Yasser Talal Al Zahrani

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Yasser Talal Al Zahrani

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image_size =
image_caption =
date_of_birth = Birth date and age|1984|09|22
place_of_birth = Yenbo, Saudi Arabia
date_of_arrest =
place_of_arrest= Faisalabad, Pakistan
arresting_authority= Pakistani security officials
date_of_release =
place_of_release=
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
citizenship =
detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 93
group =
alias =
charge = No charge, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
status = Death in custody
csrt_summary =
csrt_transcript=
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Yasser Talal Al Zahrani (September 22 1984 – June 10 2006) "(also transliterated as Yasser Talal Abdullah Yahya al Zahran)" was a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention 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
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2006-05-15
quote=] His Guantanamo detainee ID number was 93.The Department of Defense (DoD) reported that he was born on September 22 1984, in Yenbo, Saudi Arabia.

Al Zahrani died in custody on June 10 2006. His death is widely reported to have been a suicide.cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082203083_pf.html
title=Guards' Lapses Cited in Detainee Suicides: Probe Also Faults Lenient Policies At Guantanamo
publisher=Washington Post
author=Josh White
date=2008-08-23
page=A01
accessdate=2008-08-23
quote= ]

Timeline

On June 10 2006 the DoD reported that three Guantanamo detainees, two Saudis, and one Yemeni committed suicide. [http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-06-10T185303Z_01_N10232278_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-GUANTANAMO.xml&archived=False Three Guantanamo detainees die in suicides] , "Reuters", June 10 2006] DoD spokesmen refrained from releasing the dead men's identities.

On June 11 2006 Saudi authorities released the names of the two Saudi men. [http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1034817 Riydadh names Guantanamo suicide victims, wants bodies] , "Daily News & Analysis", June 11 2006] One was identified as Al Zahrani.

The other Saudi was identified as both Maniy bin Shaman al-Otaibi and Mani bin Shaman bin Turki al Habradi. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Guantanamo_Saudis.html Saudis allege torture in Guantanamo deaths] , "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", June 11 2006] Neither of these names is on either of the two official lists of Guantanamo names the DoD has released.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/detainee_list.pdf
title=List of detainees who went through complete CSRT process
publisher=United States Department of Defense
author=OARDEC
date=2006-04-20
accessdate=2008-07-26
quote=]

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

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 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.

There is no record that Yasser Talal Al Zahrani chose to attend his Tribunal.

Allegations

The allegations Yasser Talal Al Zahrani would have faced, during his Tribunal, stated:
OARDEC, [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000101-000200.pdf#11 CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for AL ZAHRANI, Yasser Talal] , United States Department of Defense -- page 11 -- September 22 2004]
*That he had arrived in Afghanistan in July 2001.
*That he had trained at an Afghan training camp, near Konduz
*That he had served on the second line, near Konduz, in the second week of September 2001.

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.

Allegations

There is no record that Yasser Talal Al Zahrani chose to attend his hearing. The Summary of Evidence memo prepared for his hearing listed 26 factors favoring his continued detention.
OARDEC, [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000099-000196.pdf#24 Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Zahrani, Yasser Talal] , United States Department of Defense -- pages 24-26 -- September 8 2005]

The factors stated:
*That he decided to travel to Afghanistan, instead of finishing high school, in August 2001.
*That he trained at the Taliban's Konduz Center, and at al Qaida's al Farouq training camp.
*That he was a financial courier.
*That he had ties to various senior al Qaida and Taliban leaders.
*That he served as security guard for three months
*That he was captured, and sent to a prison in Mazari Sharif, and was injured during the prison riot at Qali Jangi in early November.

Al Zahrani's age

Bahraini detainee Abdulla Majid Al Naimi who was released on November 8 2005 said he knew the three dead men, and commented on their deaths on June 25 2006.

Al Naimi said that Al Zahrani, was only 16 when he was captured. [http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/06/25/10049187.html Ex-detainee disputes triple suicide report] , "Gulf Daily News", June 25 2006] According to Al Naimi Al Zahrani should have been treated as a minor.:"He was 21 when he died, barely the legal age in most countries, and was merely 16 when he was picked up four and half years ago. His age shows that he is not even supposed to be taken to a police office; he should have been turned over to the underage [juvenile] authorities."

Recent letter to his father

The New York Times reported that Al Zahrani's father, Talal Abdallah al-Zahrani, recently received a letter from his son where he seemed to be in good spirits. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/us/12gitmo.html?pagewanted=print Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantánamo] , "New York Times", June 12 2006 - [http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_3927062 mirror] ] He said: "Nothing suggested that he would commit suicide, nothing,"

Al Zahrani disputed the US report that his son was non-compliant, saying his son had spent his time memorizing the Koran, and had been behaving. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/us/12gitmo.html?pagewanted=print Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantánamo] , "New York Times", June 12 2006 - [http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_3927062 mirror] ] [http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1150494611896&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620 A short life ends at Guantanamo] , "Hamilton Spectator", June 17 2006] Al Zahrani said that the reason his son had been in the area of Afghanistan was that he had been working for Islamic charities.

Letter of June 1

The English language Arab newspaper "Asharq Alawsat" reported that a letter a detainee had "..."written ten days before the Pentagon announced three inmates had committed suicide on 10 June" ..." appears to report that “..."Two detainees are on the verge of death… perhaps they are dying or have died poisoned."...” [http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5974 Saudi Arabia: Detainee Letter Exposes Alleged Guantanamo Horrors] , "Asharq Alawsat", August 12 2006 - [http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2520796/ mirror] ] Asharq Alawsat asserts that the two detainees on the verge of death were two of the men the USA claimed committed suicide.

Asharq Alawsat reports that the letter was handed by the detainee, to his lawyer, who turned it over to Talal Al Zahrani's father's lawyer. [http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5974 Saudi Arabia: Detainee Letter Exposes Alleged Guantanamo Horrors] , "Asharq Alawsat", August 12 2006 - [http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2520796/ mirror] ] Asharq Alawsat reports that the detainee's name is being kept confidential, for his safety.

Guantanamo attorneys must all agree that they must turn over all their notes and other documents before they leave Guantanamo. They have to report to a secure document center in Washington DC center in order to review their own notes. If a detainee authored a letter suggesting Talal Al-Zahrani and the two other men didn't really commit suicide, keeping his identity confidential could not have prevented the DoD from learning his identity.

Post mortems

Guantanamo camp authorities conducted post mortems on the three dead men, before their bodies were shipped home. [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=84011&d=19&m=6&y=2006 Yasser’s Body Bears Marks of Beating] , "Arab News", June 19 2006] Al Zahrani's father has called for a second post mortem by neutral, independent pathologists.

Al Zahrani's father claimed that after his own examination of his son's corpse he was convinced he bore the marks of a beating. [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=84011&d=19&m=6&y=2006 Yasser’s Body Bears Marks of Beating] , "Arab News", June 19 2006] He sees this as confirming his skepticism that Al Zahrani did not commit suicide, but was murdered.

Al Utaybi's family reported that his Saudi post-mortem had found that the DoD had retained Al Utaybi's brain, heart, liver and kidneys. [http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Saudi_Arabia/10048452.html Vital organs missing from repatriated body: family] , "Gulf News", June 21 2006]

Patrice Mangin, a widely published forensic pathologist, headed the team that volunteered to provide neutral, independent second autopsies for the three dead men. [http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=958&p=front&a=3 Gitmo detainee buried after body cross-examined] , "Yemen Times", June 25 2005] After their examination of Ahmed's body, he said that it was routine for pathologists to remove some organs that decay rapidly. However, they had also found that the DoD had retained Ahmed's throat, which his team would need to examine before they offered a definitive conclusion as to how he died.

Mangin asked the DoD to supply his team with Ahmed's throat, and with the bed sheets they claimed had been used to hang the three men.

NCIS Report

On August 23 2008 Josh White writing in the "Washington Post" reported the paper had received 3,000 pages of documents arising from the NCIS investigation through Freedom of Information Act requests.He reported that the NCIS report attributed the deaths to lapses on the part of the guards, and to a policy of leniency for the compliant captives.

The report said the deaths were in Camp 1, which has now been closed, a camp for compliant captives, and that the men's bodies were masked by laundry they were allowed to hang up to dry.

References

External links

* [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7055831 Obituary: Yasser Talal al-Zahrani] , The Economist, 15 June 2006