Muhamed Hussein Abdallah

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Muhamed Hussein Abdallah is a citizen of Somalia, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 704.

1 Identity
2 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
- 2.1 Allegations
- 2.2 Testimony
3 Called to testify for Fethi Boucetta
4 References

[edit] Identity

The Department of Defense exhausted its legal appeals and was forced to release a list of the names, ages and nationalities of all the Guantanamo detainees who had been held in military custody.^[1] That list states an estimated year of birth for Abdallah of 1983. Yet Abdallah's testimony refers to his children and grandchildren.<^[2] The official list states Abdallah was born in Boor'o, Somalia.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved.

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.

Abdallah chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] Allegations

The allegations against Abdallah were:

a The detainee is associated with the Taliban or Al Qaida forces, which are engaged in hostility with the United States.

The detainee is a somali who lives in Peshawar, Pakistan under the United Nations Refugee status.
The detainee provided information on several non-government organizations.
The detainee was arrested in a raid on suspected Al Qaida residences and support facilities connected with the Afghan Support Committee (ASC).
ASC is listed on the United States Secretary of States terrorist exclusion list as an organization who is engaged in terrorist activities.
The detainee was a resident of Jolazai refugee camp.
Arab militants have been associated with the Jolazai refugee camp since the 1980's when it was a reception station in the North West Frontier Providence, where newly arrived recruits would receive training prior to being sent to fight the Soviet troops.
Militants associated with Osama bin Laden’s organization were traveling through the Jolazai refugee camp in route to India.

[edit] Testimony

Abdallah left Somalia in 1967. He has eleven children and 79 or 80 grandchildren. He returned to Somalia three or four times.

He became a refugee in 1993.

His son-in-law, Mohammed Sulaiman is also a detainee.

He called a witness, Abu Mohammed. A co-worker. They worked for the Red Crescent. Authorities picked up most of the people that worked for this organization at the same time.

He also asked for a witness named Fethi Boucetta.

He denied ever working for the Afghan Support Committee. His son-in-law used to work with them. He said four other people who worked for the ASC were brought to Guantanamo, and three of them had already been released, while the fourth had been told he would probably be released soon.

He denied being loaned the house he lived in by any terrorist organization, or anyone at all. He rented it.

The director of the Jolazai refugee camp became the Minister of Education in Karzai’s government

[edit] Called to testify for Fethi Boucetta

Another Guantanamo detainee, Fethi Boucetta, had initially requested Abdallah testify on his behalf during his Tribunal.^[3] Shortly before his Tribunal Boucetta decided not to attend. He decided to rescind his request for Abdallah to testify on his behlf.