Said Mohammed

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Said Mohammed is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Mohammed's detainee ID number is 1056. The full list of detainee names released on May 15, 2006. American intelligence analysts estimate that Mohammed was born in 1977.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations Mohammed faced during his Tribunal were:

a. -- The general summary of Mohammed's association with terrorism was absent from the transcript. --

Detainee's family actively supported the Taliban and al Qaida forces in Afghanistan.
Detainee was apprehended by United States Forces for assisting Anti-Coalition Forces.
Detainee was reportedly an enemy of the infidels and non-Muslims and supported the Taliban.

b. -- The general summary of Mohammed's hostile activities was absent from the transcript. --

The Detainee and his family guarded al Qaida weapons.

[edit] testimony in response to the allegations

Mohammed said his family migrated back and forth across the border on a seasonal basis. They farmed and ran a general store.

Mohammed denied that he aided the Taliban or al Qaeda. He denied knowing of any occasions when any of his family members aided anyone who might have been a member of the Taliban or al Qaeda, except one occasion when one of his younger brothers gave an Arab a couple of loafs of bread.

Mohammed acknowledged that in Bagram he gave a false confession. But he said he was very sick there.

Main article: Bagram torture and prisoner abuse

Mohammed said that his family, wasn't guarding a cache of weapons -- they had exactly one AK-47, for their own protection.

[edit] testimony in response to Tribunal officer's questions

Mohammed said he was captured at his home, in 2003. He had been working in one of his family's fields, when he returned home he found American soldiers going through their house. They threw him to the ground and put a bag over his head.

Mohammed said the only contact they had with the Taliban concerned their sale of firewood. People in their area harvested firewood that was sold to people who lived elsewhere. During the time of the Taliban the Taliban government were among their customoers. But Mohammed said they weren't the only family to sell firewood to them. Everybody around his are did.

Mohammed said he didn't recognize any of the other detainees. He had never seen any of them before.

[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.

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

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. 'Commitment

The detainee's family actively aided and abetted Taliban and al Qaida in the Serkhankhel Village area.
The detainee admitted that his family had collected firewood for al Qaida but this took place during the time of the Taliban. In late 2001, Arabs came to his village and took houses.
The detainee's father admitted that the guarded al Qaeda weapons in their home.
The detainee has assisted his brother Allah Mohammed in his footwear business and participated in Allah's anti-coalition activities.
The detainee stated that he was an enemy of infidels and non-Muslims.

b. Connections/Associations

The detainee knew about two people that were former Taliban and were assisting al Qaida operatives in the area of Zurmat, Afghanistan.
The detainee's brother Allah Mohammed is an al Qaida sympathizer and leader of anti coalition activities in the Districts of Shahi Kot and Zurmat [sic], Paktia Province, Afghanistan. He has ties to past and present Taliban leaders.
Allah Mohammed supported Mualim Shah Wali and the Taliban in the past and maintains strong ties to other Taliban and al Qaida sympathizers/operatives in his area.
Mualim Shah Wali is the displaced leader of Shahi Kot District, Paktia Province, Afghanistan and a long time al Qaida facilitator and Taliban supporter.
Mualim Shah Wali maintains relationships with al Qaida members living in Saudi Arabia.

c. Other Relevant Data

The detainee was apprehended by United States Forces on 02 May 2003 in Serkhankhel, Zurmat District, Paktia Province, Afghanistan, under suspicion of assisting anti-coalition forces.
The detainee's brother, Allah Mohammed, remained an active leader of Mualim Shah Wali's political structure based in Shahi Kot, He is known to have strategized acts against United States forces and the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan.
The detainee's father, Said Khan, knew of his son Allah's involvement in anti-coalition activities and supported his efforts as an advisor.
The detainee seemed very uncomfortable and was shaking when he was asked questions about his support of al Qaida and Taliban elements in his village.

[edit] The following factors favor release or transfer:

The detainee denied helping the Arabs.
The detainee admits that his brother, Allah Mohammed, has had dealings with al Qaida in the past and only by force.
The detainee recanted the statements he made in Bagram about giving al Qaida firewood and denied ever saying that his brother ever dealt with al Qaida.
The detainee has fired a Kalashnikov and an "American Rifle" but only during ceremonial events as wedding celebrations.

[edit] testimony in response to the allegations

Muhammed denied any relationship with al Qaida or the Taliban.
Muhammed assured the Board he never saw his father hide any weapons.
Muhammed denied stating he was an enemy of infidels or non-Muslims.
Muhammed denied his brother Allah Mohammed had ties to any terrorists or terrorist groups.

[edit] testimony in response to Board officer's questions

Mohammed's whole family live in the same house. It is not large enough for his father to have hidden weapons without his knowledge.

Mohammed said that it was a younger brother who gave bread to an Arab, not Allah Mohammed.

Allah Mohammed was at his shop when he was captured. He doesn't know where he is now.

When asked if he would help the Taliban if he were released:

"I swear if I go there I will damage the Taliban and do things against them you would not believe. I am a Muslim, but I am against the Taliban. They destroyed our life and they destroyed our country. They caught me a couple of times and they beat me up. They said that I have a long beard and I have a short beard and they asked why I shave my beard."