Jaralla al-Marri

Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla al-Marri is a citizen of Qatar and a former detainee at the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, where he was imprisoned for six and a half years. He returned to Qatar on July 27, 2008.^[1][2] He was reportedly born on August 12, 1973, in Doha, Qatar according to the Department of Defense.

Contents 1 Combatant Status Review 1.1 Al-Marri's position 1.2 Result of hearing 2 Jarallah Al Marri v. George W. Bush 2.1 Administrative Review Board 2.2 First annual Administrative Review Board 2.3 Second annual Administrative Review Board 3 Jail conditions 3.1 Al-Marri's position 4 Detention of Al-Marri's Brother 5 Repatriation 6 Detention by British authorities 7 References 8 External links

Combatant Status Review

Jarallah al-Marri was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.^[3] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo for his hearing lists the following allegations:^[4][5]

a. The detainee was associated with the Taliban and al Qaida forces.

1. The detainee is a Qatar citizen who traveled to Afghanistan, through Pakistan, to participate in the Jihad.
2. The detainee arrived in Pakistan in the fall of 2001 and later traveled to a guesthouse in Afghanistan.
3. Prior to 11 September 2001, the detaines went to the al Farouq camp^[6] camp even after learning it was owned by Usama Bin Laden.
4. The detainee fled the al Farouq^[6] camp after 11 September 2001, and was issued an AK-47.
5. The detainee had interaction with the Taliban and they directed him through checkpoints throughout Afghanistan.
6. The detainee and others fled Afghanistan, but were arrested at the Pakistan border by the Pakistani police.

Al-Marri's position

Al-Marri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal was held on October 30, 2004.^[5] Al-Marri requested a lawyer. He was told that the tribunal was not a court of law, so he didn't need a lawyer. Al-Marri then started responding to all questions by saying "No comment".

Al Marri's personal representative told the tribunal that he had expected Al-Marri to speak on his own behalf, so he only had rough notes.^[5] Al-Marri and his personal representative had discussed the unclassified portion of the summary of why the DoD considered Al-Marri an unlawful combatant. Al-Marri agreed with the summary that he had "traveled to Afghanistan, in the fall of 2001, prior to the attacks of 9-11. But he said he didn't know that the camp was owned by Bin Laden. He denied being issued an AK-47. He said he traveled alone, not with others. He acknowledged interacting with the Taliban, at roadblocks. At the time he traveled Taliban manned all the roadblocks.

Result of hearing

The tribunal confirmed the determination that Al-Marri was properly classified as an unlawful combatant based on the classified portion of his file.

Jarallah Al Marri v. George W. Bush

A writ of habeas corpus was submitted on Jarallah Al Marri'ss behalf.^[7] In response, on 22 November 2004 the Department of Defense released 21 pages of unclassified documents related to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

On August 4, 2008 US District Court Judge Gladys Kessler filed an order that his petition would be rendered moot, unless his attorneys challenged that designation by August 15, 2008.^[8]

Administrative Review Board

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.^[9]

First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla Al Marri's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 17 November 2005.^[10] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment

1. The detainee went to Mecca and attended a course at the Al Harum Mosque where met a Saudi individual who described jihad and persuaded him to join.
2. The Saudi individual introduced the detainee to another individual who was to be his point of contact regarding the jihad in Afghanistan.
3. On 6 September 2001 the detainee flew from Doha, Qatar to Karachi, Pakistan on Qatar Airlines, checked into the Mustafa Hotel, and called his point of contact for jihad. The detainee paid his own way to Afghanistan.
4. On 10 September 2001 the detainee departed the Mustafa Hotel and traveled to the al Farouq training camp where he arrived on 11 September 2001.
5. The detainee related he resided in the mountains for approximately thirty days while waiting to cross the border, which was closed. The detainee saw this as a barrier to his ability to return home.
6. The detainee claimed he needed to return home because he was ill. He reported that he traveled to Kabul, the to the town of Buldak and on to a checkpoint where he boarded a bus that drove to Quetta, Pakistan, where it was stopped by the Pakistani police or military. The detainee was captured and taken to jail, where he remained until he was turned over to U.S. Forces.

b. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee reported that upon his arrival at al Farouq he learned that Usama bin Laden owned the camp.
2. The detainee reported that while residing in the mountains of Kabul in September 2001 he realized the jihad was a battle of Muslim against Muslim.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. The detainee denied transferring $10,000 U.S. Dollars to his brother and claimed the transfer receipt was a forgery.

b. The detainee claimed he had second thoughts about fighting jihad once he discovered al Farouq was owned by Usama bin Laden.

Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Jaralah Al Mari's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 2 November 2006.^[11] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment

1. The detainee traveled to Saudi Arabia in late July or early August 2001 and attended the al Harum Mosque. The detainee spent several hours a day over a period of a week with an individual he met at the mosque discussing Islam and jihad in Afghanistan. This individual gave the detainee a point of contact for jihad in Afghanistan.
2. The detainee met with the point of contact at a restaurant in Saudi Arabia to discuss traveling to Afghanistan. The detainee was told not to discuss this travel with anyone because other governments did not approve of people entering Afghanistan.
3. The detainee stated he understood that his activities in Afghanistan would include attending training camp, fighting and killing people who were killing Muslims.
4. Approximately one month after returning to Qata, the detainee called his point of contact on two occasions to advise him of his decision to travel to Afghanistan. The point of contact instructed the detainee to purchase an airline ticket to Pakistan and to check into a hotel using a different name.
5. The detainee was told not to speak to anyone of jihad. The detainee told his family he was traveleing to Pakistan to attend Tablique Dawa, an annual three day call to Islam. The detainee stated he did not tell his family about his true plans regarding his trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan because he felt they would not support him.
6. On 6 September 2001, the detainee flew from Qatar to Pakistan on Qatar Airlines. The detainee checked into a hotel and called his point of contact, who advised him that another individual would be contacting the detainee at the hotel.
7. An individual arrived at the detainee's room and asked for 200 Riyals to pay for an airline ticket to Afghanistan, Pakistani clothing, shoes and a bag. On 7 September 2001, the individual returned to the hotel with a plane ticket, and the next day the detainee flew to Pakistan. The contact advised the detainee there would be three or four Arab males on the plane but not to acknowledge them or act like the detainee knew them.
8. Upon arrival in Pakistan, the detainee was transported to a mudaffa. The detainee was told that other individuals staying in the mudaffa were Taliban.
9. The detainee stated while at the mudaffa he heard about Usama bin Laden and al Qaida, which was described as a group of people who made it possible for others to go to jihad.
10. On 9 September 2001 the detainee was driven to the vicinity of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The detainee was then driven around the border checkpoint on a motorcycle. On the other side of the border, the detainee met with original car and driver in Afghanistan and was driven to a mudaffa in Afghanistan.

b. Training

1. On 10 September 2001 the detainee arrived at an encampment for new arrivals at the al Farouq Camp in Afghanistan. ON the evening of 11 September 2001, the detainee was given a sleeping bag and moved away from al Farouq because it was believed the United States might start bombing the area.
2. The detainee stated he learned that al Farouq was owned by Usama bin Laden before 11 September 2001, prior to arriving at the camp.
3. The detainee stated there was discussion on 12 September 2001 regarding the attacks on the United States, specifically that the incidents occurred in New York City. ON 13 September 2001 the detainee returned to al Farouq to await transportation to Kandahr, Afghanistan. The detainee re-entered the camp and noticed a large mosque, approximately ten to fifteen white tents and a one story building with a sign indicating it was the Office.
4. The detainee stated he spent approximately 30 days at an abandoned village where he was issued an AK-47 rifle without ammunition. The detainee stated it was during this time that he learned of the United States retaliation for the 11 September 2001 attacks.

c. Connection/Associations

1. A source stated the detainee's brother was in Afghanistan for 15 to 19 months and trained in Usama bin Laden's camps.
2. In May 2003, the detainee's brother was charged by a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois with making false statements to FBI agents during the investigation of 11 September 2001. The indictment alleges that the detainee's brother lied to agents about calling a named unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment charging Zacarias Moussaoui with crimes relating to the 11 September 2001 attacks.
3. The detainee stated he met with his brothers approximately six to ten days prior to leaving for Afghanistan. The detainee could not remember the content of their conversations.

d. Other Relevant Data:

1. The detainee was transported to another mudaffa in Afghanistan where he heard airplanes bombing in the distance.
2. The detainee stated an individual in Afghanistan arranged for the detainee to be smuggled across the border into Pakistan. The detainee crossed the border on a motorcycle, using a gate at which the smuggler seemed to know the guard. While taking a bus from one town to another in Pakistan, the detainee was apprehended after a guard boarded the bus and questioned the detainee on his nationality.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. The detainee stated he traveled to Afghanistan to perform jihad, but claims he was misled. The detainee learned after his arrival in Afghanistan that the Taliban were not as good as he was told.

b. The detainee stated he had second thoughts and wanted to return to Qatar after learning that the al Farouq camp was owned by Usama bin Laden.

c. While at al Farouq, the detainee became sick and wanted to leave this Camp and return home. The detainee stated he wanted to leave before the bombing began and that he missed his wife and children.

d. The detainee stated he knows of no one who was or may have been members of al Qaid and did not hear of a group by the name of al Qaida until after his capture. The detainee stated al Qaida along with all of the fighters and trainees, were called Mujahedin.

Jail conditions

Al Marri's Guantanamo detainee ID number was 334.^[1]

Al-Marri's position

Al-Marri participated in the hunger strikes held during the summer of 2005. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights:

As Jarallah Al-Marri, a prisoner from Qatar, stated, “I participated in a hunger strike for 17 days to protest the inhumane conditions and religious persecution I and hundreds of other prisoners have been subject to at Guantánamo.^[12]”

Further details of the seriousness of the prisoners’ claims are also emerging. Al-Marri, for example, was hospitalized as a result of his hunger strike and a deteriorating heart condition, and placed on an IV. He told his attorney, Jonathan Hafetz of Gibbons Del Deo Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione, that the government had a nurse make sexual advances towards him while he was lying in his hospital bed in a vain attempt to convince him to give up his hunger strike. Al-Marri has been in solitary confinement for over 16 months and today often goes as long as 3 weeks without being allowed outside his cell for recreation. The lights in Al-Marri's cell remain on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and he has been denied adequate bedding and clothing. Al-Marri is able to sleep only 2 hours a night, and his physical and mental health have deteriorated significantly.^[12]

According to an article in The Columbia Journalist, from December 12, 2005, al-Marri had only had two visits from his lawyers.^[13]

Detention of Al-Marri's Brother

Al-Marri's brother Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, formerly a graduate student at Bradley University, is currently held in a South Carolina naval prison.

On Sept. 10, 2001, al-Marri came to Peoria with his family to become a graduate student at his undergraduate alma mater, Bradley University. Al-Marri was indicted and arrested on credit card fraud and lying to the FBI. He is being detained as a supposed al-Qaeda operative who came to the US to assist in a second wave of terrorist attacks. Al-Marri denies this.^[14]

Repatriation

On July 28, 2008 Jaralla Al Marri was reported to have been repatriated to Qatar.^[15][16] His cousin and mother thanked the Emir for his help in securing his repatriation.

Detention by British authorities

In a telephone interview Jaralla Al Marri told reporters he was detained at Heathrow Airport on February 23, 2009, on the claim that his visa application had not stated that he was a former Guantanamo captive.^[17] Al Marri said he had told the British officials who helped him complete his visa application about his stay in Guantanamo. Al Marri had toured the United Kingdom on a speaking tour, with Moazzam Begg, a few weeks before his February 23 detention.^[18][19]

References

External links

• Three prisoners released from Guantánamo, including the brother of US “enemy combatant” Ali al-Marri Andy Worthington
• Ex-Guantánamo prisoner refused entry into UK, held in deportation centre Andy Worthington

Controversies surrounding people captured during the War on Terror Guantanamo Bay detention camp Suicide attempts · Quran desecration controversy · Boycott of military tribunals · Former captives alleged to have (re)joined insurgency · Hunger strikes · Force feeding · Homicide accusations · Juvenile prisoner CIA black site operations Enhanced interrogation techniques · Ghost detainees · Waterboarding · Destruction of interrogation tapes Prison and detainee abuse Abu Ghraib · Bagram · Canadian Afghan detainee issue · Black jail · Salt Pit Prison uprisings and escapes Battle of Qala-i-Jangi · Battle of Abu Ghraib · 2008 Sarposa Prison mass escape · Basra prison incident · Afghan escapes · Iraqi escapes Deaths in custody Dilawar · Jamal Nasser · Abdul Wahid · Habibullah · Abed Hamed Mowhoush · Manadel al-Jamadi · Nagem Hatab · Baha Mousa · Fashad Mohamed · Muhammad Zaidan · Gul Rahman · Abdul Wali Tortured Abu Zubaydah · Mohamedou Ould Slahi · Mohammed al-Qahtani · Khalid Sheikh Mohammed · Abdul Jabar · Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri · Binyam Mohamed Forced disappearances Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi · Abdu Ali al Haji Sharqawi · Muhammed al-Darbi · Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman · Yassir al-Jazeeri · Tariq Mahmood · Hassan Ghul · Musaad Aruchi · Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rashul Reports and legislation Ryder Report · Fay Report · Taguba Report · Church Report · Detainee Treatment Act · Senate Armed Services Committee Report Related media The Road to Guantanamo · Taxi to the Dark Side · Standard Operating Procedure · Torturing Democracy

Persondata
Name	al-Marri, Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla
Alternative names
Short description	Guantanamo detainee known to have been released
Date of birth	1973
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death