Ahmed al-Darbi

Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi
Born January 9, 1975
Ta'if, Saudi Arabia
Detained at Guantanamo
Alternate name Abdul Aziz al-Janoubi
ISN 768
Charge(s) Five war crimes, including terrorism, attacking civilians and hazarding a vessel
Status Pleaded guilty[1]

Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi (Arabic: احمد محمد هزاع آل الدربي‎) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[2] Al-Darbi was born on January 9, 1975, in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia. As of early 2010, al-Darbi has been confined at the Guantanamo camps for almost seven years.[3]

Background

The brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, al-Darbi was captured in Azerbaijan and was renditioned into Afghanistan.[4] There he was held in the Bagram Collection Point, while it was still under control of Alpha Company of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion who routinely beat their captives, resulting in the deaths of two prisoners on December 4, 2001 and December 10, 2001. Al-Darbi identified Damien M. Corsetti, a soldier nicknamed "the King of Torture" by his fellow GIs, as one of his abusers.[5]

Corsetti's lawyer asserts that al-Darbi's claims of abuse are not credible. Corsetti's lawyers claim al Darbi repeats the meme al Qaeda training manuals instruct captives to lie about abuse, and asserts that Al Darbi is following those instructions.

Department of Defense spokesmen have announced that al-Darbi will not be allowed to testify at Corsetti's court martial.[6]

On December 21, 2007 charges against Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi were referred to the convening authority for the Office of Military Commissions.[7][8][9]

United States v. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi

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On December 21, 2007 charges against Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi were referred to Susan Crawford, who approved them to continue to trial.[7][8][9] He was charged, among other things, with the 2002 attack on the MV Limburg:

"Conspiring with others, to attack civilians, to murder in violation of the law of war, to destroy property in violation of the law of war, to hazard a vessel and to commit terrorism, and Providing Material Support to Terrorism."[9]

In April 2008 he announced that he refused to participate in the tribunal as he believed it lacked legitimacy, and dismissed his military lawyer Brian Broyles who called the refusal a "reasonable decision".[4]

According to the Associated Press, at a hearing in December 2008 he had "held up a photo of President Barack Obama as a sign of hope."[10] According to the Associated Press, a note he wrote to his lawyer about Obama said he could: ""earn back the legitimacy the United States has lost in the eyes of the world,"

Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that Commission President James Pohl scheduled a hearing for May 27, 2009, to rule on how much of the evidence against Al Darbi was coerced through torture.[11]

At a hearing on September 23, 2009 his Presiding Officer of his military commission agreed to a further sixty day delay.[10] His lawyer Ramzi Kassem told reporters after the hearing that Al Darbi had written a brief note, addressed to President Obama, that he had hoped to read aloud at the hearing. Kassem read the note aloud to reporters. The Associated Press quoted passages from the note.

On February 5, 2014, Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that the Pentagon had decided to "go forward" with the new charges against al-Darbi.[12] The Associated Press reported that the new charges had first been proposed in 2012.[13]

References

  1. ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/guantanamo-prisoner-military-tribunal-22597525
  2. ↑ OARDEC (2006-05-15). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  3. ↑ "Ahmed Muhammed Haza al Darbi – The Guantánamo Docket". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Andy Worthington (2008-04-20). "The US military’s shameless propaganda over Guantánamo’s 9/11 trials". Archived from the original on 2009-089-23. Check date values in: |archivedate= (help)
  5. ↑ Trial under way for soldier in Afghan prisoner abuse case, Star Telegram, May 30, 2006
  6. ↑ Soldier pleads not guilty in detainee harm, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 28, 2006
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Guantanamo Detainee Charged". United States Department of Defense. December 21, 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Guantanamo Bay detainee accused in terror plot". CNN. December 21, 2007. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Office of Military Commissions (January 2007). "MC Form 458 Jan 2007 - Charges in United States v. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza Al Darbi" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 1–6. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ben Fox (2009-09-23). "Guantanamo prisoner says he's lost hope in Obama". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-09-23.
  11. ↑ Carol Rosenberg (2009-05-10). "Judge won't delay May 27 war court session". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2009-05-12.
  12. ↑ Carol Rosenberg (2014-02-05). "Pentagon prosecuting Saudi at Guantánamo for 2002 French oil tanker bombing". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-02-06. The Pentagon has decided to go forward with a war crimes case against a Saudi man accused of planning the suicide bombing of an oil tanker off Yemen that took place two months after he was already imprisoned at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
  13. ↑ "Kin of 9/11 Hijacker to Face Judge in Guantanamo". Miami: ABC News. 2014-02-06. Archived from the original on 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2014-02-05. The charges were filed in August 2012 subject to approval by a Pentagon legal official. The approval announced Wednesday means al-Darbi must be arraigned within 30 days at the U.S. base in Cuba.

External links