Yusif Khalil Abdallah Nur

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Yusif Khalil Abdallah Nur is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Nur's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 073. The Department of Defense reports that Nur was born on March 16, 1982, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Contents

[edit] Identity

A most wanted poster, from the Defense Intelligence Agency, asserts that a suspect named Abdul Rahman Abdallah Noor is a former Guantanamo captive.[2] However Abdul Rahman Abdallah Noor's name is not on the official list of all the Guantanamo captives.[1] According to the DIA his alias is Abd al-Rahman Bin Khalil Bin Abdallah Nur.

Both men are from Saudi Arabia, but Abdul Rahman Abdallah Noor date of birth is reported to have been January 2, 1980.

One of the factors offered to justify Yusif Khalil Abdallah Nur's continued detention was that he was named on a suspicious list.[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 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.

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

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Nur faced during his Tribunal were:

a. Associations
  1. -- missing from the transcript --
  2. Detainee traveled in the summer of 2001 from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan then into Quetta, [sic] Afghanistan, where he sought out Taliban members.
  3. Detainee traveled to Khawaja Ghar and received weapons training in the use of hand grenades.
  4. Detainee was already familiar with the use of the Kalashnikov rifle.
  5. Detainee retreated to Konduz after bombing raids began in North Afghanistan.
  6. Detainee surrendered in Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] and was put in Jenki prison [sic] where he was wounded in the prison uprising.
b. hostile activity
  1. Detainee was on the frontlines in Khawaja Ghar manning a foxhole for five months.
  2. The detainee admitted that he fought with the Taliban.

[edit] Opening Statement

Nur said he didn't travel to Afghanistan for jihad. He went there to be with his beloved, older brother.

[edit] Testimony in response to the allegations

Nur acknowledged calling on the Taliban to help him locate his brother. He added that if his brother had been serving in the Northern Alliance he would have called on them to help him locate his brother.

Nur acknowledged that his brother showed him how to use hand grenades. But he claimed that he did not use any weapons while he was in Afghanistan, not even taking a turn performing guard duty.He was considered too young to participate.

Nur acknowledged that he was familiar with the use of the Kalashnikov.

Nur claimed that when the US bombing campaign began he and his brother were ordered to try to return to Saudi Arabia. But all the roads were blocked. So he and his brother stayed with his brother's group, until it retrated to Konduz.

Nur acknowledged surrendering at Mazari Sharif; being sent to the al-Jenki prison; and being wounded in the uprising. But he asserted he didn't participate in the uprising.

The second part of the first allegation of hostile activity was that Nur had manned a foxhole for five months. Nur's reply was:

"Yes, I was with my brother on the front lines but being in charge for five months, that's the first time I ever heard of this. I was in charge? They never even let me do my guard turn so how could I be in charge?"

[edit] Testimony in response to the Tribunal officer's questions

In response to questions from the Tribunal officer's questions:

  • Nur answered that his brother was also in the al-Jenki prison. But he never saw him after the uprising, and he didn't know what had happened to him.
  • Nur had reached College, and spent his first two months in College, prior to traveling to Afghanistan.
  • Nur's brother's name was Adjhar Rhaman. He is two or three years older than Nur.
  • Nur learned to use the Kalashnikov on a previous trip to Afghanistan.
  • Nur denied participating in the prison uprising. He said he was bound in restraints when the revolt began, and when he was injured.
  • Nur said he was injured in the stomach during the uprising.
  • Nur said that his brother had talked him into his first, one month trip to Afghanistan, by criticizing his lifestyle, his lack of goals, and his lack of commitment to Islam.
  • Nur denied believing in jihad.
  • Nur said he traveled to Afghanistan legally on his Saudi passport, and that his brother had paid his travel expenses.

[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.

Nur chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[3]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. -- Section head missing from the transcript --
  1. Prior to his arrival in Afghanistan, detainee admits hearing Sheiks call for muslims to take up the jihad in Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee stated it was his "duty" to travel to Afghanistan and fight with the Taliban forces who were fighting against the Northern Alliance.
  3. Upon his arrival in Quetta, Pakistan, the detainee entered a taxi and asked to be taken to the "Taliban Building," where he spent the night with other Arabs.
  4. The detainee traveled in the summer of 2001 from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan then into Quetta, Afghanistan, where he sought out Taliban members.
  5. While in Quetta, the detainee told Taliban members that he was on his way to the "front line" in Kabul.
  6. Leaving Quetta the detainee traveled with four other males, including at least one member of the Taliban, to Kabul, where he was then transported to the "secondary line" and met up with his brother. Later they were on the front line, where he was issued a weapon.
  7. The detainee surrendered in Mazar-E-Sharif [sic] and was put in Jenki prison [sic] where he was wounded in the prison uprising.
b. training
  1. The detainee traveled to Khawajaghar [sic] and received weapons training in the use of hand grenades.
  2. The detainee made a separate, earlier trip to Afghanistan to train on the use of a Kalashnikov.
c. -- Section head missing from the transcript --
  1. The detainee admitted that one of his brothers had traveled to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban forces.
  2. The detainee's name and information was found on a list of Arabic names, aliases, and nationalities recovered from safe house raids associated with suspected al Qaida in Karachi, Pakistan.
  3. The detainee stayed in safe houses at Kandahar and Kabul, Afghanistan, which were used by the Taliban to process and lodge Arabs traveling in Afghanistan to participate in the jihad.
  4. In early 2001, detainee left weapons training at Melek Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, to return to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. During this travel, he was detained with another Saudi detainee at a Bahrain airport, questioned about their time in Afghanistan, and released. A tape of Bin Laden calling for jihad was confiscated from the accompanying Saudi detainee by Bahrain customs agents.
d. -- Section head missing from the transcript --
  1. Prior to departing for the frontlines, the detainee was issued one Kalashnikov, three magazines and two hand grenades.
  2. The detainee was on the frontlines in Khawajaghar manning a foxhole for five months.
e. -- Section head missing from the transcript --
  1. The detainee said his brother taught him how to use hand grenades.
  2. The detainee admitted that he had a Kalashnikov and some hand grenades when he surrendered at Mazar-e-Sharif

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

  • The detainee stated that, although he heard Imams talking about fatwa for Muslims to take up the jihad in Afghanistan, he went to Afghanistan to be with his brother, not to be part of the Taliban. The detainee stated that he had an older brother who was already in Afghanistan and the detainee wanted to go and stay with him for four months, then return to Saudi Arabia.
  • The detainee stated that although his brother called him a few times from Kabul to try to convince him to go to Afghanistan, he does not have any knowledge of his brother (Abdul Rahman) [sic] recruiting for the Taliban in Saudi Arabia.
  • The detainee stated that if he were to be released, he would like to return to Taif, Saudi Arabia where he would attempt to go to college and continue his education. The detainee explained that priot to traveling to Afghanistan, he was enrolled at a teacher's college for approximately two months. The detainee stated that he was interested in pursuing a degree in religious studies. He added however, that if released, he would likely change his focus to studying the Arabic language, or perhaps Biology.
  • The detainee claims he was never associated with al Qaida and says he understands why the Americans are pursuing Usama Bin Laden and says that the actions of Usama Bin Laden and al Qaida have brought shame to the Islamic community.

[edit] Oral statement

[edit] Testimony in response to the allegations

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Most Wanted, Afghanistan/Pakistan. Defense Intelligence Agency (October 2006). Retrieved on March 14, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Yusif Khalil Abdallah Nur's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 1
  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. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Yusif Khalil Abdallah Nur's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 62-66