Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi

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Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Hanashi's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 078. The Department of Defense reports that Al Hanashi was born on February 1, 1978, in Al Habrub, Yemen.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
- 1.1 allegations
2 Administrative Review Board hearing
3 References

[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 Hanashi chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] allegations

The allegations against Al Hanashi were:^[2]

a The detainee is a member of the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda.

Yes, I was with the Taliban.

The detainee traveled from Yemen to Afghanistan in 2001.
- I entered Afghanistan about eight to nine months before 11 September. I didn’t hear about al Qaida until from the media in the front lines.
The detainee joined the Taliban while in Afghanistan.
- Yes, but that doesn’t mean I support Usama Bin Laden.
The detainee stayed at four different Taliban guesthouses during his travels between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- The first house was in Pakistan on the boarder [sic], a place called Qatar. The second house was in Bulldock (Spin Boldak), Afghanistan across the boarder [sic]. The third house was in Kandahar and the fourth house was in Kabul.
Usama Bin Laden spoke to the detainee’s group while they were in Tora Bora.
- Not true. I have never been in Tora Bora. When I entered Kabul twenty days later, I went up North.

bThe detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners.

The first time, I fought against Massoud’s group. The first time I swa Americans was in Kandahar.

The detainee fought on the front lines against the Northern Alliance.
- True
The detainee stated that he fired at the enemy, but did not kill anyone.
- True.
The detainee was captured at Mazar-e-Sharif [sic].
- True.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat -- or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

Al Hanashi chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[3]