Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani

Jawad Jabber Sadkhan
Born	Iraq
Occupation	Detainee
Known for	Detention at Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Jawad Jabber Sadkhan is an Iraqi national who was subjected to extrajudicial detention at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility located in Cuba. His assigned Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 433.

Legal representatives for Sadkhan contended that his detention was unjustified, emphasizing that he was a political refugee from Iraq and adhered to Shi'a Islam, distinguishing him from the predominantly Sunni Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees.

Identity

Detainee number 433 authored a letter on behalf of Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely addressed to his Administrative Review Board, signing it under the alias Abu Fatima Al Iraqi.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

At the outset, the Bush administration asserted that individuals captured in the war on terror did not qualify for protections under the Geneva Conventions. This position faced legal challenges, prompting the Department of Defense to implement Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs). These tribunals were designed not to establish lawful combatant status but to assess whether detainees conformed to the administration’s criteria for enemy combatants.

Sadkhan took part in his CSRT. Only a limited number of these tribunals were accessible to media observers, reflecting restricted transparency throughout the proceedings.

Witness and evidence requests

• Sadkhan sought testimony from three witnesses located outside the detention facility and requested access to a document held at an Afghan police station.
• Additionally, he requested a United Nations document known to be stored within the Guantanamo evidence repository, which had previously been in possession of his interrogators and had been issued to him by UN officials in 1998.

The Tribunal President recorded that these requests were forwarded via the US State Department on November 9, 22, and 30 of 2004; however, no replies were received. Consequently, the witnesses were classified as "not reasonably available." Sadkhan’s Personal Representative was unable to retrieve documents that had been reviewed during earlier interrogations. A fourth witness, who was also detained at Guantanamo, was contacted but declined to provide testimony. Sadkhan indicated this individual had initially agreed to clarify the Sunni-Shiite tensions present in Afghanistan, noting his own Shiite background.

Witness detainee 758

Sadkhan introduced a statement from detainee 758 as part of his Tribunal evidence. Detainee 758 identified himself as "Shaker Al Iraqi (Abass Abdou Erromi)," officially listed as Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely.

He testified that accusations leveled against both himself and Sadkhan (detainee 433) originated from hostility by detainees 111 (Ali Abdul Motalib Awayd Hassan Al Tayeea) and 252 (Yasim Muhammed Basardah), whom he named as "Ali Abdou Ahtaleb Al Iraqi" and "Yassin Basro Al Yamani," respectively.

Al Naely described knowing Sadkhan in Afghanistan as a nonviolent family man and asserted that their accusers were unfamiliar with Sadkhan during that time; he characterized their claims as falsehoods.

Jowad Jabar v. George W. Bush

A habeas corpus petition titled Jowad Jabar v. George W. Bush was submitted on behalf of Jowad Jabar. On 22 December 2005, the Department of Defense disclosed a 24-page set of unclassified documents related to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT).

In September 2007, the Department of Defense released unclassified CSRT files for 179 detainees. These records indicate that Detainee 433 requested different numbers of witnesses—ranging from two to five—depending on the specific document.

The tribunal panel number 19 met on 3 December 2004 and upheld his designation as an enemy combatant.

Administrative Review Board hearings

Individuals labeled as "enemy combatants" were subject to yearly Administrative Review Board (ARB) hearings designed to determine if their detention should continue. These hearings did not reassess prisoner of war status nor the initial enemy combatant ruling.

The purpose of the ARBs was to decide whether detainees still posed a threat justifying ongoing detention or if they could be safely released or returned to their home countries.

Initial annual Administrative Review Board hearing

A Summary of Evidence memorandum was drafted for his first annual Administrative Review Board session.

Hearing transcript

Sadkhan opted to take part in his Administrative Review Board hearing.

Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing

For his second yearly Administrative Review Board, a Summary of Evidence memo was prepared on 5 September 2006.

Testimonial letter for Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely

Sadkhan authored a letter on behalf of Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely, an Iraqi refugee. In this letter, he attested to Al Naely’s dependence on charity during his stay in Afghanistan:

I encountered this man in Afghanistan when he came to me asking for assistance. Although I had nothing to give, I borrowed approximately $3 from a friend and handed it to him after noticing his poor condition and soiled clothes. I invited him to spend the night at my home, but he declined. He later returned seeking more money, which I was unable to provide. I discovered he was addicted to hashish and used any aid he received on it. He was neither politically active, religiously motivated, nor involved militarily; I never heard him voice hostility toward America or its allies. Similar to other Iraqi refugees, he obtained some support from the Taliban—while I received food and shelter due to my marital status, he did not. He is peaceful and does not pose any danger; several family members rely on him. Any conflict between us arose from investigators here who created tension. I endured psychological mistreatment from them. ISN 758 is innocent of all accusations.

Military Commissions Act

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 revoked Guantanamo detainees' ability to access the US civil courts, effectively halting all pending habeas corpus cases.

Boumediene v. Bush

On June 12, 2008, the United States Supreme Court decided in Boumediene v. Bush that the Military Commissions Act could not lawfully deny Guantanamo detainees the right to petition the US Federal Courts. This ruling allowed all previously suspended habeas corpus petitions to be reinstated. Judicial authorities were tasked with determining if the evidence supported labeling detainees as "enemy combatants."

On July 9, 2008, Jeffrey D. Colman from JENNER & BLOCK LLP filed a "RESPONSE OF PETITIONER JAWAD JABBAR SADKHAN AL-SAHLANI, ISN NO. 433, TO ISSUES RAISED AT JULY 8, 2008 HEARING" in Civil Action No. 05-CV-1497 (RCL) representing Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani (ISN 433).

Colman followed up on July 18, 2008, by renewing Jawad’s habeas petition, highlighting that he is an Iraqi Shiite Muslim with a family consisting of a spouse and four children aged roughly between six and eleven years.

On October 31, 2008, Colman submitted a Petitioner's Opposition to Respondent's Motion for Leave to File Amended Factual Return on behalf of Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani in Civil Action No. 05-CV-2384 (RWR), accusing Department of Justice lawyers of bad faith conduct.

Repatriation

Sadkhan was handed over from Guantanamo Bay to Iraqi authorities on June 11, 2009. A profile on his attorney Jeffrey Colman published in AM Law noted that Jawad had initially been approved for release in 2003. Later, Colman learned that the Obama administration's review panel cleared him again on May 15, 2009.

External links

• Refuting Cheney’s Lies: The Stories of Six Prisoners Released from Guantánamo Andy Worthington
• The Last Iraqi In Guantánamo, Cleared Six Years Ago, Returns Home Andy Worthington