| Abdulaziz Sayer Owain al Shammari | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 23, 1973 Al Fahahil, Kuwait |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| Alternate name | Abdulaziz Sayer Owain al Shammari, Abd al Aziz Sayer Uwain al Shammeri, Abd al Aziz Sayir al Shamari |
| ISN | 217 |
| Charge(s) | No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) |
| Status | Repatriated |
Abdulaziz Sayer Owain al Shammari is a Kuwaiti citizen formerly detained, without charge, at the United States Guantánamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 217.[2] The Department of Defense reports that Al he was born on September 23, 1973, in Al Fahahil, Kuwait.
Al Shammari was captured in Pakistan and was transferred to Kuwait on November 2, 2005.[3]
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Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain al-Shammeri was identified inconsistently on official Department of Defense documents:
| name | page | document |
| Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri | 1 | Declaration of James R. Crisfield, CSRT Legal Advisor |
| Abd Alaziz Sayir Shamari | 10 | unclassified summary of basis for tribunal decision |
| Abd Al Aziz Sayer Al Shammri | 18 | unsworn detainee statement (csrt) |
| Abd Al Aziz Sayer Al Shammeri | 19 | unsworn detainee statement (csrt) |
| Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwaln Al Shammeri | 28 | Summary of Evidence (CSRT) |
| Abdulaziz Sayer Owain AI-Shammari | 3 | |
| Abd Alaziz Sayir al Shamari | 32 | answers to the questions for the family of Abd Alaziz Sayir al Shamari |
| Abdulaziz Sayer Owain Zaher Al-Shammari | 35 | State of Kuwait Civil ID Card |
| Abd Al Aziz Sayer A1 Shammri | 61 | Al Shammeri's written statement |
The Bush administration asserted that:
Critics argued the Conventions obliged the U.S. to conduct competent tribunals to determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Defense instituted Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs), to determine whether detainees met the new definition of an "enemy combatant".
"Enemy combatant" was defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as:
The CSRTs are not bound by the rules of evidence that would normally apply in civilian court, and the government’s evidence is presumed to be “genuine and accurate.”[11] From July 2004 through March 2005, CSRTs were convened to determine whether each prisoner had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant".
Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri was among the 60% of prisoners who chose to participate in tribunal hearings.[12] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee, listing the allegations that supported their detention as an "enemy combatant".
Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri's memo accused him of the following: [13]
- a The detainee is a member of al Qaeda
- The detainee traveled from Kuwait to Iran and then to Afghanistan soon after 11 September 2001.
- Detainee was arrested by the Pakistani Army while attempting to cross in Pakistan from Afghanistan without identification documents.
- One of the detainee's known aliases was on a list of captured hard drives associated with a senior al Qaeda member.
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri's Administrative Review Board, on 20 April 2005.[14] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
The factors for and against continuing to detain Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.[15]
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Commitment
- The detainee did not tell anyone he was going to Afghanistan. The detainee planned and funded his travel arrangements. The detainee took sick leave from school and began his travel to Afghanistan on approximately 14 October 2001.
- The detainee traveled from Kuwait to Iran and then to Afghanistan soon after 11 September 2001.
- The detainee was arrested by the Pakistani Army while attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan without identification documents.
- During confinement, the detainee organized others in non-compliance activity.
- In confinement, the detainee is considered a very important leader.
- b. Training
- In 1993, the detainee completed two to three months of basic military training in the Kuwaiti military, after which he was placed in the Army.
- c. Connections / Associations
- One of the detainee's known aliases was on a list of captured hard drives associated with a senior al Qaida member.
- The detainee was present at an al Qaida House associated with a non-government organization with links to al Qaida.
- Executive Order 13224, which blocks property and prohibits transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit or support terrorism, designates al Wafa as a global terrorist entity.
- The al Qaida Media House, which houses the al Qaida Media Committee, was located in Qandahar. Senior members of al Qaida were associated with the Media Committee.
- d. Intent
- The detainee was a member of the Islamic Court in Afghanistan, which enforced proper behavior.
- The detainee was present at the prison uprising at Mazar-e-Sharif.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a.The detainee did not participate in fighting in Bosnia or Chechnya. The detainee did not receive any training in Afghanistan and he claims no connection to al Qaida.
- b.The detainee denies having any knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on September 11, and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or its interests.
According to the Enemy Combatant Election Form filled out by Al Shammeri's Assisting Military Officer Al Shammeri did not choose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[16] His Assisting Military Officer told his Board that the translator who accompanied him told him that he confirmed he spoke the same language as Al Shammeri. Unusually Al Shammeri's transcript does not record his Assisting Military Officer commenting on his demeanor.
A one page memo was attached to his transcript, drafted by the translator who accompanied his Assisting Military Officer, recording that captive 217 had been reluctant to document experiencing torture or rough treatment.
The Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation memo stated[17]:
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Captive 217's written statement was not included in the transcript, or published with it. Neither was the correspondence submitted on his behalf.
In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[17][18] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 24 June 2005.
The assessment and recommendation memo stated:
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Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri was among the eleven captives covered in the July 2008 "Petitioners' Status Report" filed by David J. Cynamon in Al Odah, v. United States on behalf of the four remaining Kuwaiti prisoners in Guantanamo. Seven other prisoners were amalgamated to the case, which charged that none of the men had been cleared for release, even though the government had completed factual returns for them -- and those factual returns had contained redacted sections.[19]
The decision, striking down the Military Commissions Act, was handed down on June 12, 2008.[20][21]
Al Shammeri was repatriated to Kuwait on November 4, 2005.[22]
Al Shammeri, and four other Kuwaitis released when he was, stood trial in a Kuwaiti court, and were acquitted of all charges.[23]
The Washington Post reported that the two main charges were that the detainees had helped fund Al Wafa, an Afghan charity with ties to Al Qaeda, and that they had fought alongside the Taliban.[23]
Further, the prosecution argued that the detainees actions had endangered Kuwait's political standing and its relations with friendly nations.
The detainees' defense had argued that testimony secured in Guantanamo could not be used in Kuwaiti courts, because the detainees and interrogators hadn't signed them. Further, they had argued, the allegations the USA had directed at them weren't violations of Kuwaiti law.
Al Shammeri's trial began in March 2006, and he was acquitted on July 22, 2006.[24]
In October 2011 Jenifer Fenton, of CNN, interviewed Al Shammeri and Fouad al Rabiah at the house of Khaled al Odah, the father of Fouzi al Odah, one of the two remaining Kuwaiti captives in Guantanamo.[25] Al Shammeri and other Kuwaiti captives regularly meet at Al Odeh's house, to lend one another moral support. Fenton reported that Al Shammeri described to her how he traveled to Afghanistan to help provide humanitaria aid.
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