Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid

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Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid is a Yemeni citizen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] Al Mujahid's Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 031. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report that he was born on August 1 1977, in Taiz. Yemen.

Official status reviews

Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention.[2] In 2004 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.[3][4] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[5]

Following the Supreme Court's ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants (OARDEC).[2] In 2004 and early 2005 OARDEC convened tribunals for 558 of the captives still held in the camp at that time. (Several dozen other captives, mainly Pakistani captives, were sent home without having a Tribunal.)

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. 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.

Al Mujahid chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunals.[6]

Scholars at the Brookings Institute, lead by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations[7]:

  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with Al Qaeda."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges that the following detainees stayed in Al Qaeda, Taliban or other guest- or safehouses."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... fought for the Taliban."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... were at Tora Bora."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives whose "names or aliases were found on material seized in raids on Al Qaeda safehouses and facilities."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges that the following detainees were captured under circumstances that strongly suggest belligerency."

[7]

  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... served on Osama Bin Laden’s security detail."[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who was ab "al Qaeda operative".[7]
  • Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who had "denied all the government allegations."[7]

Al Mujahid chose to attend his 2004 Tribunal:

  • Al Mujahid denied that he supported al Qaeda. He said that al Qaeda committed acts that were not permitted under Muslim law.[6]
  • Al Mujahid testified that he had only ever seen bin Laden on television.[6]
  • Al Mujahid acknowledged traveling to Afghanistan. He said the purpose of his trip was study.[6]

References

  1. OARDEC (2006-05-15). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006". United States Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "U.S. military reviews 'enemy combatant' use". USA Today. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2012-08-11. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-11-guantanamo-combatants_N.htm. "Critics called it an overdue acknowledgment that the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals are unfairly geared toward labeling detainees the enemy, even when they pose little danger. Simply redoing the tribunals won't fix the problem, they said, because the system still allows coerced evidence and denies detainees legal representation." 
  3. Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11 2004 - mirror
  4. Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11 2004
  5. "Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials". United States Department of Defense. March 6 2007. http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902. Retrieved 2007-09-22. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 dcouments (.pdf) from Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - page 23
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 Benjamin Wittes, Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study". The Brookings Institute. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2008/12/16%20detainees%20wittes/1216_detainees_wittes.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-16.  mirror