Mohammad Al Rahman Al Shumrani

Mohammad Al Rahman Al Shumrani
Born	(1975-02-27) February 27, 1975 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Occupation	Humanitarian aid provider (former)
Known for	Detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Mohammad Al Rahman Al Shumrani (born February 27, 1975, in Riyadh) is a Saudi national who was detained at the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. His assigned Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 195.

Al-Shumrani, who worked as a humanitarian aid provider in Afghanistan, was apprehended in 2001.

He was transferred to Guantanamo on January 17, 2002. As of August 2015, he remained in custody as one of the "forever prisoners", deemed too innocent to formally charge yet considered too risky to release.

On August 7, 2015, Carol Rosenberg reported for the Miami Herald that documents from his 2015 Periodic Review Board hearing referenced his surveillance of ISIS as grounds for ongoing detention.

Al-Shumrani was returned to Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2016, coinciding with the camp’s anniversary.

Official status reviews

The Bush administration initially maintained that detainees captured during the "war on terror" were not protected by the Geneva Conventions and could be held indefinitely without charges or transparent legal process. However, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that Guantanamo detainees must be informed of the accusations against them and granted an opportunity to contest their detention.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, the United States Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.

By December 2008, researchers at the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, classified Guantanamo detainees according to allegations supporting their confinement:

• Mohammad Al Rahman Al Shumrani was alleged to have ties with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
• He was accused of traveling to Afghanistan to engage in jihad.
• He reportedly resided in safehouses affiliated with Al Qaeda, Taliban, or similar groups.
• He was said to have undergone military or terrorist training while in Afghanistan.
• He allegedly participated in combat on behalf of the Taliban.
• He was reportedly present at Tora Bora.
• His name or aliases appeared on materials seized during Al Qaeda raids.
• The circumstances surrounding his capture indicated hostile activity.
• He was identified as an operative for al Qaeda.
• He was among 82 detainees who either made no statements or whose statements failed to address military allegations meaningfully.

Habeas petition

A habeas corpus petition was submitted on behalf of Al-Shumrani.

Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment

On April 25, 2011, whistleblower group WikiLeaks released previously classified assessments prepared by analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo. His assessment, dated October 24, 2008, listed him as Muhammad Abd al-Rahman al-Shumrant. This twelve-page document, signed by camp commander Rear Admiral David M. Thomas Jr., recommended that his detention continue.

Guantanamo Review Task Force

On January 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed three Executive orders concerning the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and formed a task force to reassess their individual cases. In contrast to the previous OARDEC evaluations, which were conducted exclusively by US military personnel, this new task force comprised representatives from the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, and Homeland Security. After a year-long review, the task force advised releasing 55 detainees who were considered not to pose a significant threat, prosecuting several dozen through military commissions on war crimes charges, and designating a third group as too hazardous to free despite lacking sufficient evidence for formal charges.

Al-Shumrani was categorized within this latter group.