| Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 (age 43–44) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| ISN | 152 |
| Charge(s) | No charge |
| Status | Held in extrajudicial detention |
Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 152. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate Al Khalaqi was born in 1968, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As of December 4, 2009, Asim Thahit Abdullah al Khalaqi has been held at Guantanamo for seven years 11 months.[2]
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Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror.[3] 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.
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 4 November 2004. [4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:
- a. The detainee was associated with al Qaida and the Taliban:
- The detainee arrived in Afghanistan in late 2001 from Yemen via Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
- The detainee is associated with the Jama'at al Tabligh.
- The Jama'at al Tabligh, a Pakistan-based Islamic missionary organization, is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al Qaida.
- The detainee is associated with the Jaish e Mohammed Islamic Fundamentalist Group.
- The Jaish E Mohammed Islamic Fundamentalist Group is a terrorist organization associated with al Qaida and the Taliban.
- The detainee completed paramilitary training.
- The detainee may have stayed in a guesthouse in Afghanistan.
- b. The detainee engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners:
- The detainee was at the front lines in Bagram.
Al Khalaqi chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[5]
On July 12, 2006 the magazine Mother Jones provided excerpts from the transcripts of a selection of the Guantanamo detainees.[6] Al Khalaqi was one of the detainees profiled. According to the article his transcript contained the following exchange:
| al khalaqi: | Are these evidence or accusations? |
| tribunal president: | They are in the form of both... |
| Al Khalaqi: | I'm sorry, I just don't understand. How does it fit the two pictures or definitions? For example, if I say this table is the chair and the chair is the table and they are the same thing, does that make sense? |
| tribunal president: | No, that doesn't make sense. But this process makes sense to me and hopefully it will make sense to you, because you're the one who's going to have to provide us with evidence and tell us that you did or did not do these things as listed on the summary of evidence. |
| Al Khalaqi: | So I just answer the accusations. But I'm going to call it accusations. I'm not going to call it evidence. |
| tribunal president: | Very well, you can call it as you wish. |
Al Khalaqi is one of the sixteen Guantanamo captives whose amalgamated habeas corpus submissions were heard by US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton on January 31, 2007.[7]
On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were re-instated.
On 2008 July Civil Action No. 05-CV-999 was re-filed on Asim Ben Thabit Al-Khalaqi behalf. His was the sole case in 05-CV-999.
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.[8]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 29 June 2005.[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 4 April 2006.[10] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
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