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Tolfiq Nassar Ahmed al Bihani is a citizen of Saudi Arabia held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 893. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report he was born on 1 June 1972, in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
As of March 25, 2010, Tolfiq Nassar Ahmed al Bihani has been held at Guantanamo for seven years one months.[2]
Combatant Status Review[]
- Main article: Combatant Status Review Tribunal
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the allegations that led to his detainment. His memo accused him of the following:[3]
- a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida:
- The detainee has been identified as an al Qaida operative.
- The detainee was one of Usama Bin Laden's bodyguards.
- Two of the detainee's brothers are current or past jihadist fighters.
- The detainee learned to shoot the Kalishnakov AK-47.
- The detainee was a member of the Jama'at Al Tablighi.
- Jama'at Al Tablighi, a Pakistan based Islamic missionary organization, is becoming increasing radicalized, and is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al Qaida.
- The detainee had an information sharing relationship with members of al Qaida while in Pakistan.
- After arrest, a foreign government turned the detainee over to the Afghani government because he was an al Qaida operative.
Administrative Review Board[]
Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.[4]
2005 Administrative Review Board[]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his 2005 annual Administrative Review Board hearing.[5]
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Commitment
- The detainee has been identified as an al Qaida operative who was released from Iran.
- The detainee admitted to being a member of Jamaat al Tablighi.
- The detainee traveled to the Raywand Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan where he stayed at the center for approximately six months.
- The detainee used his own money to purchase his ticket and traveled to Karachi, Pakistan in May 2001.
- The detainee stayed at a guesthouse in Kandahar, Afghanistan that was associated with Yemeni jihadists with extremists connections.
- b. Connections/Associations
- The detainee is acquainted with an al Qaida operative who fled to Iran when the Taliban regime fell.
- c. Other Relevant Data
- The detainee learned to use the Kalashnikove in Yemen in 1999.
- A report indicated that a foreign government was going to turn over some al Qaida operatives, include the detainee to the Afghanistan government.
- The detainee stated he traveled to Quetta, Pakistan then to Baluchistan Pakistan where he was smuggled into Iran and later arrested for not having an Iranian visa.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a. The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001 and also denied having knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests.
- b. The detainee reported he has never been to Hajj and does not enjoy the company of religious people.
- c. The detainee denied any affiliation with al Qaida or any other extremist groups.
2006 Administrative Review Board[]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his 2006 annual Administrative Review Board hearing.[6]
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Commitment
- The detainee stated he was a member of Jamaat al Tabligh. He stated that he went on a tabligh, which is basically doing a dawah or going to mosques or small towns and answering questions about Islam or speaking in the mosques.
- Jamaat al Tabligh is a Pakistan based Islamic missionary organization used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists, including members of al Qaida.
- The detainee stated that he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan by plane, stayed in Karachi for four to seven days in cheap hotels without associating with anyone. The detainee then traveled by bus to the Raywan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. The detainee stated that he paid for his plane ticket and travel expenses with his own money.
- The detainee stated that he stayed at the Raywan Mosque for approximately six months. He stated that he did not know how the mosque got its funding.
- The detainee stated that he began to hear rumors that the Americans were coming to Aftghanistan and Pakistan to arrest all Arabs in retaliation for the attacks on 11 September 2001. He stated that he decided to escape to Pakistan and return to Yemen. The detainee stated that he took a train from Lahore, Pakistan to Quetta, Pakistan, then a bus to a border town and was then smuggled into Iran by walking across the border with a guide. The detainee stated that he was arrested by the Iranian Police in Zahedan, Iran for entering the country without a visa. He stated that he was in various prisons in Iran and Afghanistan, for approximately one year in total, before being transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- In March 2002, the detainee was one of fifteen al Qaida operatives transferred from Iranian custody to the government of Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan then transferred ten of these individuals, including the detainee to the United States government.
- Another source stated that he saw the detainee and two of this brothers ata a guest house for jihadists in Qandahar, Afghanistan.
- The detainee was identified as having gone ot the front lines near Kabul, Afghanistan upon completion of his training.
- The detainee was identified as an al Qaida operative.
- 'b. Training
- An individual stated that the detainee and one of his brothers received basic training and mortar training at al Farouq training camp in 2000.
- The detainee received training on the SA-7 and ZSU-23 anti-aircraft weapons in a bunker on top of the Saber Mountains near Qandahar, Afghanistan.
- The detainee received training on building improvised explosive devices (IEDs) utilizing tank shells, mortars, and land mines.
- c. Connections/Associations
- The detainee stated that one of his brothers fought jihad in Chechnya, was injured, and returned home to Yemen.
- The same brother of the detainee is a self-confessed al Qaida member who was a member of the Usama bin Ladden and Mujahedin facilitation network in Yemen. He fought in jihad in Tajikistan and Bosnia for five years and trained operatives on the fabrication and use of explosives, including remotely detonated explosives and explosive belts in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in order to conduct suicide operations against the United States Embassy and United States military bases in Yemen.
- A senior al Qaida operative identified the same brother of the detainee as someone who regularly resupplied Chechen Mujahedin fighters with food and money during the final days of the late-2001 battle for Qandahar, Afghanistan.
- A senior al Qaida operative stated that the detainee and several brothers fought with al Qaida during their final days in Afghanistan.
- The detainee stated that a second brother went to Afghanistan, was captured, and is a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- The same second brother of the detainee was captured at Mazar al-Sharif and is described as a low ranking al Qaida rifleman.
- The name of a third brother of the detainee was found on an application to attend Afghanistan-based military training camps.
- Two of the detainee's brothers are in custody of a foreign government service. On the brothers is described as a Yemen-based al Qaida connected facilitator, financier, operational planner, and explosives expert. The other brother is described as a Yemen-based al Qaida connected operative.
- d. Intent
- The detainee stated that after being unjustly imprisoned all of the time by the Americans, once he is released he is going to go to Afghanistan, join the freedom fighters again, and kill Americans.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a. The detainee stated that he knows of the al Qaida terrorist network, but has never met or spoken to anyone belonging to al Qaida.
- b. The detainee denied being associated with al Qaida or any other extremist group. He stated that he heard of the attacks on America on 11 September 2001 and vehemently disagrees with suicide and killing of innocents.
- c. The detainee stated that he was doing anything wrong when he was caught. He stated that he was captured, sold to other authorities that finally sold him to the United States.
- d. The detainee stated that if he were released he would return to Yemen, where he has several family members and work in one of the family's stores.
Publication of captives' CSR Tribunal documents[]
In September 2007 the Department of Justice published dossiers of unclassified documents arising from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 179 captives.[7] Toffiq Nassar Ahmed Al Bihani had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf, but the Department of Defense did not publish it with the others.
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.[8]
Boumediene v. Bush[]
On June 12, 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".[9]
Protective order[]
On 15 July 2008 Kristine A. Huskey filed a "NOTICE OF PETITIONERS’ REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER" on behalf of Toffiq Nassar Ahmed Al Bihani and several dozen captives.[10] The petition would prevent the Department of Defense from transferring him out of US jurisdiction without giving his attorney's thirty days notice. The Department of Defense had transferred some captives to countries where they were subsequently subjected to abusive treatment—even though they had active habeas corpus petitions.
Habeas timeline[]
George M. Clarke III swore a declaration on 9 September 2008, stating that Toffiq's brother Adnan Al Bihani, serving as "next friend" initiated the habeas corpus process, in a letter dated 17 June 2005.[11] Clarke and other attorneys formally filed the petition on 14 December 2005. Toffiq had initially declined to sign a form authoring Clarke to serve as his counsel in 2005. But when Clarke was able to meet with him on 28 March 2007 Toffiq verbally authorized him to serve as his counsel, and he followed up that verbal authorization with a letter authorizing him to serve as counsel.
See also[]
- Torture
References[]
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ ' [1] The New York Times
- ↑ OARDEC (2004-11-29). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Bihani, Tolfiq Nassar Ahmed". United States Department of Defense. p. page 48. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000600-000699.pdf#48. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ↑ "Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials". March 6, 2007. http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
- ↑ OARDEC (2005-11-10). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Bihani, Talfiq Nassar Ahmed". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 24–25. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000694-000793.pdf#24-25. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ↑ OARDEC (2006-06-23). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Bihani, Tolfiq Nassar Ahmed". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 66–69. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_2_Factors_799-899.pdf#66. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ↑ OARDEC0 (August 8, 2007). "Index for CSRT Records Publicly Files in Guantanamo Detainee Cases". United States Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_publicly_filed_CSRT_records.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
- ↑ NOTICE OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006 [2] Peter D. Keisler, Douglas N. Letter 2006-10-16 mirror
- ↑ Lawyers debate 'enemy combatant' [3] Farah Stockman 2008-10-24 mirror
- ↑ Kristine A. Huskey (2008-07-15). "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 63 -- NOTICE OF PETITIONERS’ REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER". United States Department of Justice. http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2008mc00442/131990/63/0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-13. mirror
- ↑ George M. Clarke III (2008-09-09). "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 402 -- Declaration of George M. Clarke III". United States Department of Justice. http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2008mc00442/131990/402/0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-13. mirror
External links[]
- Judge Denies Guantánamo Prisoner’s Habeas Petition, Ignores Torture in Secret CIA Prisons Andy Worthington
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