Wasim (Guantanamo detainee 338)

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This article is about the Guantanamo detainee known as Wasim. For the Arabic name Wasim, see Wasim (name).

Wazim or Wasim is a Saudi held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Wasim's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 338. The Department of Defense reports that Wasim was born on November 18, 1963, in Al Jauf, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Identity

There are several captives named Wasim, or some variation thereof, on several official documents:

  • A captive named Wasim was list on both official lists the DoD released on April 20, 2006 and May 15, 2006.
  • A captive named Wasm Awwad Omar Al-Wasm was listed on a June 24, 2006 Saudi press release that announced the release of fourteen Guantanamo captives.[2]
  • A captive named Wasim was named on a habeas corpus document that "administrative closed" the request and fifteen others, on January 31, 2007.[3]

[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.[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.

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] Allegations

The allegations against Wazim were:[7]

  1. The detainee traveled to Afghanistan from Saudi Arabia in late September 2001 via Jordan, Syria, and Iran.
  2. The detainee reportedly traveled with an individual identified as another detainee.
  3. The individual’s name or alias is included on a list of Al Qaeda Mujahidin found on files recovered during a raid of Al Qaeda safehouses.
  4. The detainee is associated with Al Haramain.
  5. Al Haramain is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with ties to Islamic terrorism.
  6. The detainee is associated with Al Ighatha.
  7. Al Ighatha is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with ties to Islamic terrorism.
  8. The detainee is associated with Al Qaeda.

[edit] Transcript

Wazim chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[7]

[edit] Witness requests

Wasim requested three witnesses.

  • The witness who was a detainee was called.
  • Two un-named off-island witnesses, who would have testified about Wasim's travels, were deemed "not relevant" by the Tribunal's President

Wasim questioned deeming his witnesses irrelevant. His Tribunal's President's explanation was that those witnesses only showed intent, and the Tribunal was going to make its determination on his actual actions.

[edit] Testimony

Wasim responded to each of the allegations, as they were read out to him:

  • Wasim denied traveling to Afghanistan. He said he and his associates planned to travel to Iran to address the needs of refugees crossing that border.
  • Wasim said that they drove from Jordan to Syria, and then flew to Iran. He said they expected to be able to address refugees' needs once they had crossed the border into Iran, but learned that the refugees were all on just the other side of the Iran/Afghan border. So, after coming all that way, they made the last minute decision to enter Afghanistan. They spent three or four days helping refugees, but when they tried to cross back into Iran, they were not permitted. He attributed this to prejudice on the part of the border guards against Sunnis. After spending a month and a half waiting for permission to re-enter Iran, Wasim and his associates gave up and crossed Afghanistan to the Pakistani border.
    The border police were telling us to go in an unofficial way, by bribing them. Also. a lot of smugglers offered us the same thing, a way to cross the border in an unofficial way for a bribe, for money. We strongly refused because we entered officially and we wanted to leave officially. We refused because we never worked that way beffore.
  • Wasim confirmed that one of his travel companions was also detained in Guantanamo.
  • Wasim questioned whether his companion was really named in the captured documents, Arabic names being so similar, it required extra information, like the place of birth, and the individual's mother's name, to be sure that the correct individual was being identified.
  • Wasim denied working for Al Haramain. He pointed out that Al Haramain was considered a completely legitimate charity by his government, the Saudi government. His main, ongoing association with Al Haramain was, through the charity, he sponsored two orphans in an orphanage in Bangla Desh. Wasim said he had heard that the US government had apologized to the Saudi government for leveling false allegations against Al Haramain.
  • Wasim denied any association with al-Igatha. He said he knew nothing about it.
  • Wasim reported something many other detainees had reported. The allegations against him included new allegations on new topics that none of his interrogators had ever asked him about. In particular Wasim told his Tribunal that the al-Igatha allegations were new to him; none of his interrogators had ever asked him about the al-Igatha organization.
  • Wasim denied any knowledge of, or association with, al Qaeda. He asked how he could have participate in al Qaeda when he had a full time job as a school teacher. This trip had been his first trip to the Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan area. He had never been questioned or the subject of an investigation at any point in Saudi Arabia.

Wasim added some additional points:

  • Wasim pointed out that Saudi Arabia did not have compulsory military service, and he had not served in the military, and had never received any military training.
  • Wasim repeated that he and his companions had done their best to exit Afghanistan legally, rather than try to sneak across the border.
  • Wasim said he believed he and his companions were turned in to the Americans in return for a bounty, rather than because there was any really reason to suspect they were tied to terrorism.
  • Wasim said that he had been told by a visiting delegation of Saudi security officials that he was supposed to have been part of a contingent of Saudis returned a year and a half earlier. He told his Tribunal the Saudi security officials said that his name was listed in newspaper accounts of the release.

[edit] Habeas corpus submission

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Wasim is one of the sixteen Guantanamo captives whose amalgamated habeas corpus submissions were heard by US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton on January 31, 2007.[3] Walton "administratively closed" the sixteen cases, with the proviso that they would be reopened if a high court ruled that the Washington DC District Court had jurisdiction.

Main article: Gherebi, et al. v. Bush

[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".[8]

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 Wasm Awwad Umar Wasim Administrative Review Board, on 3 December 2004 .[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Wasm Awwad Umar Wasim's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 6 April 2006.[10] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Transcript

Captive 338 participated in this Board hearing.[11] The Department of Defense released a seventeen page transcript in September 2007. The withheld 56 pages of ICRC letters: "Withheld under 552 USC (b)(3)". They released 8 pages of photos.

[edit] Enemy Combatant election form

Captive 338's Assisting Military Officer reading from the Enemy Combatant election form that they met for a pre-hearing interview on 14 April 2006, and that captive 338 was "...cooperative and talkative during the interview."

[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.[12][13] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on June 2, 2006.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Fourteen Guantanamo detainees returned to the Kingdom. Royal Saudi Embassy, Washington DC (June 25, 2006). Retrieved on March 10, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Reggie B. Walton (January 31, 2007). Gherebi, et al. v. Bush. United States Department of Justice. Retrieved on May 19, 2007.
  4. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  5. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Summarized transcript (.pdf) from Wazim's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 18-35
  8. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  9. ^ OARDEC. [? Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of] page. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  10. ^ OARDEC (6 April 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Wasim, Wasm Awwad Umar pages 23-25. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  11. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN pages 18-34. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  12. ^ OARDEC (June 2, 2006). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 338 page 44. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  13. ^ OARDEC (18 April 2006). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 338 pages 45-50. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.