Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi

Infoxbox WoT detainees
subject_name = Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi


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date_of_birth = Birth date and age|1981|02|12
place_of_birth = flagicon|Bahrain - Muharraq, Bahrain
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
id_number = 227
group =
alias =Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi
(Arabic: صلاح عبد الرسول البلوشي)
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Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi (Arabic: صلاح عبد الرسول البلوشي) is a Bahraini, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. [http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=121195&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=28169 'Help me' plea by Bay detainee] , "Gulf Daily News", September 5 2005]

On May 15 2006 the U.S. Department of Defense complied with a court order and released a list of the identities of the Guantaanamo detainees.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf
title=List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=May 15 2006
accessdate=2007-09-29
format=PDF] The DoD calls him Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi. His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 227. The DoD reports that he was born on February 12 1981, in Muharraq, Bahrain. Mr Al Bloushi was reportedly arrested by Pakistani authorities after crossing over from Afghanistan in December 2001 and handed over to the US military. [http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/1yr_arc_Articles.asp?Article=148101&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29104&date=7/2/2006 Bahrain Bay detainee 'poses no danger'] , "Gulf Daily News", July 2 2006]

Al Blooshi is represented by Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, Esq. The campaign to free the detainee is being led by Bahraini MP Mohammed Khalid.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902
title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=March 6 date=January 2008

Initially the Bush Presidency 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 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 Presidency's definition of an enemy combatant.

ummary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal, on 23 September 2004.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000201-000299.pdf#49
title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Al Balushi, Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman
date=23 September 2004
author=OARDEC
pages=pages 49-50
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-01-19] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

:"'a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida::#The detainee traveled from Bahrain to Afghanistan via Pakistan in August 2001.:#Upon arriving in Kandahar, the Detainee spent two weeks in a guesthouse.:#The detainee's host while staying in Kandahar is a suspected al Qaida recruiter.:#At the suggestion of the suspected recruiter, the detainee gave his passport to a scholar at a local institute.:#The scholar to whom the detainee gave his passport is an al Qaida recruiter.:#An alias used by the detainee, and the name of the person to whom he gave his passport, were found on a lists discovered during searches of suspected al Qaida safe houses in Afghanistan during November 2001.:#While in a Jalalabad hospital, the detainee met an Egyptian, and then traveled with him to a small village.:#The Egyptian has been identified as an al Qaida commander and trainer.:#The Egyptian fought in the front lines with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.:#The detainee was captured by Pakistani authorities in December 2001 as he fled Afghanistan.

Transcript

There is no record that captive 227participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Habeas corpus

A writ of habeas corpus, Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi v. George W. Bush, was submitted on captive 227's behalf.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/publicly_filed_CSRT_records_1476-1624.pdf#1
title=Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi v. George W. Bush
date=12 October 2004
pages=pages 1-16
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-03-13] In response, on 12 October 2004the Department of Defense released 16pages of unclassified documents related to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

The Legal Advisor's declaration was drafted by Commander James R. Crisfield Jr., a JAG officer. His enemy combatant status was confirmed by Tribunal panel 6 on 28 September 2004.

The Detainee election form prepared by his Personal Representative on 27 September 2004 stated: :

econd annual Administrative Review Board

The "Gulf Daily News" reported, on July 2 2006, that Colangelo-Bryan summarized the allegations against al Blooshifrom his second Administrative Review Board.

#"Specifically, the military asserts that Salah went to Afghanistan long before September 11, 2001, when he heard about Buddhist statues being destroyed at Bamyan.
#"According to the military, Salah went there to make sure that Afghans were Salafi Muslims.
#"The military also says that Salah had 300 Bahraini dinars with him and that he stayed with a friend for two weeks in Kandahar.
#"According to the military, this friend suggested that Salah give his passport to a man who is said to be associated in some way with Al Qaeda.
#"Finally, the military said that Salah became sick for a month in Jalabad and then travelled to Afghan/Pakistani border.

Colangelo-Bryan asked how, even if the allegations were true, they showed that Al Blooshi had ever represented a threat to the USA.

ummary of Evidence

In September 2007 the DoD released a Summary of Evidence memo prepared for Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman Al Balushi's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 30 January 2006.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_2_Factors_299-398.pdf#52
title=Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Balushi, Salah Abdul Rasul Ali Abdul Rahman
date=30 January 2006
pages=pages 52-54
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-01-19] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention:

:"'a. Commitment:#The detainee became interested in traveling to Afghanistan after he heard about the destruction of the Buddha statues in the Barnian Province of Afghanistan. The detainee was further convinced after the return of an unidentified group of sheiks. The sheiks initially went to Afghanistan to persuade the Taliban to quit destroying statues, but ended up changing their minds and endorsing the act.:#The detainee wanted to go to Afghanistan to ensure that the people were real Muslims, meaning if the people were Salafi Muslims.:#The detainee traveled to the Baluchistan Province in Pakistan via Karachi, Pakistan on 25 July 2001 and stayed with a friend for three weeks. Afterwards, he traveled to Afghanistan around August 2001 via Quetta, Pakistan.:#The detainee stated he paid for his trip to Afghanistan with 300 Bahraini Dinars and money he saved while attedning Jaammat Islamia University in Medina, Saudi Arabia. In addition, the detainee received approximately 84 Bahraini Dinars per month as a stipend from the university. The detainee was a student at the university for approximately one year prior to his departure for Afghanistan.

:"'b. Connections/Associations:#Upon arriving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the detainee spent two weeks in the house of an acquaintance.:#At the suggestion of the acquaintaince who he lived with in Kandahar, the detainee gave his passport to a scholar at a local institute.:#The scholar was identified as an initial al Qaida screener. He was particularly known for talking a lot about jihad. The scholar was a helper, a coordinator, and he was the one responsible for travel.:#The detainee's name was found on a list of captured Mujahidin on a computer, which was associated with an operative and was seized during raids with a foreign governmental agency on 1 March 2003.:#The detainee's name was found on a document listing 324 Arabic names, aliases, and nationalities recovered from safe house raids associated with suspected al Qaida members.

:"'c. Other Relevant Data:#The detainee claims he became sick in Jalalabad and spent a month in a hospital. After being released from this hospital, the detainee traveled with a man to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.:#The detainee claims to have a learning disability, which makes it very difficult for him to remember details or events.:#On 18 August 2005, the detainee was not willing to cooperate and refused to discuss his case.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

:

Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_2_Decision_memos_183-265.pdf#11
title=Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 227
date=16 May 2006
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-05-05
pages=page 11] cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_2_Decision_memos_183-265.pdf#12
title=Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 227
date=2 May 2006
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2008-05-05
pages=pages 12-19] The Board's recommendation was unanimousThe Board's recommendation was redacted.England authorized his transfer on 15 June 2006.

His Board concluded that he "...continues to be a threat to the United States and its allies."

Al Blooshi's last interrogation

On July 23 2006 Colangelo-Bryan described Al Blooshi's last interrogation. [http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=150386&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29125 Bay prisoner 'is no threat'] , "Gulf Daily News", July 23 2006] He said that the camp authorities acknowledge that 75% of the detainees are no longer interrogated. He estimated that even fewer detainees are currently being interrogated than US spokesment acknowledged.

Al Blooshi has not been interrogated at all in 2006. Colangelo-Bryan said that during his last interrogation Al Blooshi was asked about his activities in the war in Bosnia in 1995.

Cquote2|Salah responded that he had been aged 14 in 1995 and wasn't anywhere near Bosnia.

When Salah refused to get into a long discussion in response to such a silly question, his interrogator said that he didn't want Salah to stay at Guantanamo until his hair turned white.

Salah understood this statement as a threat.|Colangelo-Bryan

Release

Salah has been released.Fact|date=August 2007

On Thursday August 23 2007 the "Gulf Daily News" reported that Bahraini Member of Parliament Mohammed Khalid had called for the Bahrain government to provide financial compensation to the released men.cite news
url=http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=191432&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30156
title=Bay victims may get BD50,000
author=Geoffrey Bew
publisher=Gulf Daily News
date=August 23 2007
accessdate=2007-08-23]

ee also

*Bahraini captives in Guantanamo
*Juma Mohammed Al Dossary
*Essa Al Murbati
*Adel Kamel Hajee
*Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa
*Abdulla Majid Al Naimi

References