Yasser Talal Al Zahrani

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Yasser Talal Al Zahrani (September 22, 1984 – June 10, 2006) (also transliterated as Yasser Talal Abdullah Yahya al Zahran) was a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo detainee ID number was 93. The Department of Defense (DoD) reported that he was born on September 22, 1984, in Yenbo, Saudi Arabia.

Main article: minors detained in the global war on terror

Contents

[edit] Timeline

On June 10, 2006 the DoD reported that three Guantanamo detainees, two Saudis, and one Yemeni committed suicide.[2] DoD spokesmen refrained from releasing the dead men's identities.

Main article: Guantanamo suicide attempts

On June 11, 2006 Saudi authorities released the names of the two Saudi men.[3] One was identified as Al Zahrani.

The other Saudi was identified as both Maniy bin Shaman al-Otaibi and Mani bin Shaman bin Turki al Habradi.[4] Neither of these names is on either of the two official lists of Guantanamo names the DoD has released.[1][5]

[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 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.

There is no record that Yasser Talal Al Zahrani chose to attend his Tribunal.

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Yasser Talal Al Zahrani would have faced, during his Tribunal, stated:[6]

  • That he had arrived in Afghanistan in July 2001.
  • That he had trained at an Afghan training camp, near Konduz
  • That he had served on the second line, near Konduz, in the second week of September 2001.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

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] Allegations

There is no record that Yasser Talal Al Zahrani chose to attend his hearing. The Summary of Evidence memo prepared for his hearing listed 26 factors favoring his continued detention.[7]

The factors stated:

  • That he decided to travel to Afghanistan, instead of finishing high school, in August 2001.
  • That he trained at the Taliban's Konduz Center, and at al Qaida's al Farouq training camp.
  • That he was a financial courier.
  • That he had ties to various senior al Qaida and Taliban leaders.
  • That he served as security guard for three months
  • That he was captured, and sent to a prison in Mazari Sharif, and was injured during the prison riot at Qali Jangi in early November.

[edit] Al Zahrani's age

Bahraini detainee Abdulla Majid Al Naimi who was released on November 8, 2005 said he knew the three dead men, and commented on their deaths on June 25, 2006.

Al Naimi said that Al Zahrani, was only 16 when he was captured.[8] According to Al Naimi Al Zahrani should have been treated as a minor.

"He was 21 when he died, barely the legal age in most countries, and was merely 16 when he was picked up four and half years ago. His age shows that he is not even supposed to be taken to a police office; he should have been turned over to the underage [juvenile] authorities."

[edit] Recent letter to his father

The New York Times reported that Al Zahrani's father, Talal Abdallah al-Zahrani, recently received a letter from his son where he seemed to be in good spirits.[9] He said: "Nothing suggested that he would commit suicide, nothing,"

Al Zahrani disputed the US report that his son was non-compliant, saying his son had spent his time memorizing the Koran, and had been behaving.[9][10] Al Zahrani said that the reason his son had been in the area of Afghanistan was that he had been working for Islamic charities.

[edit] Letter of June 1st

The English language Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat reported that a letter a detainee had "...written ten days before the Pentagon announced three inmates had committed suicide on 10 June ..." appears to report that “...Two detainees are on the verge of death… perhaps they are dying or have died poisoned....”[11] Asharq Alawsat asserts that the two detainees on the verge of death were two of the men the USA claimed committed suicide.

Asharq Alawsat reports that the letter was handed by the detainee, to his lawyer, who turned it over to Talal Al Zahrani's father's lawyer.[11] Asharq Alawsat reports that the detainee's name is being kept confidential, for his safety.

Guantanamo attorneys must all agree that they must turn over all their notes and other documents before they leave Guantanamo. They have to report to a secure document center in Washington DC center in order to review their own notes. If a detainee authored a letter suggesting Talal Al-Zahrani and the two other men didn't really commit suicide, keeping his identity confidential could not have prevented the DoD from learning his identity.

Main article: Guantanamo attorney document center

[edit] Post mortems

Guantanamo camp authorities conducted post mortems on the three dead men, before their bodies were shipped home.[12] Al Zahrani's father has called for a second post mortem by neutral, independent pathologists.

Al Zahrani's father claimed that after his own examination of his son's corpse he was convinced he bore the marks of a beating.[12] He sees this as confirming his skepticism that Al Zahrani did not commit suicide, but was murdered.

Al Utaybi's family reported that his Saudi post-mortem had found that the DoD had retained Al Utaybi's brain, heart, liver and kidneys.[13]

Patrice Mangin, a widely published forensic pathologist, headed the team that volunteered to provide neutral, independent second autopsies for the three dead men.[14] After their examination of Ahmed's body, he said that it was routine for pathologists to remove some organs that decay rapidly. However, they had also found that the DoD had retained Ahmed's throat, which his team would need to examine before they offered a definitive conclusion as to how he died.

Mangin asked the DoD to supply his team with Ahmed's throat, and with the bed sheets they claimed had been used to hang the three men.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Three Guantanamo detainees die in suicides, Reuters, June 10, 2006
  3. ^ Riydadh names Guantanamo suicide victims, wants bodies, Daily News & Analysis, June 11, 2006
  4. ^ Saudis allege torture in Guantanamo deaths, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 11, 2006
  5. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  6. ^ OARDEC, CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for AL ZAHRANI, Yasser Talal, United States Department of Defense -- page 11 -- September 22, 2004
  7. ^ OARDEC, Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Zahrani, Yasser Talal, United States Department of Defense -- pages 24-26 -- September 8, 2005
  8. ^ Ex-detainee disputes triple suicide report, Gulf Daily News, June 25, 2006
  9. ^ a b Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantánamo, New York Times, June 12, 2006 - mirror
  10. ^ A short life ends at Guantanamo, Hamilton Spectator, June 17, 2006
  11. ^ a b Saudi Arabia: Detainee Letter Exposes Alleged Guantanamo Horrors, Asharq Alawsat, August 12, 2006 - mirror
  12. ^ a b Yasser’s Body Bears Marks of Beating, Arab News, June 19, 2006
  13. ^ Vital organs missing from repatriated body: family, Gulf News, June 21, 2006
  14. ^ Gitmo detainee buried after body cross-examined, Yemen Times, June 25, 2005

[edit] External links