Sanad Ali Yislam Al-Kazimi

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Sanad Ali Yislam Al-Kazimi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 1453. The Department of Defense reports that Al-Kazimi was born on February 17, 1970. American intelligence analysts provided a guess at the place of birth of all but a dozen Guantanamo detainees. Al-Kazimi is one of those dozen detainees.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
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 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.

[edit] Allegations

A memorandum summarizing the evidence against Al-Kazimi prepared for his Combatan Status Reiew Tribunal, was among those released in March of 2005.^[2] The allegations Al-Kazimi faced were:

a. The detainee is associated with an al Qaida and the Taliban:

The detainee left Afghanistan on 18 May 2000, via the Karachi-Quetta-Qandahar route using a passport obtained from an al Qaida facilitator.
The detainee served as a driver for the al Qaida facilitator.
The detainee completed a 45-day military-basic-training course at a terrorist training camp.
The detainee swore bayat to Usama Bin Laden.
The detainee served as a bodyguard for Usama Bin Laden between August 2000 and February 2001.
The detainee stated that he was honored to be a bodyguard for Usama Bin Laden.
The detainee was a participant in several operational meetings with a senior al Qaida official in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during March 2002.
The detainee received money to purchase a truck in order to transport explosives from Yemen to Saudi Arabia in the middle of July 2002.
The detainee received 100,000 Riyals (SAR) to cover upcoming expenditures of the Port Rashid operation (1 USD Equals [sic] 3.75).
The detainee accompanied an al Qaida operative to the Umm al Qayawin flying club close to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (The Umm al Quyawin Flying Club is also referred to as the Dubai Flying Club).
The detainee while flying with an al Qaida operative took aerial photographs of the al Sharka Airport.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners.

The detainee left Kandahar, and after a 30-minute drive returned to Kandahar to rejoin the fight.
The detainee and his family stayed at an al Qaida safe house during their egress from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

[edit] Testimony

Al-Kazimi had originally chosen to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[3] But he changed his mind shortly before the date of the Tribunal, November 20, 2004.

His Personal Representative presented his notes from his meetings with Al-Kazimi, in his absence.

According to his Personal Representative:

He acknowledged the travel that was in the allegations against him, but he thought he traveled on the 14th, not the 18th.
He acknowledged 45 days of military training.
He acknowledged swearing Bayat to Usama Bin Laden.
He denied being a bodyguard to Usama Bin Laden.
He denied taking refuge in a al Qaida safe house in Kandahar.
He said Usama Bin Laden wanted him to return to Yemen and join a group called Abu Shadeed. Bin Laden had written him a letter of introduction. He claimed he refused and swore at Bin Laden.
He claimed he was running away from Bin Laden.
Al-Kazimi denied