Salem Ahmed Hadi

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Salem Ahmed Hadi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1]

His detainee ID number is 131. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that Hadi was born on January 15, 1976, in Hadramaut, Yemen.

[edit] Identity

Captive 131 was named inconsistently on the official lists:

• He was named Salem Ahmed Ben Kend on the list of names released on April 20, 2006.^[2]
• He was named Salem Ahmed Hadi on the list of names released on May 15, 2006.^[1]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Salem Ahmed Ben Kend's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 7 October 2004.^[3][4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

[edit] Allegations

a. The detainee is a member of al Qaida or the Taliban:

1. The detainee traveled from his home in Yemen^[5] to Afghanistan.
2. The detainee voluntarily went to Afghanistan for Jihad.
3. The detainee fought with the Taliban in Kabul and Kandahar from July to December 2001.
4. The detainee was issued his weapon, a Kalashnikov rifle, from a distribution center, one day before he was sent to the front line.
5. The detainee was in Afghanistan on 11 September 2001.

b. The detainee participated in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.

1. The detainee spent his first four months stationed on the second line which was approximately two to three kilometers behind the front lines.
2. The detainee was sent north to the front lines and fought against the Northern Alliance.
3. The detainee was wounded by the Northern Alliance.
4. The detainee was captured at Mazar-e-Sharif ^[sic] .

[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".^[6]

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 Salem Ahmed Ben Kend's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 24 May 2005.^[7] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Transcript

Captive 131 did not attend his Board hearing.^[8] But a five page summarized transcript recorded the discussion of his interview with his Assisting Military Officer.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Salem Ahmed Ben Kend's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 15 March 2006.^[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] Transcript

There is no record that captive 131 participated in his second annual Board hearing.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} 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. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
3. ^ OARDEC. "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- redacted", United States Department of Defense, 7 October 2004, pp. pages 181-182. 
4. ^ OARDEC (7 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ben Kend, Salem Ahmed pages 42-43. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
5. ^ "Yemen" was redacted when this memo was released in 2005.
6. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
7. ^ OARDEC (24 May 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of pages 60-61. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
8. ^ OARDEC (2005). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN pages 153-157. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
9. ^ OARDEC (15 March 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ben Kend, Salem Ahmed pages 11-13. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.