Yahya Samil Al Suwaymil Al Sulami

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yahya Samil Al Suwaymil Al Sulami is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] His detainee ID number is 066.

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

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.

Al Sulami chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[2]

[edit] allegations

The allegations against Al Sulami were:[2]

a. -- The general summary of the allegations that establish an association with terrorism were missing from the transcript. --
  1. The detainee states he traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan via Pakistan to teach the Koran to non-Arabs.
  2. The detainee was identified as having special mission training (explosives, assassination, etc) and possessed a computer disc showing this training.
  3. The detainee was identified as being in a group of 30 Usama Bin Laden bodyguards and drivers captured by the Pakistani military while fleeing Afghanistan.
  4. The group of 30 were told the best thing they could tell US Forces when interrogated was they were in Afghanistan to teach the Koran.
b. -- The general summary of the allegations of hostile activity were missing from the transcript. --
  1. The detainee was identified as the Emir of a group of 10-15 fighters guardying a river crossing leading to the Tora Bora Camp.
  2. The detainee was identified as firing a weapon while at a guard post between Tora Bora and Jalalabad.

[edit] Al Sulami's opening statement

Al Sulami said that all the allegations were false. He said he had an argument with another detainee, who said he would fix him by leveling false allegations against him.

[edit] Al Sulami’s Q & A

In answer to questions Al Sulami stated:

  • The name of the detainee he believed leveled the false allegations against him was Muhammad Basardah. He explained the dispute by saying Basardah was mentally unstable and was on medication.
  • Al Sulami traveled alone. A friend he met in Mecca, Muhammad Halid had given him the phone number of another man named Muhammad, who would help him go to a school called Dali Dalen.
  • Al Sulami said that he paid for his travel partly from his own funds, but that, in addition, Halid had given him some money.
  • Prior to his departure from Saudi Arabia Al Sulami had been a student in a science academy.
  • When he arrived in Afghanistan he traveled to the village of Khost, and met his contact Muhammad the Afghani. He taught students at the Mosque of Iman of Halibra in Khost for four months. When American forces attacked Afghanistan he tried to leave Afghanistan. He followed other refugees, but traveled alone. He was apprehended at a border checkpoint when he tried to enter Pakistan.
  • He lost his passport, as he struggled to reach the border. He did get to meet someone from the Saudi Embassy when he was imprisoned. The Saudi told him he would have to arrange paperwork before he could be released. However he was turned over to the Americans before this took place. Al Sulami believes he was sold for a bounty.
  • Al Sulami denied ever receiving any military training or engaging in hostilities.

[edit] Repatriation

Repatriated to Saudi custody, with fifteen other men, on July 16, 2007.[3][4] Historian Andy Worthington wrote:

Al-Silami was one of 30 detainees accused of being Osama bin Laden's bodyguards in a notorious example of confessions obtained through torture. The man who made the allegation -- and later retracted his "confession" -- was Mohammed al-Qahtani, an alleged "20th hijacker" for the 9/11 attacks, who was subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques" for several months at the end of 2002.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
  2. ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Yahya Samil Al Suwaymil Al Sulami's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 77-84
  3. ^ Raid Qusti. "More Gitmo Detainees Come Home", Arab News, July 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-17. 
  4. ^ Andy Worthington. "Who are the 16 Saudis Released From Guantánamo?", Huffington Post, July 18, 2007.