Usama Hassan Ahmend Abu Kabir

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Usama Hassan Ahmed Abu Kabir
Detained at:	Guantanamo
ID number:	651
Conviction(s):	no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status	repatriated and released November 2007

Usama Hassan Ahmed Abu Kabir is a citizen of Jordan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 651.^[2]

Kabir is notable because one of the justifications for his continued detention was that he was captured wearing a Casio F91W digital watch.

Kabir spoke about the allegation that he owned a casio watch during his testimony before his Combatant Status Review Tribunal:

"I learned that some of the detainee's ^[sic] were excused ^[sic] they were al Qaida because they wore Casio watches.^[3] When in fact, I have a casio watch, due to the fact they are inexpensive and they last a long time. I like my watch because it is durable. It had a calculator and was waterproof, and before prayers we have to wash up all the way to my elbows. I made a statement to a soldier when I was on my way back from interrogation. I told him that if the authorities knew about you they would think you are al Qaida because you have a casio watch."

However, it should be noted that the Casio F91W does not have a calculator.

Kabir explained that positive statements he had made about Osama bin Laden in his earliest interviews were made in ignorance of his role in attacks of September 11, 2001.

[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.

Casio F91W, in daily alarm mode. The watch is currently set to ring an alarm, and flash its light, at 7:30am.

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] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Usama Hassan Ahmed Abu Kabir's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on p29 September 2004.^[7] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Kabir faced, during his Tribunal, were:

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida:

1. The detainee, who claims Jordanian citizenship, traveled to Pakistan in October 2001 to preach and to participate in a conference for the Jama'at al Tablighi ^[sic] organization.
2. The detainee is an admitted member of Jama'at al Tablighi ^[sic] .
3. Jama'at al Tablighi ^[sic] , a Pakistan based Islamic missionary organization is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al Qaida.
4. The detainee stated he traveled to Afghanistan in November 2001.
5. The detainee stated that after his arrival in Pakistan, he responded to a fatwa that encouraged him to travel to Afghanistan in order to join the Jihad.
6. While in Pakistan, the detainee became a close associate of a member of the Jema'ah Islamiyah ^[sic] organization.
7. Jema 'ah Islamiyah ^[sic] is a Southeast Asian terrorist network with links to al Qaida.
8. After traveling to Afghanistan, the detainee fled the city of Kabul and was captured near Jalalabad, Afghanistan by the Masoudy (troops of the Northern Alliance).

[edit] Witness request

Captive 651 asked for the testimony of an Indonesian traveling companion, Mohammed Islam.

Main article: witnesses requested by Guantanamo captives

[edit] Transcript

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Summarized Sworn Detainee Statement (CSRT ISN 651)

Kabir chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[8] His "Summarized Sworn Detainee Statement" was nine pages long.

[edit] Opening statement

• Captive 651 assured his Tribunal that he had never belonged to any radical groups.
• Captive 651 assured his Tribunal that he had never been in troupble in Jordan, with the exception of one "traffic offense".
• Captive 651 testified that his record during his compulsory military service was clear.
• Captive 651 said he had been completely cooperative with all his interrogators, and he had never had any conflict with any of the guards.
• Captive 651 said he had written papers that prove the real Shia religion.^[9]

[edit] Response to the allegations

• Captive 651 confirmed that he really was a Jordanian. He testified that a visiting delegation of Jordanian authorities confirmed his identity.
• With regard to his participation in the Tabligh movement he replied:

I am a member of Jama at al Tablighi. I have been a member for two years, since I left to Pakistan, It is an Islamic organization, it's not political, and it is only religion. It is not Jihad, it is not for charity purposes, it's only social with peace. It calls for all people to do good. One of its goals is to get close to God, and to really spiritual. You are supposed to be respectful and have mercy on others and to get ready for the day of passion. One of its principals is to never get involved with politics, problems or be part of a bad society. This is why Jama at al Tablighi is authorized to preach in all the different countries.

• In response to the allegation that terrorists used the cover of participating in Tablighi pilgrimages to travel to participate in terrorist programs he stated that his travel was on his business visa, not a religious visa.
• In response to the allegation that he had traveled to Afghanistan in response to a fatwa captive 651 testified:

I traveled to Afghanistan to help the Afghani people. They were exposed to a lot of murdering and injustice. I went to help the government of Taliban. The Northern Alliance and the groups of Massoud attacked them. By me helping them, this is in compliance with fatwa. These are the rules of fatwa. I haven't done anything, not military, not civil, not as an interrogator, and I never even carried a weapon. I never met anyone from Taliban, al Qaida or any other kind of group. After my arrival in Afghanistan, it was two days later when the city of Kabul was captured; then I fled to the mountains; and I went back to the city of Jalalabad by taxi. I was then captured from a group of Mossoud's on my way to Jalalabad. My intentions were to meet with Jihad but I didn't meet with any of them. I would like to point out something very important. I spend almost a month in Karachi and I had no intention to be on Jihad. All I did was preach to the people; then my intentions changed from preaching to join Jihad. The media showed the misery and the poverty of the people and it was being said on the radio as well. The second reason for changing from preaching to Jihad; the emotion and the excitement from the Afghani people at the demonstration in the road. They all were holding up signs, had writing on t-shirts; it was their love that I had seen, I can explain it to you, but you won't understand how it felt that day. Most of the town talk was about the Afghan matter, so that was when I decided to want to be with the Jihad and the Taliban. That was a social gesture in general. The third thing was the biggest scientist of fatwa (the detainee gives examples of the 5 principles of fatwa's service). I think that most of the Arab people that are here at Guantanamo that are from Jama at al Tablighi; they were probably preaching in Pakistan or they were waiting for a conference. I think waiting around they might have changed their decision, the same as I. Jama at al Tablighi is not a terrorist group or organization but a few members could have just been influenced like me.

• Captive 651 denied being a "close associate of a member of the Jema 'ah Islamiyah organization." He acknowledged meeting an indonesian man. The two of them were the only to men in a mosque where he stayed in Pakistan who were not Pakistanis. He had no idea whether the Indonesian man was a member of any group. He only knew what the man had told him about himself, which was:
  • the indonesian man said he was married;
  • the indonesian man said he was a decorative designer;
  • the indonesian man said his father was dead and that a brother had been executed for drug crimes;
  • the indonesian man said his travel expenses were paid by family.
• Captive 651 acknowledged the two of them had decided to travel to Afghanistan, to give aid. The two of them did travel together, two days prior to the fall of Kabul, and seven days as they fled to Jalalabad, prior to their capture. The two of them were held in the same prison in Afghanistan for four and a half months. He knew the Indonesian man as Muhammad Islam.
• Captive 651 testified that none of his interrogators had ever asked him about his Indonesian companion.

[edit] Response to Tribunal officer's questions

[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".^[10]

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] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Usama Hassan Ahmed Abu Kabir's Administrative Review Board, on 19 October 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 joined the Tablighi group in Jordan in 1998 and went to Pakistan for the yearly Tablighi Committee meeting in November 2000.
2. The detainee traveled to Karachi, Pakistan in October 2001 to preach Tablighi beliefs and to attend the annual Jama’at Tabalighi Conference in Ralwind, Pakistan.
3. The detainee remained in Pakistan for nearly five weeks and stayed at various Mosques.
4. The detainee received a flyer with a fatwa written on it while outside of the Makki Mosque in Pakistan. The fatwa encouraged Muslims to join the Jihad in Afghanistan.
5. A Tablighi member facilitated the detainee’s travel to Afghanistan. The detainee traveled with the facilitator and another Tablighi member, who was from Singapore. They traveled to Afghanistan via Karachi, Peshawar, Khowst and finally Kabul. The detainee and the individual from Singapore continued on to a checkpoint outside of Jalalabad.
6. The detainee was the subject of a television interview dated 25 November 2001, while he was a prisoner in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the interview, the detainee stated that he supported and provided aid for the Afghans in the Jihad.

b. Training

1. The detainee was in the Jordanian military for 18 months beginning in March 1991.
2. The detainee was trained with a M-16 rifle.
3. The detainee and his travel ^[sic] companion demonstrated they were proficient in handling weapons. They requested and were sent to the front lines to fight.

c. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee and his travel companion set up an ambush on Northern Alliance fighters.
2. The detainee and his travel ^[sic] companion from Singaport were arrested near Jalalabad on 22 November 2001.
3. The detainee was captured with a digital casio watch.

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

a.	The detainee claims he will not answer another call to Jihad and regrets going in the first place.
b.	The detainee wants to return to Jordan to his job and raise his children. He felt he was deceived by the people who encouraged him to travel to Afghanistan because they did not reveal the bad things the Taliban and al Qaida were involved with.

[edit] Transcript

Captive 651 chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[12] Captive 651's Board convened on December 1, 2005, and his transcript was seven pages long.

[edit] Enemy Combatant election form

Captive 651 met with his Assisting Military Officer for pre-hearing interview for one hour on 29 November 2005. His Assisting Military Officer described him as "very cooperative, attentive, and cordial throughout the interview.

[edit] Response to the factors

• Abu Kabir acknowledged that he was interviewed on TV, but disputed that he said he had provided aid to Afghanistan. He said he had planned to provide aid to Afghans, but he was captured before he had a chance to do so.
• Abu Kabir denied requesting being sent to the front lines.
• Abu Kabir denied setting up an ambush.

[edit] Board's recommendation

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.^[13][14] His Board's recommendation was heavily redacted.

His Board relied on intelligence assessments from the FBI, the CIA, the State Department, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs.^[13]

[edit] Press reports

On July 12, 2006 the magazine Mother Jones provided excerpts from the transcripts of a selection of the Guantanamo detainees.^[15] The article informed readers:

More than a dozen detainees were cited for owning cheap digital watches, particularly “the infamous Casio watch of the type used by Al Qaeda members for bomb detonators.”

The article quoted Kabir, and three other watch owners:

"I have a Casio watch due to the fact that they are inexpensive and they last a long time. I like my watch because it is durable. It had a calculator and was waterproof, and before prayers we have to wash up all the way to my elbows."

[edit] Repatriation and release

Three Jordanians named Osama Hassan Abu Kabir, Ahmed Hassan Suleiman and Ibrahim Mahdi Zeidan were repatriated to Jordanian custody in early November 2007.^[16] Jordanian authorities held the men for a week, while they: "underwent medical tests to ensure they were medically sound." The men were released from Jordanian custody on November 11, 2007.

[edit] Notes