Moammar Badawi Dokhan

Moammar Badawi Dokhan
Born	July 17, 1972 (1972-07-17) (age 39) Damascus, Syria
Detained at	Guantanamo
ISN	317
Charge(s)	No charge (extrajudicial detention)
Status	Released

Moammar Badawi Dokhan is a citizen of Syria who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 317. The Department of Defense reports that Dokhan was born on July 17, 1972, in Damascus, Syria.

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 Tribunal. 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.

To comply with a Freedom of Information Act request, during the winter and spring of 2005, the Department of Defense released 507 memoranda. Those 507 memoranda each contained the allegations against a single detainee, prepared for their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The detainee's name and ID numbers were redacted from all but one of the memoranda. However 169 of the memoranda had the detainee's ID hand-written on the top right hand of the first page corner. When the Department of Defense complied with a court order, and released official lists of the detainee's names and ID numbers it was possible to identify who those 169 were written about. Moammar Badawi Dokhan was one of those 169 detainees.^[2]

Allegations

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida and the Taliban:

1. The detainee traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan with the stated intention of joining the Taliban.
2. The detainee's name was contained on a list of incarcerated associates found on a computer used by suspected al Qaida members in Pakistan in early 2002.
3. The detainee's name was contained on a list of captured mujahidin found in Pakistan on a hard drive associated with a high-ranking al Qaida operative.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners.

1. The detainee served as a rear echelon guard and manned an observation post in the area of Bagram, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee carried a rifle while on duty at the observation post.

Writ of habeas corpus

Moammar Badawi Dokhan had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf.^[3]

Military Commissions Act

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.^[4]

Boumediene v. Bush

On 12 June 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant".^[5]

Factual return

On December 30, 2008 United States Department of Justice official Daniel M. Barish informed the court that the DoJ had filed "factual returns" in seven habeas cases, including Moammar Badawi Dokhan's.^[3]

Transfer to Portugal

Two Syrian captives in Guantanamo were transferred to Portugal on August 28, 2009.^[6][7][8] On August 31, 2009 Carol Rosenberg writing in the Miami Herald reported that the two Syrians were Muhammed Khan Tumani and Moammar Dokhan. She reported that they were released following the reviews initiated by United States President Barack Obama. Their habeas corpus petitions had not yet been concluded.

References

1. ^ "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006". United States Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf. Retrieved 2006-05-15. 
2. ^ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Moammar Badawi Dokhan's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 12, 2004 - page 184
3. ^ ^{a b} Daniel M. Barish (2008-12-30). "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 1430 -- NOTICE OF FILING OF FACTUAL RETURN". United States Department of Justice. http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2008mc00442/131990/1430/0.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
4. ^ Peter D. Keisler, Douglas N. Letter (2006-10-16). "NOTICE OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006". United States Department of Justice. http://natseclaw.typepad.com/natseclaw/files/Hamdan.28j.letter.pdf. Retrieved 2008-09-30.  mirror
5. ^ Farah Stockman (2008-10-24). "Lawyers debate 'enemy combatant'". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/10/24/lawyers_debate_enemy_combatant/. Retrieved 2008-10-24.  mirror
6. ^ "US identifies Syrian prisoner sent to Portugal". Associated Press. 2009-08-31. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fhostednews%2Fap%2Farticle%2FALeqM5g3WIBOXA-BeNBZmsWqreuD4upVIgD9AE08IG0&date=2009-08-31. 
7. ^ Carol Rosenberg (2009-08-31). "Court documents name detainees sent to Portugal". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.miamiherald.com%2Fnews%2Fnation%2Fstory%2F1210582.html&date=2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
8. ^ OARDEC (2004). "Civil Action No. 05-CV-0526". United States Department of Justice. pp. pages 3–30. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.miamiherald.com%2Fsmedia%2F2009%2F08%2F31%2F10%2Fportugal2.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf&date=2009-08-31. 

External links

• Who Are The Two Syrians Released From Guantánamo To Portugal? Andy Worthington

Persondata
Name	Dokhan, Moammar Badawi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1972
Place of birth	Damascus, Syria
Date of death
Place of death