Salem Ahmed Hadi
Salem Ahmed Hadi bin Kanad | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 15, 1976 Hadhramaut, Yemen |
| Occupation | Detainee |
| Known for | Detention at Guantanamo Bay |
Salem Ahmed Hadi bin Kanad is a Yemeni national who was subjected to extrajudicial detention at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay facility located in Cuba. Assigned detainee identification number 131, he was reported by Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism officials to have been born on January 15, 1976, in Hadhramaut, Yemen.
On January 5, 2017, Hadi was relocated to Saudi Arabia. This transfer, which included Hadi along with more than a dozen other detainees during the concluding period of the Barack Obama administration, underscored a significant policy divergence with President-elect Donald Trump, who supported expanding the detention center.
Variations in Name Records
Official documentation reflected inconsistencies in Salem’s name:
- Salem Ahmed Ben Kend as listed on April 20, 2006
- Salem Ahmed Hadi appearing on the May 15, 2006 roster
- Salim Ahmed Haddi Hathramoot recorded in his 2008 assessment by Joint Task Force Guantanamo
Review of Detention Status
During the Bush administration, it was initially maintained that individuals captured in the "war on terror" were exempt from Geneva Conventions protections and could be detained indefinitely without formal charges or transparent judicial review. However, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that detainees at Guantanamo must be notified of accusations against them and granted the opportunity to contest those claims.
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 to oversee detainee status evaluations.
By December 2008, researchers at the Brookings Institution, led by Benjamin Wittes, classified detainees according to military allegations such as traveling to Afghanistan for jihad purposes, undergoing military training, participating in Taliban combat operations, affiliations with Al Qaeda, and circumstances surrounding their capture implying hostile engagement. Salem Ahmed Hadi bin Kanad was identified under several categories: journeying for jihadist aims, receiving combat training, fighting alongside the Taliban, having aliases discovered in Al Qaeda documents, being a foreign combatant, and acknowledging ties with enemy groups.
A Summary of Evidence memorandum was prepared on October 7, 2004, for Salem Ahmed Ben Kend’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal detailing these charges. Although Salem did not attend his Board hearing in 2005, a summarized transcript includes an interview conducted by his Assisting Military Officer.
Previously Classified Joint Task Force Guantanamo Evaluation
On April 25, 2011, classified assessments prepared by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts were disclosed by whistleblower platform WikiLeaks. His nine-page evaluation dated April 8, 2008, bore the signature of camp commander Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, who recommended continued detention.
Joint Review Task Force
Following his inauguration on January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama announced intentions to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities. He replaced the previous annual military reviews conducted by OARDEC under the George W. Bush administration with a new Joint Review Task Force, composed of senior officials from various government agencies. This was succeeded by regular assessments from the Periodic Review Board. The Joint Review Task Force classified Hadi as too high-risk for release.
Periodic Review Board
In May 2016, the Periodic Review Board determined that Hadi could be safely relocated to another nation.[1][2] This decision represented the fifth evaluation of his detention status by the Board.[3]
Transfer to Saudi Arabia
On January 5, 2017, Salem Ahmed Hadi along with three additional Yemeni detainees were moved to Saudi Arabia during the closing weeks of the Obama administration. Due to concerns about Yemen's ongoing instability, they were not repatriated there.
The Nigerian Vanguard pointed out that this transfer was at odds with the policy stance of the incoming President Donald Trump, who had instructed that all Guantanamo detainees remain in custody and that no further releases be authorized.