Abd al Malik Abd al Wahab

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Abd al Malik Abd al Wahab is a Yemeni citizen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 037.^[2] He was born somewhere between 1983 and 1984. Abd al Wahab was arrested in the winter of 2001/2002, apperently by Pakistani officials, and is accused of being a member of Al Qaeda.^[3]

According to him he was working as a Qu'ran teacher in Afghanistan shortly before the U.S. invasion.^[3] He claims that he had no relations of note with the Taliban; though he was given housing by the Taliban government as a visiting Muslim scholar. When the U.S. invasion began he decided to leave Afghanistan and return home to Yemen. He sent his family (wife and young daughter) home and planned to follow them home but was unable to do so because he was arrested by Pakistani forces while trying to collect his belongings. He was then sold by Pakistani forces to U.S. troops and sent to Guantanamo Bay.

The U.S. government neither confirms nor denies the details of his capture and claims that he was in Afghanistan for terrorist training.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved.

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 a 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 Wahab chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, though his attorneys were not allowed to participate.^[1]

[edit] Allegations

The allegations against Al Wahab in his CSRT were:^[1]

a. Detainee is a member of al Qaida and associated with the Taliban.

1. The detainee is a known member of al Qaida, operated as an al Qaida fighter, and worked at various guesthouses and offices.
2. The detainee admitted receiving help from the Taliban.
3. The detainee attended the Khalden Camp, in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1995 where he received weapons, explosive, artillery, and machinegun training.
4. The detainee was very close to Usama Bin Laden, and had been with him a long time. He was a known Usama Bin Laden guard and errand boy and was frequently seen at Usama Bin Laden's side. Also the detainee attended various other training camps and resided at a Kandahar, Afghanistan guesthouse.
5. A martyr letter, will, and personal letter addressed to Usama Bin Laden were found in the possession of an admitted bodyguard of Usama Bin Laden. The detainee admits authoring these documents.

[edit] Testimony

• Al Wahab testified that he was still in school in 1995, not receiving training at the Khalden training camp.^[1] He graduated in 1996, and taught at the mosque in his village until 2000.
• Al Wahab testified that the reason he went to Afghanistan, in 2000, was to teach the Qur'an.
• Al Wahab acknowledged that, in return for his Qu'ran training the Taliban provided him and his family with a house.
• Al Wahab denied knowing Bin Laden or having any ties to al Qaeda, and denied that he had ever written a will, or martyr letter, let alone addressing them to Bin Laden.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^a b c d allegations against Abd al Malik Abd al Wahab (includes his testimony and writ of habeas corpus filed by his attorneys), Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
3. ^ ^a b Who are the Guantánamo detainees?, Amnesty International

[edit] External links

• Covington & Burling Law firm representing Abd al Wahab
• Empty Evidence, National Journal, February 3, 2006 - Investigative Report which quotes Abd Al Wahab's attorney and references his case