Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby

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Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby
Born: March 1, 1961(1961-03-01)
Zletan, Saudi Arabia
Detained at: Guantanamo
Alias(s): * Radfat Muhammad Faqi Alji Saqqaf
* Salim Gherebi
* Fallen Gherebi
* Falen Gherebi
* Faren Gherebi
ID number: 189
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
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Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby (born March 1, 1961) (also known as Salim Gherebi) is a citizen of Libya held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 189. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that Gherebi was born on March 1, 1961, in Zletan, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Identity

Captive 189 is identified inconsistenly on official Department of Defense documents:

While Salem's name is listed in recent DoD documents as Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby, in earlier court rulings the DoD referred to him as Salim Gherebi, Fallen Gherebi, Falen Gherebi and Faren Gherebi.[10]

[edit] Access to US Civil Courts

Salem was the first Guantanamo captive to challenge whether he should have access to US Civil Courts.[10] Human rights lawyer Stephen Yagman filed the appeal on Salem's behalf after being contacted by Salem's brother

Justice Matz ruled against Salim, but Matz's ruling was overturned on appeal, by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, on December 18, 2003.[11]

On February 20, 2007 two of the three judges on US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that when the Military Commissions Act stripped the right to use habeas corpus from the Guantanamo captives retroactively, and that appeals, like Salim's, which were in process, were vacated.[12]

[edit] Salim's legal representation

Salim's lawyer is Duke University professor Erwin Chemerinsky.[13] He handled Salim's writ of habeas corpus.

In 2002 Chemerinsky said he received death threats for his efforts on Gherebi's behalf:[10]

  • “I’ve never done anything that’s gotten the quantity of hate mail this has gotten,”
  • “I just feel it’s so important for the United States to follow the law, We’re not seeking to aid the terrorists, but no matter how heinous their crimes are, we have to follow the law.”

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive. During the period July 2004 through March 2005 a Combatant Status Review Tribunal was convened to make a determination whether they had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Participation was optional. The Department of Defense reports that 317 of the 558 captives who remained in Guantanamo, in military custody, attended their Tribunals.
Combatant Status Review Tribunal notice read to a Guantanamo captive. During the period July 2004 through March 2005 a Combatant Status Review Tribunal was convened to make a determination whether they had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Participation was optional. The Department of Defense reports that 317 of the 558 captives who remained in Guantanamo, in military custody, attended their Tribunals.

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.

[edit] Salem's Combatant Status Review Tribunal dossier

The Associated Press acquired the entire unclassified dossiers prepared for 58 of the Guantanamo captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunals, and made them available for public download.[14]

[edit] Unclassified Summary of basis for Tribunal decision

The "Unclassified Summary of basis for Tribunal decision" states Salem did not acknowledge his Personal Representative or his translator when they came to read his CSRT notice to him.[15]

The document ended with:

Upon careful review of all the evidence presented in this matter, the Tribunal makes the

following determinations:

a. The detainee chose not to participate in the Tribunal proceeding. No evidence was produced that caused the Tribunal to question whether the detainee was mentally and physically capable of participating in the proceeding, had he wanted to do so. Accordingly, no medical or mental health evaluation was requested or deemed necessary.
b. As indicated in Exhibit D-a, the detainee made a conscious decision not to acknowledge the Personal Representative’s invitation to participate in the Tribunal process. Instead, he chose to recite verses of the Koran during their entire meeting. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds the detainee made a knowing, intelligent and voluntary decision not to participate in the Tribunal process.
c. The detainee is properly classified as an enemy combatant because he was part of or supporting A1 Qalda forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.

[edit] Detainee Election Form

The Personal Representative recorded, on the "Detainee Election Form":[16]

"Detainee recited versus [sic] from the Koran during the entire interview, would not acknowledge the presence of either the PR or translator. When asked if he wanted to participate the PR took the lack of response as a negative."

[edit] Summary of Evidence

The allegations from the Summary of Evidence memo in Salem's dossier were[17][7]:

a. Detainee is a member of al Qaida:
  1. The Detainee is a Libyan national who has, since 1992, traveled to numerous areas of conflict throughout the Middle East and Former USSR. He claims to have arrived in Afghanistan in 1995.
  2. The Detainee lost most of the fingers of his right hand in an explosives accident while in Tajikistan in 1994.
  3. The Detainee was an al Qaida operative in Kabul.
  4. One of the Detainee’s aliases appeared on a list of individuals who reportedly trained at the al Qalda training camp at Jihad Wahl, Afghanistan in 1996.
  5. The Detainee was captured by Pakistani Forces in November 2001 aider entering that country without documentation or authorization.

[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".[18]

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 Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 23 September 2005.[8] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
In 1989, the detainee traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, after fighting the Russians [sic] in Tajikistan.
b. Training
  1. The detainee had not been in the active duty military in Libya, but did have military training one hour per day for an unspecified amount of time.
  2. One of the detainee's aliases appeared on a list of individuals who reportedly trained at an al Qaida training camp at Jihad Wahl, Afghanistan in 1996.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee was identified as a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
  2. Two senior al Qaida operatives identified the detainee.
  3. The detainee was an associate of a terrorist wanted by the United States.
d. Other Relevant Data
Pakistani forces captured the detainee in November 2001.

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

The detainee denied any knowledge of the September 11th, 2001 attacks prior to their occurrence.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Radfat Muhammad Faqi Alji Saqqaf's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 11 September 2006.[19]

The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. An individual helped the detainee obtain a visa to Pakistan in 1992. The detainee then traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan and then to Peshawar, Pakistan and stayed at the Libyan Guest House.
  2. Fearing talks between the Libyan and Pakistan governments to deport all Libyan residents from Pakistan to Libya in 1993, the detainee went to refugee camps in Talokan, Afghanistan and Konduz, Afghanistan.
b. Training
  1. The detainee was not in the active duty military but had military training one hour per day for an unspecified amount of time.
  2. The detainee attended the Jihad Wahl Camp near Khowst, Afghanistan in 1996.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee was identified as a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group by a senior al Qaida member.
  2. A Libyan Islamic Fighting Group member identified the detainee as part of a group who had returned to Pakistan from fighting the Russians in Tajikistan.
  3. The same Libyan Islamic Fighting Group member identified the detainee as a member of the Libyan Group.

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

a. The detainee denied any knowledge of the 11 September 2001 attacks prior to their occurrence.
b. A senior al Qaida operative stated that the detainee did not go to any training camps in Afghanistan.

[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. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
  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 8, 2007). Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b OARDEC (23 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ghereby, Salem Abdul Salem page 98. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  8. ^ a b OARDEC (23 September 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ghereby, Salem Abdul Salem pages 23-24. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  9. ^ OARDEC (11 September 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Alji Saqqaf, Radfat Muhammad Faqi pages 82-83. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
  10. ^ a b c Robert Greene. "Bush Rebuke, Part Two: Detainees case moves from L.A. courts to Washington, D.C.", LA Weekly news, Thursday, July 15, 2004. Retrieved on February 22. 
  11. ^ Erwin Chemerinsky, Stephen Yagman. "Protecting rights after Guantnamo", San Diego Union-Tribune, July 1, 2005. Retrieved on February 22. 
  12. ^ Jeannie Shawl. "Federal appeals court upholds MCA habeas-stripping provisions", The Jurist, Tuesday, February 20, 2007. Retrieved on February 22. 
  13. ^ Josh White. "New detainee law upheld", Washington Post, Wednesday, February 21, 2007. 
  14. ^ Unclassified dossier (.pdf), prepared for Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - September 27, 2004 - page 12
  15. ^ Unclassified Summary of basis for Tribunal decision (.pdf), from Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - September 27, 2004 - pages 8-10
  16. ^ Unclassified Detainee Election Form (.pdf), from Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - September 26, 2004 - page 11
  17. ^ OARDEC (23 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ghereby, Salem Abdul Salem page 13. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  18. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  19. ^ OARDEC (11 September 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Alji Saqqaf, Radfat Muhammad Faqi pages 82-83. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.