Richard Belmar

Richard Belmar is a citizen of the United Kingdom who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. [http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006] His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 817.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on October 31 1979, in London, England.

CSRT-Yes [http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/richardbelmar.pdf Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Richard Dean Belmar's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 10-17]

:""'The detainee is associated with the Taliban and al Qaida forces.":#"The detainee is a citizen of the United Kingdom who traveled to Afghanistan to flee criminal prosecution and receive military training.":#"The detainee traveled from the United Kingdom to Kandahar, Afghanistan around July 2001, via the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.":#"The detainee stayed at a house in Kabul, Afghanistan and received training in the assembling and disassembling of the AK47.":#"The detainee traveled to a terrorist training camp around 21 July 2001.":#"The detainee received basic weapons, war tactics, and navigation training at a terrorist training camp.":#"The detainee conducted guard duty with a Kalishnikov "sic" rifle at the front gate of a terrorist training camp.":#"The detainee was in contact with Usama Bin Laden while at a terrorist training camp.":#"The detainee stated he had one opportunity to fight the Northern Alliance forces in Kabul, Afghanistan.":#"The detainee was arrested by the Pakistani local authorities on 07 February 2002.":#"The detainee swore a bayat (oath or promise) to Usama Bin Laden."

Testimony

Belmar was unusually candid with the Tribunal, and acknowledged fleeing the United Kingdom, because he thought he might have been charged with being an accessory after the fact for manslaughter. He denied traveling to Afghanistan for military training. But he acknowledged accepting a limited amount of military training, so his hosts wouldn't "diss" him for not being a man.

Belmar denied pulling guard duty.

Like several other detainees Belmar acknowledged attending a large meeting where he heard Bin Laden speak. Like those other detainees the allegations against him describe hearing Bin Laden speak as "meeting" Bin Laden.

Belmar acknowledged being asked to fight the Northern Alliance, but he said he made an excuse to avoid combat duty.

Belmar denied ever swearing a bayat to Bin Laden.

During the Question and Answer portion of his Tribunal the Tribunal officers asked him a number of questions about Abu Qatada, a muslim cleric who had been living in the United Kingdom. A relationship with Qatada seems to have been the sole reason Bisher Amin Khalil Al-Rawi, another UK resident, ended up at Guantanamo Bay. Belmar acknowledged attending a couple of prayer sessions lead by Qatada, when he had been too late to attend the prayer sessions at his regular mosque.

The Tribunal determined that Belmar had been appropriately classified as an "enemy combatant". But, like the other nine UK citizens held at Guantanamo Bay, he was repatriated to the UK, where he was promptly released after a brief debriefing.

References