Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa

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Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa
Born: July 24, 1979(1979-07-24)
Rifah, Bahrain
Detained at: Guantanamo
ID number: 246
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status repatriated
Occupation: prince

Sheikh Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa is a citizen of Bahrain, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 246. The Department of Defense reports that Al Khalifa was born on July 24, 1979, in Rifah, Bahrain. He is a member of the Al Khalifa royal family of Bahrain, related to King Hamad.

Al Khalifa, like the other Bahrainis held in Guantanamo, has Joshua Colangelo-Bryan as his lawyer.

Contents

[edit] Identity

Captive 246 was identified inconsistently on official Department of Defense documents:

[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.[12][13] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[14]
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 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—they were only empowered to make a recommendation as to whether a captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Salman Ibrahim Al Khalifa's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 9 September 2004.[2] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

[edit] Allegations

Prior to getting access to all the captive's transcript the Associated Press made available for public download a library of the dossiers from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 58 Guantanamo captives that had been released under the United States' Freedom of Information Act

57 of those dossiers were all over a dozen pages long, some of them were over fifty pages, because they all contained multiple documents.

The 58th dossier was a two page dossier for a captive identified as Salman Ibrahim al Khalifa.[3] It contained a certificate from Commander James R. Crisfield, and a Summary of Evidence memo.

The allegations Salman Ibrahim al Khalifa would have faced, during his Tribunal, were:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban and al Qaeda.
  1. Detainee is a citizen of Bahrain who admitted he traveled thru Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan and then to Afghanistan in 2001 to study with a mento who is a known operative and member of the explosives team of al Qaeda.
  2. Detainee arrived in Kabul in June 2001, he then decided to stay indefinitely with his mentor in a house used by foreign fighters.
  3. Detainee's mentor was seen escorting soldiers to the front and promoting morale.
  4. Detainee admits that in 2001 he gave $5000 (USD) to a main in the Taliban Embassy in Pakistan.
  5. Detainee was captured by Pakistan armed forces in the village of Cheman (next to the Pakistan Afghanistan border) while on his way to Quetta Pakistan.

[edit] Al Khalifa's Transcript

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Al Khalifa chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[15] He did not attend his Tribuanl, but he prepared a written response.

Al Khalifa’s transcript contains a statement Al Khalifa dictated.

Al Khalifa said, in his statement, that he was not part of the Taliban or al Qaida.

Al Khalifa acknowledged traveling to a series of countries. But he had legitimate travel documents for all of them.

Al Khalifa’s statement addressed an allegation that he was a protégé of someone named Abu Had Qualid. He acknowledged having a mentor, who encouraged him to extend a visit from Pakistan, to Afghanistan. But his name was not Abu Had Qualid.

Al Khalifa’s statement says he was captured in Pakistan, and that he had a legitimate student visa for Pakistan.

Al Khalifa’s statement acknowledged that he had given someone some money. Al Khalifa’s statement said it was a charitable donation, to help orphans and the poor.

Al Khalifa’s statement said he was captured in Pakistan, where he was living in a foreign student’s residence.

[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".[16]

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 if a detainee continued to pose a threat and should remain in the custody of the United States, or whether the detainee could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country or set free.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Sheikh Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa's Administrative Review Board, on 29 July 2005.[11] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan after watching a television program encouraging Muslims to go and live there as true believers. He traveled on a special Royal Bahrain passport issued in December 2000.
  2. The Crown Prince of Bahrain gave him a new passport to facilitate his travel all around the Gulf and Middle East.
  3. He departed Bahrain on 4 January 2001 for Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan where he stayed for eight days.
  4. The detainee then traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he stayed for seven weeks at the Concord Hotel form 14 January 2001 to 6 March 2001.
  5. The Concord Hotel is a known al Qaida meeting place.
  6. The detainee traveled to Cairo, Egypt and stayed at the Cairo Intercontinental Hotel from 7 March 2001 to 27 May 2001. His father wired him $5,000 USD.
  7. On 28 May 2001, the detainee traveled from Cairo to Islamabad and he went to the Taliban Embassy. He gave a Taliban official $500 USD in $100 dollar bills.
  8. On 29 May 2001, he and his guide Muhammad Rusal left Islamabad for Quetta, Pakistan and went to a Taliban guesthouse.
  9. On 30 May 2001, both men left Quetta, Pakistan for Qandahar, Afghanistan and stayed at a Taliban guesthouse. They met a man named Muhammad Yu'qub who continued traveling with the detainee while Rusal departed.
  10. The two men continued onto Qandahar, Afghanistan and stayed in a Taliban guesthouse before departing for Kabul, Afghanistan. The detainee purchased a $150 USD AK-47 rifle for protection.
  11. The detainee was captured by Pakistan Army forces in the village of Chaman next to the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.
  12. The detainee arrived in Pakistan with around $7,000 USD. He gave $5,000 USD to a man in the Taliban embassy in Pakistan.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee has admiteed to a past association with Al-Gama'at Al-Islamiya.
  2. The Al-Gama'at Al-Islamiya is Egypt's largest militant group. The Egyptian Government believes that Iran, Bin Laden, and Afghan militant groups support the organization. It also may obtain some funding through various Islamic nongovernmental organizations.
  3. Muhammad Yu'qub met and traveled with the detainee when his previous guide departed.
  4. Mohamed Yacoub]] is a native Afghan Taliban fighter who acted as a guide for foreign fighters.
  5. The detainee says he spent about five months in Kabul, Afghanistan studying Islam under Abu Al-Walid. He stayed at Al-Walid's house in the Wazir Akbar Khan District.
  6. Abu Waleed managed the house that Foreign Taliban fighters often used as a rest and transit point as they moved to and from unidentified front lines.
  7. Abu Waleed was well known in Kabul as a teacher of Islam as well as a fighter who participated in the jihad against the Russians.
  8. Abu Waleed has been on the front lines near Bagram. He has asked the fighters to be steadfast and has taken Arab fighters to the front lines and left them there.
  9. On a document that lists the names of al Qaida martyrs who were assigned to various positions and units, Abu Al-Waleed is listed as part of the explosives team.
  10. Other reporting states that al al Qaida operative with the same name as Al-Walid was a commander of the Dar Wanta Training Camp and a group commander for Usama Bin Laden.
  11. The detainee is associated with Abu Hafz Al-Mauritania, leader of the Jamaat Lughat Al-Arabiya, a school run by the Taliban near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
  12. The detainee was give a place to stay by the Taliban leader of Khowst, Afghanistan, Jalaludeen Haggani. Haggani gave all Arabs fleeing the fighting a place to stay.
  13. The detainee has been identified as being related to an admitted jihadist who went to Afghanistan to become a martyr.
c. Other Relevant Data
  1. The detainee's passport raises doubt as to its authenticity. The seal on the picture and the identification page may not exactly match.
  2. It was noted that an unidentified member of the Bahrain Royal Family was one of the foreign fighters that transitioned through the transit house.
  3. At least one of the foreign fighters paid $5,000 USD to have unlimited use of the transit house and access to the front line.

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

a.

The detainee claims to bear no grudge against the United States or its allies, and doesn't want his situation to negatively impact the relationship between Bahrain and the United States.
b.

The detainee says he never heard anything derogatory about the United States at political meetings he attended. The detainee attempted suicide at least one time between October 2005 and December 2005 while being held in Guantanamo Bay.


[edit] Transcript

Captive 246's Assisting Military Officer (AMO) reported that he tried to meet with him, but that captive 246 declined.[17] His AMO reported observations to his board, which were recorded in the unclassified transcript of his hearing. The transcript from captive's 246's hearing was not published when the Department of Defense complied with a court order and published other captives' transcripts. The Department of Defense has not offered an explanation for not publishing his transcript.

[edit] Joshua Colangelo-Bryan's letter to the Administrative Review Board

Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, Al Khalifa's lawyer, sent a letter to the legal advisor for the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants (OARDEC) on January 19, 2005.[18] This letter bears marginal notations, presumably from someone in the OARDEC, that indicate that Al Khalifa's Combatant Status Review Tribunal had been held on December 9, 2004.

Colangelo-Bryan's letter clarified when Al-Khalifa traveled to Afghanistan:

Therefore, even assuming, for argument’s sake, that the allegations in the unclassified summary are true, Mr. Al-Kalifa would have done little more than travel to Afghanistan to study with a scholar prior to the onset of hostilities between the United States and the Taliban.

Colangelo-Bryan's letter contained many redactions. One heavily redacted paragraph states:

With respect to intelligence value, the classified CSRT records contain nothing but the most rank speculation and vague innuendo. ###################### ############# ############ ############ ############### ############## ############ ####### ########### ########## ############## ############# ############# ############ ############ ############# ############# ############ ########### ############ ############ ############ ############### ############## ################ ################ ############# ############# ############ ############ ######### ############# Indeed, to find Mr. Al-Khalifa’s detention is warranted based on supposition of this sort would render meaningless the standards enunciated in the Memorandum, especially considering that Mr. Al-Khalifa has already been interrogated countless times.

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[19][17] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 15 October 2005.

His Board determined: "...ISN 246 continues to be a threat to the United States and its allies."[17]

[edit] Release

The Gulf Daily News announced on November 5, 2005, that Salman had been released, and was one of three Bahraini detainees on their way home.[20][21]

On Thursday August 23, 2007 the Gulf Daily News reported that Bahraini Member of Parliament Mohammed Khalid had called for the Bahrain government to provide financial compensation to the released men.[22]

[edit] See also

[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. ^ a b OARDEC (9 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Khalifa, Salman Ibrahim page 77. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
  3. ^ a b OARDEC (September 9, 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal: AL KHALIFA, Salman Ibrahim. Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  4. ^ OARDEC (April 20, 2006). List of detainee who went through complete CSRT process. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  5. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index for Combatant Status Review Board unclassified summaries of evidence. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  6. ^ OARDEC (September 4, 2007). Index for testimony. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  7. ^ OARDEC (August 8, 2007). Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ OARDEC (August 9, 2007). Index of Transcripts and Certain Documents from ARB Round One. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  10. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index to Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  11. ^ a b OARDEC (29 July 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Khalifa, Sheikh Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali pages 9-11. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
  12. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  13. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ OARDEC (18 November 2004). Summarized Unsworn Detainee Statement pages 1-2. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
  16. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", The Wire (JTF-GTMO), Friday March 10, 2006, pp. 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  17. ^ a b c OARDEC (8 August 2005). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN pages 25-31. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. “Exhibit EC-B indicated that the EC refused on two consecutive days to leave his cell to be interviewed by the AMO and chose not to appear before the Board. Exhibit EC-B also indicated that the EC was provided with a copy of the Unclassified Summary of Evidence translated into the EC's native language. The AMO then read the AMO Comments from the Enemy Combatant Election Form.”
  18. ^ OARDEC. Joshua Colangelo-Bryan's letter to the Administrative Review Board pages 80-82. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
  19. ^ OARDEC (15 October 2005). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 246 page 24. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
  20. ^ Kanwal Hameed. "Free at last!", Gulf Daily News, November 5, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
  21. ^ "'Nightmare' for freed Bay Three", Gulf Daily News, November 9, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
  22. ^ Geoffrey Bew. "Bay victims may get BD50,000", Gulf Daily News, August 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 

[edit] External links