Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed


image_size =
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date_of_birth = Birth year and age|1977
place_of_birth = Debab, Yemen
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 688
group =
alias =
charge = no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
status =
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed was a Yemeni captured and detained in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.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] Ahmed' Guantanamo detainee ID number is 688.American intelligence analysts estimate Ahmed was born in 1977, in Debab, Yemen.

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=December 2007

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.

Allegations

The allegations Ahmed faced, during his Tribunal, were: [http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/fahmiahmed.pdf#24 Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf)] prepared for Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - page 24] :""'a The detainee is associated with al Qaida::#"The detainee is Yemeni and was captured by Pakistani authorities in Faisalabad, Pakistan.:#"The detainee was identified by a senior al Qaida operational planner as having been a resident at a safehouse located in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2001.:#"The detainee was identified by a senior al Qaida facilitator as having been a resident at a safehouse located in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2000. This individaul also saw the detainee at a safehouse located in Faisalabad, Pakistan in February 2002 with a group of Yemenis who had fled Afghanistan.

:""'b The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners.:#"The detainee was present on the front lines in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Transcript

Ahmed chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. [http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/fahmiahmed.pdf#12 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal", page 12-22 - [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_4_0320-0464.pdf - mirror pages 103-112] ]

Testimony

Ahmed denied all the allegations against him. In particular, he claimed he had never even been to Afghanistan.Ahmed was given money, from his mother, to go to Pakistan to buy textiles, in hopes she could set him up as a textiles merchant.

But, he met an another Arab in the textile bazaar, who invited him to come stay with him. The two of them spent much of his capital on drugs and liquor. He didn't buy any textiles. He overstayed his visa. Over the next several years, he occasionally got informal jobs, serving as a kind of security guard. He also spent long periods of time unemployed, using drugs, and eating at soup kitchens for the destitute.

He didn't return to Yemen because he was ashamed that he had wasted the capital his mother had given him on drugs.

The last place he lived at was a residence for International students in. He had been living there only a few weeks when it was raided by Pakistani authorities and all the foreigners were arrested. He recognized that many of them had also been sent to Guantanamo.

He acknowledged that he had dropped out of school after grade eight, and could have been considered a delinquent, during his youth in Yemen

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.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Ahmed were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3 2006. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/ARB_Factors_Set_1_944-1045.pdf#73 Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf)] of Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed "Administrative Review Board" - page 73]

"The following primary factors favor continued detention:

:""'a. Commitment:#"The detainee traveled from Yemen to Karachi, Pakistan and then on to Faisalabad, Pakistan.

:""'b. Connection:#"The detainee was identified by a senior al Qaida operational planner as having been a resident at a safehouse "sic" located in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2001.:#"The detainee waa identified by a senior al Qaida facilitator as having been a resident at a safehouse located in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2000. This individual also saw the detainee at a safehouse located in Faisalabad, Pakistan in February 2002 with a group of Yemenis who had fled Afghanistan.

:""'c. Intent:#"The detainee was present on the front lines in Bagram, Afghanistan.:#"Detainee has been identified as helping to transport equipment and wounded near the front lines.

"The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

:*"Detainee denied ever going to Afghanistan.:*"Detainee stated that he got $3500 from his mother to travel to Pakistan and open a fabric store.:*"Detainee stated that he worked for a year and a half as a security guard in Karachi, Pakistan.

Transcript

Ahmed chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/ARB_Transcript_Set_3_769-943_FINAL.pdf#168 Summarized transcript (.pdf)] , from Fahmi Abdullah Ahmed's "Administrative Review Board hearing" - page 168]

References