Salim Mahmoud Adem Mohammed Bani Amir

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Salim Mahmoud Adem Mohammed Bani Amir is a citizen of Sudan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 710.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
- 1.1 allegations
- 1.2 testimony
2 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's 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. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Christopher Mobley

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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations Amir faced were:^[2]

This allegation asserted that al Harbi traveled to Pakistan in 1991 on official business.
Detainee was employed with the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) since 1994.
RIHS is suspected of supporting extremist activity, and some employees are suspected of financing terrorism.
-missing from the transcript-
Detainee traveled to Afghanistan in 1998.
Detainee’s residence was identified as a suspected al Qaida residence, and raided.
Detainee was captured in Pakistan and turned over ot American authorities.

[edit] testimony

Amir acknowledged traveling to Pakistan, in 1991. He lived there from that time, until his capture, while working for two Islamic charities.

From 1994 until his capture he worked for the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society. He was responsible for touring the schools the charity sponsored, checking that the teachers were following the lesson plans and otherwise performing their duties responsibly. He wasn't involved in any crimes.

He was unaware of any rumors that either charity was associated with any support of terrorism.

He did acknowledge traveling to Afghanistan, starting in 1998, when his responsibilities expanded to supervising two schools in Jalalalbad and Kuna, Afghanistan. These trips were brief and occasional.

Regarding the allegation that his residence was identified as a suspected al Qaida residence, Amir said he lived in Bashawer Bashawar alone, with his wife and two young children. They didn't host any guests. They had rented it for three years prior to his capture. He had no knowledge of who might have lived there prior to him, or whether they were invovled with al Qaeda.