Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari

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Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari
Born:	September 17, 1973(1973-09-17) Hawalli, Kuwait
Detained at:	Guantanamo
Alias(s):	Abdullah Kamel, Abdullah Al Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abdulla Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel, Saliman, Al Saliman
ID number:	228
Conviction(s):	no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status	repatriated
CSRT Summary	* "Summary of Evidence" on Wikisource.
CSRT Transcript	* "Transcript" on Wikisource.
Occupation:	Electrical Engineer
Spouse:	yes
Children:	yes

Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari is a citizen of Kuwait, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 228.

Al Kandari was born on September 17, 1973, and was married in 1996. Al Kandari worked for eight years, in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water, as an electrical engineer. He supported his wife, their children, his father-in-law, sister, and her children.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3 x 6 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands cuffed and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.^[2] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[3]

Casio F91W, in daily alarm mode. The watch is currently set to ring an alarm, and flash its light, at 7:30am.

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Kamal's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 20 September 2004.^[4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is a member of al Qaeda:

1. Detainee traveled to Afghanistan, via Iran, after 11 September 2001, with approximately $15,000 U.S. dollars.
2. Detainee was captured with a Casio watch, model F-91 W, a common watch used by al Qaeda to detonate improvised explosive devices.
3. One of the detainee's known aliases was on a list of captured hard drives (sic) associated with a senior al Qaeda member.

[edit] Transcript

Al Kandari agreed to cooperate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[5] The Associated Press submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for Al Kandari's dossier, and made it available for download.^[6]

[edit] Al Kandari's travel to Afghanistan

Al Kandari acknowledged traveling to the area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He said his purpose was humanitarian aid. He acknowledged taking $15,000. $13,000 of which he used to aid refugees, reserving $2,000 for his return to Kuwait. He had never traveled to Pakistan or Afghanistan before. And didn't know anyone associated with al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Amnesty International says he was captured during a sweep when Pakistani authorities arrested all foreigners.

[edit] Al Kandari's Casio watch

Al Kandari seemed surprised that his possession of his watch was regarded as evidence that he was a security threat. He said that his model was very common and popular in Kuwait because it had a feature that helped the owner know what direction Mecca was, in order to perform their daily prayers.

The Tribunal asked Al Kandari if he had ever modified his watch. He said the only work that had ever been performed on it was a simple replacement of a worn out battery.

The Tribunal officers asked Al Kandari if his watch had a feature that helped him pray to Mecca. His watch did have that feature. The Tribunal documents refer to him owning a Casio F91W watch. The F91W does not have the Mecca prayer feature.

When transcripts from detainees CSRTs and ARB hearings were made public on March 3, 2006 it became known that at least eighteen detainees remained in detention, in part, because they wore a Casio watch. Only one captive's Personal Representative challenged the credibility of this allegation.

[edit] Al Kandari's aliases

The unclassified portion of Al Kandari's dossier says his known aliases were found on captured Al Qaeda hard drives.

Al Kandari asked the name that was found on the computer. The unclassified portion of his dossier doesn't list any of those aliases. But the various documents refer to him by many different names, with no explanation for the discrepancy. Those names are:

During the summarized transcript of the questions the Tribunal asked Al Kandari he told the officers that his name was a very common one in Kuwait.

Another Kuwaiti, Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari, was told: "The detainee’s name appeared on a list of captured mujahidin found on a hard drive with is associated with Khalid Shaykh Muhammad (KSM)."^[7]

[edit] Al Kandari's testimony

Al Kandari agreed to give a statement to the Tribunal. In it he said:

• His desire to go to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was prompted by reports in the Islamic press that, following the American attack, millions of refugees were trying to leave. The reports said the refugees weren't being allowed the border, and were suffering in ad hoc refugee camps. Because the charities he usually donated to had no facilities to help the refugees he decided to go himself.
• The first leg of his journey, the trip from Kuwait, to Iran, to Takat Afghanistan was successful. He carried a letter, written in Pashtu, explaining his goal. He found a local man, who bought food and blankets for the refugees.
• The return leg of his journey he described was a disaster. Even though his passport had a stamp showing he crossed from Iran to Afghanistan, they wouldn't allow him to cross back in. They were stopping all Arabs at the border. (Iran and Afghanistan are not Arabic countries.)
• After the fall of the Taliban things were very dangerous for foreigners in Afghanistan. Many ordinary Afghans had resented the ties the Taliban had with al Qaeda, and its foreign leadership. Foreigners risked robbery, kidnapping and murder.
• Al Kandari managed to make it across the Pakistani border. But he didn't have legal travel documents for Pakistan.
• Al Kandari was captured in Pakistan. He was told he would be provided consular access, but was handed over to American authorities instead.

[edit] Questions for the family of Abdullah Al Kamel

The documents in Al Kandari's dossier include 12 biographical questions security authorities asked of his family. This is unusual. Other detainee's dossiers don't contain similar questions. The list of questions

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearings

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".^[8]

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.

[edit] First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 27 April 2005.^[9]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. Detainee traveled to Afghanistan, via Iran, after 11 September 2001, with approximately 15,000 U.S. dollars.
2. After attempting to flee Afghanistan three times, the detainee paid two men each 100 U.S. dollars to smuggle him across the border into Pakistan. After a couple of days in the vicinity of the Pakistani Border, an unknown Pakistani man took the detainee to a Pakistani prison.

b. Training

In 2000, the detainee traveled to Afghanistan and attended a basic training course at a Libyan training camp.

c. Connections / Associations

1. The detainee has extensive connections to several al Qaida members and an affiliationn with the al Wafa organization. (Executive Order 13224 designates al Wafa as a global terrorist entity)
2. The detainee's associate encouraged the detainee to travel to Afghanistan on two separate occasions.
3. That associate is a leader of a Mujahiden group, Tabligh, in Kuwait who conducted meetings and collected money for Usama Bin Laden through a Sheik at a local mosque. This individual is also described as the legal advisor and close friend to Usama Bin Laden.

d. Intent

The detainee traveled to Afghanistan the second time sometime after September 11, 2001. The second time he was encouraged to go there to fight. He stayed in guesthouses in Kandahar where he heard a speech given by Usama Bin Laden.

e. Other Relevant Data

1. Detainee was captured with a Casio watch, model F-91W, a common watch used by al Qaida to detonate improvised explosive devices.
2. One of the detainee's known aliases was on a list of captured hard drives associated with a senior al Qaida member.
3. The detainee's name and photograph is found on a foreign state service product that depicts the relationship between al Qaida elements and Kuwaiti extremists.
4. The detainee's name was found on a list of captured al Qaida and Taliban fighters that were captured trying to flee Afghanistan.
5. The detainee's name was found on a computer server hard drive recovered during a raid of a suspected al Qaida safehouse in Islamabad, Pakistan.
6. The detainee's name was found on a list of 324 Arabic names recovered from safehouse raids associated with suspected al Qaida in Karachi, Pakistan.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

a.	The detainee stated that he was, "carried away with emotion" when he saw the poor children in Afghanistan, citing this as his reason for travel.
b.	The detainee denied involvement with the Taliban or al Qaida and having knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on September 11. The detainee also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or its interests.

[edit] Transcript

Al Kandari chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[10] The Department of Defense published 93 pages of documents submitted to his Board on his behalf by the lawyers assisting with his habeas corpus petition. Those documents include:

• A letter from his wife, describing the desperate need, she, their children, and the rest of his family felt for the return of her husband.
• A letter from his elderly mother, describing her need for his return.
• A letter from one of his children, wishing for his return.
• A letter from his sister, Deena Kamel Abdullah, who described how helpful Abdullah was to her. She had been separated from her husband for seven years, and her brother Abdullah had supported her financially, until she could find work, he had helped her find work, and had helped and encouraged her to continue her education. He had served as a substitute father for her children, who miss him much more than they miss their real father. He had provided the same kind of kind, generous support to their parents, and to their other siblings.

[edit] Testimony

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 19 February 2006.^[11] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. Sometime after 11 September 2001, the detainee flew from Kuwait to Iran by himself with approximately $15,000 United States Dollars. The detainee could not remember the name of the city he stayed in, but stated the city was located near the Iran-Afghanistan border. The detainee planned on staying in Afghanistan for seven days and took vacation from his employer for the time he planned on being in Afghanistan. The detainee did not tell his wife that he was taking their money to give to the poor in Afghanistan. The money that the detainee took to Afghanistan had been kept at his house and not withdrawn from his bank.
2. For information about traveling to Afghanistan, the detainee visited a Kuwaiti mosque and spoke with an Afghani. The Afghani told the detainee to first travel to Iran and then cross the border into Afghanistan. The Afghani also provided the detainee with a letter written in Afghan ^[sic] explaining that he was traveling to Afghanistan to help the poor and included an address in Herat, Afghanistan.
3. After arriving in Iran, the detainee took a taxi to the border with Afghanistan where he walked across the border after getting his passport stamped with an Iranian exit stamp. The detainee then presented the letter he received from the Afghani to the taxi driver. The taxi took him to the address in Herat, Afghanistan that was included in the letter.
4. The detainee arrived in Herat. For the next 10 to 15 days, the detainee distributed food and supplies to refugees located between Herat and the Iranian border. The detainee purchased approximately $1,000 United States Dollars worth of supplies each day and would also rent vehicles (small pickup trucks) to transport the supplies. He would usually have to rent 3-4 vehicles to carry the supplies. The supplies were purchased at a local market in Herat. The drive from Herat to the refugee camp took several hours. The detainee used approximately $13,000 of the $15,000 United States Dollars he traveled with to purchase the supplies and vehicles. The detainee called back to his family several times from phone centers to tell them he was fine.
5. During the beginning of United States air strikes in Afghanistan, the detainee said he was staying at a small, unidentified village in the vicinity of Jalalabad ^[sic] and subsequently decided to leave the country. He paid Afghan smugglers his remaining $1,800 United States Dollars to guide him into Pakistan. Once inside Pakistan, the detainee stayed in a small village and was then captured by Pakistani authorities.
6. A source claims that the detainee traveled to Afghanistan two times.
7. A source claims that while the detainee was at ^[sic] the Kandahar guesthouse he heard a speech give by Usama bin Laden.
8. A source stated that he did not believe the detainee brought money with him to Afghanistan. The source believes that the detainee went to Afghanistan to fight.

b. Training

A source claims that the detainee first traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 and attended a basic training]] course at a training camp. The detainee traveled to Karachi where he stayed at a guesthouse.

c. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee's name was found on a 20-gigabyte hard drive associated with al Qaida. The file provides a listing of names of captured Mujahidin.
2. The detainee's name was found on a computer server hard drive recovered by allied personnel in a suspected al Qaida safe house.
3. The detainee's name was found on a document listing 324 Arabic names, aliases and nationalities recovered from safe house raids associated with suspected al Qaida.
4. The detainee's name was found on a document that was printed from an internet site on 20 July 2002. The internet document contains information regarding the capture of Taliban and al Qaida fighters who had crossed the border after the 11 September 2001 retaliation.
5. A foreign government service reported that the detainee was a member of al Qaida.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

a.	The detainee denied involvement with the Taliban or al Qaida and the detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001. The detainee also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests.
b.	The detainee did not attend any military type training while in Iran or Afghanistan. The detainee did not meet anyone he believes was a member of or associated with al Qaida.
c.	The detainee claims he took $15,000 United States Dollars to give to the poor in Afghanistan.
d.	After 11 September 2001 the detainee wanted to help the poor in Afghanistan. He was concerned fro the many Afghans who became refugees fleeing Afghanistan, fearing that the United States would bomb their country. The detainee went to a center to donate 100 Kuwaiti Dinars (approximately $333 United States Dollars). However, the center would not accept the money to assist the people of Afghanistan because the conflict in Afghanistan made assistance to the poor dangerous. The detainee decided that he would go to Afghanistan himself to assist the poor.

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.^[12][13] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 25 July 2006.

The Administrative Review Board (ARB) determined ISN 228 continues to be a threat to the United States and its allies.^[13]

The memos report that, according to the

Enemy Combatant Election Form, captive 228's Assisting Military Officer:

"... indicated that the EC was uncooperative and unresponsive and chose not to participate in the ARB."

The memos also reported:

The ARB has complied with the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. In making a determination of status or disposition of this detainee, the ARB has assess, to the extent practicable, whether any statement derived from or relating to this detainee was obtained as a result of coercion; and the probative value, if any, of any such statement. In addition, the ARB considered any new evidence that became available relating to the enemy combatant status of this detainee.

[edit] Press reports

On July 12, 2006 the magazine Mother Jones provided excerpts from the transcripts of a selection of the Guantanamo detainees.^[14] The article informed readers:

More than a dozen detainees were cited for owning cheap digital watches, particularly “the infamous Casio watch of the type used by Al Qaeda members for bomb detonators.”

The article quoted Al Kandari, and three other watch owners:

"When they told me that Casios were used by Al Qaeda and the watch was for explosives, I was shocked…. If I had known that, I would have thrown it away. I’m not stupid. We have four chaplains [at Guantanamo]; all of them wear this watch."

One of Abdullah Kamel's lawyers, Kristine A. Huskey told Newsday that^[15]:

"...the factors supporting release didn't mention numerous affidavits submitted from relatives and teammates insisting the prisoner had never shown any zealous or anti-American behavior."

[edit] Meetings with attorneys

According to an article in Marie Claire magazine Kristine A. Huskey was one of Abdullah Kamel's attorneys.^[16] Huskey described her surprise upon first meeting with Guantanamo clients, like Abdullah Kamel, that they preferred food brought from Guantanamo fast food outlets to the Arabic delicacies she and her colleagues had brought from the Continental US. Abdullah Kamel's favorite was a cheese pizza from the base's Pizza Hut.

[edit] Repatriation

The Washington Post reported, on September 10, 2006, that Al Kandari would be returned to Kuwait soon.^[17] The Emir of Kuwait personally requested Al Kandari's release, and that of another Kuwaiti man named Omar Rajab Amin.

[edit] Acquittal confirmed

On May 29, 2007 the Miami Herald reported that a Kuwaiti appeals court had upheld the acquittals of Al Kandari and Omar Rajab Amin.^[18]

[edit] References

1. ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). 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. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
2. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
3. ^ Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. United States Department of Defense (March 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
4. ^ OARDEC (20 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Kamal, Abdullah page 51. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
5. ^ OARDEC. "Summarized Sworn Detainee Statement", United States Department of Defense, 30 September 2004, pp. pages 30-37. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 
6. ^ ^{a b} OARDEC. "Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel v. United States of America", United States Department of Defense, 12 October 2004, pp. pages 1-28. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 
7. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari Administrative Review Board - page 31
8. ^ (Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", The Wire (JTF-GTMO), Friday March 10, 2006, pp. 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
9. ^ OARDEC (27 April 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abdullah pages 9-11. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
10. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 228 pages 74. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
11. ^ OARDEC (19 February 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Kamel, Abdullah Kamel Abudallah pages 55-57. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
12. ^ OARDEC (25 July 2006). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 228 page 20. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
13. ^ ^{a b} OARDEC (18 May 2006). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 228 pages 21-28. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
14. ^ "Why Am I in Cuba?", Mother Jones (magazine), July 12, 2006
15. ^ Letta Tayler. "Inside a Gitmo review: A Saudi detainee faces military panel, without seeing a lawyer or evidence, that decides his fate", June 17, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 
16. ^ Jennifer Senior. "Gitmo's Girl", Marie Claire, December 2006. Retrieved on July 14. 
17. ^ Two Kuwaitis to leave Guantanamo soon: group, Washington Post, September 10, 2006
18. ^ "Kuwait clears two former Guantánamo captives", Miami Herald, Tuesday, May. 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. 

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[edit] External links

• Amnesty International's summary of Al Kandari's case