Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali

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Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali
Born: June 6, 1974(1974-06-06)
Donkhallah, Sudan
Detained at: Guantanamo
ID number: 81
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status Repatriated on May 1, 2008

Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali is a citizen of Sudan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 81. Ali was born on June 6, 1974, in Donkhallah, Sudan.

Contents

[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 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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 27 September 2004.[2] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban:
  1. The detainee traveled from Saudi Arabia, through Pakistan, then into Afghanistan.
  2. While in Quetta, Pakistan, the detainee stayed 25 to 30 days in a Taliban guesthouse that was also used by recovering, injured Taliban fighters.
  3. The detainee received training on the Kalishnikov [sic] rifle.
  4. The detainee was captured by the Northern Alliance and then turned over to U.S. Forces.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners:
  1. The detainee traveled to Konduz, Afghanistan and then rode in a truck with other Taliban fighters to a bunker area on the second line, where he served as a guard for several months.
  2. The detainee also spent time in the North, fighting on the front line.
  3. The detainee participated in the Mazir-E-Sharif prison riot at the Al Janki Castle.

[edit] Transcript

There is no record that Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearings

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".[3]

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.[4] 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 Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 7 March 2005.[5] 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 Konduz, Afghanistan and then rode in a truck with other Taliban fighters to a bunker area on the second line, where he served as a guard for several months.
  2. The detainee also spent time in the North, fighting on the front line.
  3. The detainee participated in the Mazar-E-Sharif [sic] prison riot at the Al Janki [sic] Castle.
b. Training
The detainee received training on the Kalishnikov rifle.
c. Connection / Association
  1. While in Quetta, Pakistan, the detainee stayed 25 to 30 days in a Taliban guesthouse that was also used by recovering, injured Taliban fighters.
  2. The detainee was identified as a Sudanese who spent a long time in Afghanistan.
  3. The detainee was a special friend to a known Taliban leader.
  4. This Taliban leader was in charge of all the Arabs on the front lines in the northern area of Afghanistan near Konduz and Marzar e Sharif.
  5. This Taliban leader reported directly to an al Qaida commander.
  6. The al Qaida commander was in charge of al Qaida fighters in the Afghani northern front.
d. Intent
  1. The detainee traveled from Saudi Arabia, through Pakistan, then into Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee said that if he were in a combat situation, he would attack Americans to defend his country and/or family and he would fight again for the sake of his religion or his family.

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

a.

The detainee stated, "I did not fight against the United States or her allies."
b.

The detainee stated, "I did not see an American or fight against an American or any American allies."
c.

The detainee said that his intention was to go to Pakistan for four months to teach religion in accordance with a Da'wa.
d.

The detainee said that he was going to the Raywan mosque in Lahore Pakistan to teach.

[edit] Transcript

In the Spring of 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a six page Summarized transcript from his Administrative Review Board.[6][7]

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 24 Feburay 2006.[8] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Transcript

In September 2007 the Department of Defense published the transcripts from the few captives who attended their second annual Administrative Review Board hearings in 2006. Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali attended his hearing and a fourteen page summarized transcript was published.[9]

[edit] Responses to the Summary of Evidence memo

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali's Assisting Military Officer helped him draft a statement in response to the Summary of Evidence memo. Usually written responses like this were read aloud, and the captive was encouraged to add extemporaneous comments. Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad Ali's statement was not read aloud. He was not provided an opportunity to expand on the responses it contained.

[edit] Repatriation

A Sudanese captive identified as "Walid Ali", two other Sudanese, a Moroccan, and five Afghan captives were repatriated to the custody of their home countries on May 1, 2008.[10][11] The identity of the five Afghan repatriates was not made public. The other two Sudanese men were Sami Al Hajj, Yacoub al-Amir.[12] The Sudanese captive was Saïd Boujaâdia. Amnesty International reports that the nine repatriates were the first captives to be repatriated in 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 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. ^ OARDEC (27 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ali, Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad pages 2-3. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  3. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  4. ^ Army Sgt. Sarah Stannard. "OARDEC provides recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense", JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs, October 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
  5. ^ OARDEC (7 March 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ali, Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad pages 55-57. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  6. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summarized Administrative Review Board Detainee Statement pages 42-47. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  7. ^ "US releases Guantanamo files", The Age, April 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 
  8. ^ OARDEC (24 Feburay 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ali, Walid Mohammad Haj Mohammad pages 60-63. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  9. ^ OARDEC (March 1, 2006). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 081 pages 69-82. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  10. ^ James Oliphant. "U.S. releases nine from Guantanamo", Chicago Tribune, May 2, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 
  11. ^ "Sami al-Hajj hits out at US captors", Al Jazeera, May 2, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  12. ^ "Amnesty International Urges the Bush Administration to Release or Provide Fair Trials to All Remaining Guantanamo Detainees", AmnestyInternational, May 2, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.