Fawaz Naman Hamoud Abdallah Mahdi is a citizen of Yemen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1][2] He was released by US authorities in June 2007, and since then has been held in extrajudicial detention by Yemeni authorities.[3] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 678. Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1980, in The Shaira [sic], Yemen.
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Fawaz Mahdi is believed to be mentally ill and is in need of medical treatment.[2]
He was determined by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) to be an enemy combatant despite the fact that the CSRT itself (and also Fawaz' lawyer and he himself) observed that he suffers a form of mental illness, and that the only evidence for determining his status was his own statement.[2][4]
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]
The factors for and against continuing to detain Mahdi were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.[6]
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a.Mahdi is a member of al-Qaida.
- Mahdi signed an oath of loyalty to Usama Bin Laden.
- Mahdi trained at the al Farouq training camp.
- b. Mahdi engaged in hostilities against the US or its coalition partners.
- Mahdi admitted that he went to Afghanistan to fight in the Jihad.
- Mahdi was assigned to the Abu Hassan Group of fighters. This group was responsible for a 50M by 100M sector on the front.
- Madhi was captured in 2001 three days before Ramadan by Northern Alliance forces near the village of Mulla Qoli.
- c. Madhi stated that he has had a mental illness, which he called a “magid illness”, for several years. Madhi claimed that this “magic illness” caused “bad thoughts” and made him feel as though someone was inside him, controlling his thoughts and actions.
- d. Based upon a review of recommendations from U.S. agencies and classified and unclassified documents, Mahdi is regarded as a continued threat to the United States and its allies.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a. Mahdi stated during his CSRT he did not sign an oath of loyalty to Usama Bin Laden. He accused himself in front of his interrogators of many things to hasten assumed execution rather than going to prison.
- b. Mahdi is severely, psychiatrically ill. Since his arrival in June 2002, he has been seen over 70 times by psychiatric professionals. As a part of his psychiatric care, he has been treated and evaluated by three different psychiatrists. Each doctor concluded that Mahdi is seriously mentally ill. Each doctor concluded Mahdi has a psychotic disorder.
On December 10, 2005, the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a letter-writing appeal to explain Mahdi's case to US authorities and request that he be either liberated or else charged with a criminal offense was launched by Amnesty International.[2]
Fawaz Mahdi was released from US detention with three other Yemenis in June 2007. All four were then held in extrajudicial detention in the Political Security prison in Sana'a, Yemen.[3] The Miami Herald reported that this took place as part of the release of six men from Guantanamo on June 19, 2007.[7] According to the Miami Herald, the Center for Constitutional Rights identified one of the men as a 26 year old Yemeni named "Fawaz Naman Hamoud". The Yemeni online newspaper HOOD online reported that the Yemeni Attorney-General had ordered Fawaz Mahdi and the other three returnees to either by charged by the General Prosecutor's office or else released.[8]
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