Salah Muhammad Salih Al Dhabi

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Salah Muhammad Salih Al Dhabi is held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID is 572. Intelligence officials estimate he was born in 1972, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive.
Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive.

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.

There is no record that Al Dhabi chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[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.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Al Dhabi were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.[2]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee voluntaril traveled from Yemen to Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee conceded that if a Fatwa was issued against the United States by a recognized learned religious leader he would be compelled to follow the Fatwa.
b. Training
  1. The detainee admitted he trained at the Al-Sadeeq training camp near Khost, Afghanistan.
  2. At the Al-Sadeeq training camp, the detainee trained on the AK-47, BEKA, RPG’s and physical training.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. While traveling to the Al-Sadeeq training camp, the detainee stayed at the Taliban-run Madafa guesthouse.
  2. The detainee was associated with a suspected Taliban Facilitator.
d. Intent
  1. During the conflict following 9-11 the detainee carried an AK-47 in Afghanistan along with a magazine of ammunition.
  2. The detainee was smuggled out of Afghanistan into Pakistan where he was arrested by Pakistani Police.

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

  • The detainee left the training camp before completing training.
  • The detainee stated that he was not a Taliban fighter.
  • The detainee stated that he did not use a weapon against the United States or any of its coalition partners in any armed conflict.
  • The detainee stated that his trip to Afghanistan was done long before any events in the United States occurred.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Salah Muhammad Salih Al Dhabi Administrative Review Board - page 22

Al Dhabi, Salah Muhammad Salih