Nawaf Fahad Al Otaibi (born July 1, 1972, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 501.
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The official documents from the US Department of Defense, and from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC transliterate Al Otaibi's name differently:
On June 15, 2005 Human Rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith identified Al Otaibi as one of a dozen teenage boys held in the adult portion of the prison. [3] According to Smith Al Otaibi was born in November 1987. Smith observed that official US documents referred to his dozen minors solely by their initials, because US law prohibit identifying minors. Official documents referred to Al Otaibi as NAO.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report that he was born on November 7, 1972, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his tribunal. The memo listed the following allegations against him:[4]
- The detainee is associated with the Taliban and al Qaida:
- The detainee traveled from his home in Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan in June 2001.
- The detainee stayed at a Taliban house while in route to Afghanistan.
- The detainee went to Afghanistan for the specific purpose of obtaining training at an al Qaida training camp.
- The detainee was identified as possibly having stayed in a Taliban guesthouse.
- The detainee's name was listed on a file seized from an al Qaida safehouse.
Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.[5]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Nawaf Fahad Al Otaibi's Administrative Review Board, on 11 February 2005. The Department of Defense released multiple versions of this file in March 2006 and September 2007. On March 3, 2006.[6][7] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Training
- The detainee traveled to Afghanistan to train at a Libyan camp.
- b. Connection/Associations
- The detainee stayed at a Taliban house while in route to Afghanistan.
- The detainee was identified as being captured in Tora Bora.
- The detainee's name was listed on a file seized from an al Qaida safehouse.
- c. Intent
- The detainee traveled from his home in Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan in June 2001.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- The detainee stated that if given the opportunity he would return to Saudi Arabia to reside with his family members and seek employment as a school teacher.
- The detainee stated that while he was in Afghanistan, he did not receive any training and never possessed a weapon.
Captive 501's Board convened on February 24, 2005.[8] Captive 501 did not attend the Board. His Assisting Military Officer told his Board that captive 501 was "primarily non-communicative" and "unresponsive other than declining to appear and participate".
The Department of Defense did not release the transcript from the unclassified session of his Board hearing.
In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[8][9] The Board's recommendation was unanimous. The memos were so heavily redacted that the recommendation was unclear.
The Board relied on intelligence assessments from the FBI, the CIA, the State Department, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs.
The Saudi embassy announced that a Saudi named Nawaf bin Fahd Homoud Al-Otaibi was one of fifteen Guantanamo captives repatriated to Saudi Arabia on May 19, 2006.[2][10]
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