding in Lahore, Karachi, and being told to go the Iran.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged being stopped, and questioned in Iran.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged staying silent while being questioned by Iranian authorities. He told his Assisting Military Officer Officer that speaking in Arabic would have got him returned to Afghanistan, and had him end up in American custody.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani confirmed returning to Lahore from Iran.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani denied ever stating he attended an al Qaida speech.
• In response to the allegation that he was an al Qaida member Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani stated:

This is not correct. First of all, I was only in Afghanistan for three months and there was fighting, bombing, and chaos, and the fighters were withdrawing. How could I be a member of al Qaida? To be a member of al Qaida I would have been in their training camp and belonged to them. It is impossible for me to have been an al Qaida member because the situation was unstable. I am also not convinced of al Qaida. It is true they are Muslims but their beliefs are different from mine. I don't believe as they do. There are many beliefs in Islam.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged receiving weapons training at al Farouq, but not explosives training, or RPG training.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged that the al Farouq trainees were told to go home when the US aerial assault on Afghanistan began.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani acknowledged "...I only saw Usama Bin Laden once at Farouq and once in Khowst."
• In response to the allegation that a gunfight ensued when he was captured Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani stated:

The group I was arrested with were staying in two apartments. One person from each apartment refused to surrender and fought the Pakistani forces sent to arrest us. I was in the group that chose to surrender. The Pakistani forces recognized that we wanted to surrender very well. My fingerprints are not on any weapon, which proves I did not want to fight. Also, the Pakistani Intelligence authorities were grateful and thankful for our cooperation and surrendering without fighting.

• In response to the allegation that the suspect's apartment contained computer equipment Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani stated:

The computer equipment included games like Atari and songs, poems and other things to pass the time.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani denied that the computer in his apartment contained any suspect information. He suggested this information was found on a computer in the other apartment.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani stated he had never heard the allegaiton that his apartment's computer contained any terrorist training material.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani confirmed he did not know what was on the computer in his apartment.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani confirmed he did not know about imminent terrorist attacks worldwide.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani confirmed he never took explosive training and suspected the allegation was based on mistaken identity, or that someone was lying.
• In response to the allegation that he was angry at clerics who recanted their fatwa Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani stated:

He has watched a videotape since his internment at Guantanamo Bay aoub the Sheiks recanting their fatwas and became angry over their behavious and saddened by all the people who have been tortured and killed as a result of their words. "As a result of their mistakes I will no longer believe anything they say after today."

[edit] Request for a closes session

The Designated Military Officer confirmed that he had no further unclassified information and requested a closed session to present classified information relevant to the disposition of the detainee.

The Presiding Officer acknowledged the request for a closed session.

[edit] Opening Statement

This whole statement is about answering some questions. You could search and examine my file throughout the past three years either with the investigators or the military Army soldiers or the detainees. You are going to find it clean and empty from problems or behavioral punishment. My approach to dealing with interrogators states that I have never stopped dealing with them nor that I ever cursed them and also I have never for one day assaulted them. Keeping in mind that I go often to the interrogation and that I did not get discouraged to stop the cooperation or change my behavior toward them. As in regards to future plans that I have in mind in case I was released. My utmost hope when I get out of here [is] that I get to continue my education so I can find a job and educate myself and have an income that will help me maintain my daily life. So I would like to live a stable life with a wife and children. And also, I live with my parents, who raised and invested [in] me. So I want to be kind to them as they were kind to me. I do not pose a threat to the United States or another for that matter because I have never committed any act of aggression against it and I have never committed any act that would affect its security. I do not hold in my heart any grudges or hatred towards the United States, and also you could verify this by my goals that I would like to achieve after leaving here. The United States must release me from this place because there was none whatsoever of any indication that will prove that I have committed any aggression against America. Therefore I am innocent and I have no hatred whatsoever against America.

[edit] Response to Board officer questions

• When asked why he went to Afghanistan, if it wasn't to train or to fight, Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani said he was curious to see for himself what an Islamic state was like. Two acquaintances offered to pay his travel expenses, but they tricked him, he did no realize that he would be spending his vacation at a training camp. By the time he realized he had been tricked it was too late to try to leave, because he had already handed over his passport and money for safekeeping. He pointed out that he traveled to Afghanistan before hostilities with the USA began.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked:

  Were there hard men at the camp who wanted to die or were there mainly people like you who were just there for training and then thought they would go home?

Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani replied that most of the other students were "new people". But he didn't know their state of mind. Nobody knew any of the others.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked to explain why it was a muslim duty to train, and what they were training for. He replied:

  This really is Islamic religious issues. I cannot discuss this. I can't even tell you anything because I do not know. It's [a] fatwa fro sheikhs [who are] like priests. They put out recommendations and I cannot discuss it.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani explained that he wasn't prepared to follow the orders of religious clerics, without question. But he wanted to take advantage of the offer to travel to Afghanistan, to inform himself, so he could make up his own mind.
• When asked about jihad Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani responded that he wasn't really well informed, but he would feel an obligation to fight to protect his family, if it were attacked.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked to talk about the guesthouses he had stayed in, and the people he met there. He replied that that the guesthouse is an open house for all travelers. He added:

  [When] you enter Afghanistan you cannot ask a lot of questions because they will have doubts about you. Its not like Yemen [where] you have freedom of speech. In Afghanistan it is so difficult to ask questions.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani denied meeting "really bad people" in the guesthouses. He said:

  They were mostly ordinary, casual people. The people who were with me are here in detention. They were very ordinary people.

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked to expand on his earlier statement that his beliefs are different form al Qaida's. He said he didn't believe in what they are doing, and he didn't believe in their cause.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was reminded that he had testified that he had decline to answer questions posed to him in Arabic by Iranian investigators because he was afraid answering in Arabic would ultiimately get him handed over to American custody. He was asked what he ultimately feared about being turned over to Americans. He responded {{quotation|Do you think I would be happy if they surrendered me to the Afghanis or to [the] Americans? This is normal. Yes I was afraid.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked, after the four years he had spent in US custody, whether he still feared Americans. He responded:

  No I am not afraid. If I am afraid or if I fear America I wouldn't have attended this board. I would never have talked with any of the interrogators or the investigators. This is a casual situation as far as me talking to the Americans. Even if I talked one thousand times with the investigators I have no problem. I have nothing to fear. He have a saying in Yemen: "The hand that would [not] steal it won't be afraid of anything."

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked to explain what he was doing in Pakistan at the time he was arrested. He responded: {{quotation|It was a situation like anybody who makes a move, they will capture him. I was waiting for the situation to calm down a little bit. I couldn't really do much. I was not enabled to do anything but wait. Even at the airport they will capture you. You know the whole situation there.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked if there was anything he was holding back from his interrogators. He responded: {{quotation|That is impossible because before I came to the prison in Guantanamo Bay I was in another prison in Afghanistan, under the ground [and] it was very dark. It was total[ly] dark, under torturing [and] without sleep. It was impossible that I could get out of there alive. I was really beaten and tortured.

Main article: the dark prison

• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani there were seven men in the apartment where he was captured in Pakistan, the other apartment held two men and a family.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani confirmed only one of the occupants, from each apartment, resisted arrest.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked, since he spent months with these other travelers, whether he could say if any of them were "hard men". He responded that the man who was killed in his apartment, Amaar, had only been there five days. He said Amaar was old, about 39 years old.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani said the Pakistani officials had made videotapes of the siege, which clearly show that he and the other occupants had all surrendered prior to Amaar opening fire, that they were all in a different room from Amaar, but it was unsafe for them to proceed into the physical custody of the Pakistani officials until Amaar was neutralized.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani said he was the fourth of fifth siblings. None of his family members had gone to Afghanistan. One other individual, Fayooz, from his village, had gone to Afghanistan. He didn't tell his family he was planning to travel, prior to his departure. They were angry at him when he phoned them from Afghanistan. They remained saddened by his detention.
• Musab Omar Ali Al Mudwani was asked if he had a fiance. He replied that letters from his family told him they were trying to arrange a marriage for him.

[edit] See also

[edit] References