Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid
Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age Taiz, Yemen |
| Occupation | Detainee |
| Known for | Detained at Guantanamo Bay detention camp without formal charges from 2002 to 2016 |
Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid is a national of Yemen who was detained without formal charges at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba for more than fourteen years, from January 11, 2002, until August 15, 2016. He was assigned the Guantanamo Internment Serial Number 31. According to analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo, he was born in Taiz, Yemen, in August 1980.
He was part of the initial group of twenty detainees when Guantanamo first began operations. In 2009, the Guantanamo Joint Review Task Force classified him as a "forever prisoner." On August 15, 2016, he was transferred to the United Arab Emirates together with fourteen other detainees. Subsequently, he was returned to Yemen on October 27, 2021.
Official status reviews
During the Bush administration, it was initially claimed that individuals captured in the "war on terror" were not protected by the Geneva Conventions and could be detained indefinitely without formal charges or transparent judicial review. In 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that detainees held at Guantanamo must be informed of the accusations against them and given an opportunity to contest those charges.
Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
In response to the Supreme Court decision, the United States Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.
In December 2008, scholars from the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, organized detainees based on allegations supporting their detention:
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was alleged to have ties with Al Qaeda.
- Accused of residing in safehouses linked to Al Qaeda or the Taliban.
- Allegedly received military or terrorist instruction in Afghanistan.
- Charged with combatant activities for the Taliban.
- Reportedly present at Tora Bora.
- His name or aliases were found on materials seized during raids on Al Qaeda locations.
- Captured under circumstances indicative of hostile engagement.
- Alleged to have been part of Osama Bin Laden’s security detail.
- Identified as an operative affiliated with al Qaeda.
- He denied all accusations made by authorities.
Al Mujahid took part in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal proceedings.
Previously confidential Joint Task Force Guantanamo evaluation
On April 25, 2011, classified assessments prepared by analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo were released by whistleblower group WikiLeaks. His ten-page evaluation, completed on March 8, 2008, and signed by camp commander Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, recommended that his detention continue.
External links
- Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part One: The "Dirty Thirty" Andy Worthington, September 15, 2010