Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir

Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba. [http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 273.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on April 18 1980, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

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.

Al Nasir chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_46_3096-3129.pdf#1 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 1-6]

Allegations

Unlike most captives Al Nasir's transcript does not record him being offered an opportunity torespond to the unclassified allegations against them one at a time. His transcript does not record the allegationsagainst him. It does record his responses to those allegations.

Response to the allegations

Al Nasir's Personal Representative read out the responses Al Nasir had given him to the allegations against him, during their pre-Tribunal interview:
*"The detainee traveled to Kabul to provide assistance to the Afghanis.
*"He paid for his own travel.
*"The detainee was not asked by Al-Jabri, while in Saudi Arabia to fight for al-Qaida. The only thing discussed was going to help the Afghanis.
*"The detainee only knew al-Wafa helped people and he agreed to go.
*"The detainee did not flee Kabul.
*"The work of loading trucks with food and supplies was very difficult. He was not physically prepared or experienced in such work. The war was going on, so he decided to leave with his brother, cousin and an unidentified Afghani man.
*"He was in Kabul for 8 days.
*"When his group crossed into Pakistan they asked the Pakistani police for assistance in getting to the Saudi embassy. Instead they were taken to jail and subsequently arrived in Cuba."

Response to Tribunal questions

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 Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir 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_3_1161-1234_Revised.pdf#51 Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf)] of Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir "Administrative Review Board" - pages 51-52]

"The following primary factors favor continued detention:

:""'a. Commitment :#"The Detainee voluntarily traveled from Saudi Arabia to Kabul, Afghanistan immediately following the September 11,2001 attacks.:#"Detainee traveled to Afghanistan through an indirect route from Saudi Arabia to Syria, Syria to Iran, and then walked across the border from Iran to Afghanistan then on to Kabul, Afghanistan.:#"Detainee arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan 55 days after September 11,2001.:#"Detainee stayed in Kabul, and then after it was attached by the Northern Alliance fled to Pakistan.:#"Detainee fought in Tora Bora.

:""'b. Associations and Connections:#"Detainee admits to working with al Wafa while in Afghanistan.:#"Al Wafa is a known terrorist support organization.:#"Detainee's name was found on a hard drive file of a known al Qaida operative.

"The following primary factors release or transfer:

:

Transcript

Al Nasir 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#22 Summarized transcript (.pdf)] , from Abd Al Aziz Muhammad Ibrahim Al Nasir's "Administrative Review Board hearing" - page 22]

Transfer to Saudi Arabia

Al Nasir was one of 14 men transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia on June 25 2006. [http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1175544.php/Thirteen_Saudis_and_a_Turkistani_return_to_Saudi_from_Guantanamo Thirteen Saudis and a Turkistani return to Saudi from Guantanamo] , "Middle East News", June 25 2006] cite web
url=http://www.fotofest.org/guantanamo/SaudiReport.pdf
title=The Saudi Repatriates Report
author=Anant Raut, Jill M. Friedman
date=March 19 2007
accessdate=April 21
accessyear=2007]

References