Mohammed Ahmed Said Haidel
Mohammed Ahmed Said Haidel | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978 Ta'iz, Yemen |
| Known for | Former Guantanamo detainee |
Mohammed Ahmed Said Haidel is a Yemeni national who was subjected to extrajudicial detention at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility located in Cuba. He was assigned the Guantanamo Internment Serial Number 498. Analysts from Joint Task Force Guantanamo estimate his birth year as 1978, with his place of origin being Ta'iz, Yemen.
On January 16, 2017, he was among ten detainees relocated to Oman.
Variations in name recording
Official Department of Defense records show discrepancies in how Haidel's name was documented:
- The Summary of Evidence memo for his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, dated October 8, 2004, lists him as Mohammed Ahmed Said Haidel.
- For his initial and second annual Administrative Review Board hearings on September 28, 2005, and June 7, 2006 respectively, the memos identify him as Mohammed Mohammed Ahmen Said.
Media coverage
Excerpts from transcripts of Guantanamo detainees, including Haidel’s, were published by Mother Jones on July 12, 2006. His transcript disclosed that he made a false confession regarding mortar training under intense physical pressure:
Official detainee status evaluations
During the Bush administration, it was asserted that individuals detained in the "war on terror" were not protected by the Geneva Conventions and could be held indefinitely without formal charges or transparent procedures. In 2004, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that detainees must be informed of the accusations against them and granted the opportunity to contest their detention.
Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
Following this decision, the United States Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.
In December 2008, researchers at the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, classified detainees according to military allegations:
- Mohammed Ahmed Said Haidel was accused of affiliations with Al Qaeda and the Taliban; traveling to Afghanistan for jihadist purposes; residing in terrorist safehouses; receiving military or terrorist training; engaging in combat for the Taliban; being present at Tora Bora; and identified as a foreign fighter.
- He was also included among the "82 detainees who either provided no statements to CSRT or ARB tribunals or whose statements did not materially address the military's allegations against them."
A Summary of Evidence memo for Haidel’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal was drafted on October 8, 2004. He took part in this tribunal. Subsequently, on March 3, 2006, following a court order issued by Judge Jed Rakoff, the Department of Defense released a condensed three-page transcript from his tribunal.