Ohmed Ahmed Mahamoud Al Shurfa

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Ohmed Ahmed Mahamoud Al Shurfa (born December 26, 1975) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Al Shurfa's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 331. The Department of Defense reports that Al Shurfa was born on December 26, 1975, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[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.[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 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 Shurfa chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[5]

[edit] allegations

The allegations Al Shurfa faced during his Tribunal were:[5]

a. The detainee is a member of Al-Qaida.
  1. Prior to his arrival in Afghanistan, the detainee admits being influenced by a known terrorist organization and actively sought to join the jihad.
  2. Around July 2001, the detainee arrived in Kandahar and stayed at a known Al-Qaida guesthouse.
  3. The detainee received AK-47 training while at a known Al-Qaida run training camp.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. The detainee was located at the Al-Qaeda training camp when 9/11 occurred, at which time he evacuated to Tora Bora.
  2. The detainee was apprehended fleeing into Pakistan from Tora Bora by the Pakistani border guard.

[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.

Al Shurfa chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
  2. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  3. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Ohmed Ahmed Mahamoud Al Shurfa's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 79-82
  6. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Ohmed Ahmed Mahamoud Al Shurfa's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 67