Summary of Evidence (ARB)
Encyclopedia
Counter-terrorism
analysts prepared a Summary of Evidence memo for the Administrative Review Board
hearings of approximately 460 captives in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
from December 2004 to December 2005.
partially complied with a Freedom of Information Act request to release names and transcripts from the captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunal
s and Administrative Review Board
hearings, on March 3, 2006. The Department of Defense
released 59 portable document format
files, containing transcripts, memos, and other documents. Three of the PDF files contained 121 Summary of Evidence memos.
In early September 2007 The DoD released fourteen pdf files that contained all 464 Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the first annual Board hearings, and ten files that contained all 333 Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the second annual Board hearings.
The captives' Summary of Evidence memos, on the other hand, had their ID numbers redacted, but the captives' names were in the clear.
On April 20, 2006 the Department of Defense released a list of the names, nationalities, and ID numbers of the 558 captive whose status double-checked by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
The release of a list of names, and ID numbers allowed the transcripts to be correlated with the captives' names. It also allowed the official spelling of the names, as of April 20, 2006, to be compared with official spelling of the names in 2005.
Approximately half of the names were spelled consistently on the Summary of Evidence memos and official list of names released on April 20, 2006.
The Department of Defense released a second official list on May 15, 2006.
The Department of Defense said the 759 names on the second list represented all the captives who were held, in military custody, in Guantanamo.
However the names of several dozen men who have been reported to have been held captive in Guantanamo were missing from the official lists.
assigned to the captive's Board to the captive, via the Assisting Military Officer assigned to the captive. Under the rules under which the Board hearings were conducted, the Assisting Military Officer was supposed to learn the captive's account of himself, and present that story to the Tribunal, if the captive was unwilling or unable to attend.
The memos all contained the same five numbered paragraphs:
Both the factors favoring continued detention, and the factors favoring release or transfer were followed by lists of allegations, or "factors".
Transfer, in this context, means repatriation to the custody of the authorities in their native country.
The allegations, or "factors", the favored continued detention were always further categorized into sub-headings, like: "Intent", "Commitment", "Connections", "Associations", "Training", and "Other Relevant Data". The factors under each subheading were always separately numbered, except intermittently, if the subheading only had a single factor.
Some of the allegations, or factors, did not concern the activities or associations of the captives, before their capture.
The factors favoring release were not numbered. This list was almost always quite brief, and, in some instances, merely said: "not applicable". One common factor favoring release was that the captive had claimed he had no advance knowledge of the plans for Al Qaeda's attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001.
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
analysts prepared a Summary of Evidence memo for the Administrative Review Board
Administrative Review Board
The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the suspects held by the United States in Camp Delta in the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....
hearings of approximately 460 captives in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
from December 2004 to December 2005.
Release of the memos
The Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
partially complied with a Freedom of Information Act request to release names and transcripts from the captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunal
Combatant Status Review Tribunal
The Combatant Status Review Tribunals were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were established July 7, 2004 by order of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense...
s and Administrative Review Board
Administrative Review Board
The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the suspects held by the United States in Camp Delta in the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....
hearings, on March 3, 2006. The Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
released 59 portable document format
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
files, containing transcripts, memos, and other documents. Three of the PDF files contained 121 Summary of Evidence memos.
In early September 2007 The DoD released fourteen pdf files that contained all 464 Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the first annual Board hearings, and ten files that contained all 333 Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the second annual Board hearings.
Discrepancies in the spelling of the captives' names
The names of the captives were redacted from all the transcripts. Their transcripts were identified only by their ID numbers.The captives' Summary of Evidence memos, on the other hand, had their ID numbers redacted, but the captives' names were in the clear.
On April 20, 2006 the Department of Defense released a list of the names, nationalities, and ID numbers of the 558 captive whose status double-checked by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
The release of a list of names, and ID numbers allowed the transcripts to be correlated with the captives' names. It also allowed the official spelling of the names, as of April 20, 2006, to be compared with official spelling of the names in 2005.
Approximately half of the names were spelled consistently on the Summary of Evidence memos and official list of names released on April 20, 2006.
The Department of Defense released a second official list on May 15, 2006.
The Department of Defense said the 759 names on the second list represented all the captives who were held, in military custody, in Guantanamo.
However the names of several dozen men who have been reported to have been held captive in Guantanamo were missing from the official lists.
Format of the memos
The memos were all from the Presiding OfficerPresiding Officer (ARB)
Every Administrative Review Board, run under the authority of the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants, was commanded by a Presiding Officer....
assigned to the captive's Board to the captive, via the Assisting Military Officer assigned to the captive. Under the rules under which the Board hearings were conducted, the Assisting Military Officer was supposed to learn the captive's account of himself, and present that story to the Tribunal, if the captive was unwilling or unable to attend.
The memos all contained the same five numbered paragraphs:
- An Administrative Review Board will be convened to review your case to determine if your continued detention is necessary.
- The Administrative Review Board will conduct a comprehensive review of all reasonably available and relevant information regarding your case. At the conclusion of this review the Board will make a recommendation to: (1) release you to your home state or to a third state; (2) transfer you to your home state, or a third state, with conditions agreed upon by the United States and your home state, or the third state; or (3) continue your detention under United States control.
- The following primary factors favor continued detention.
- The following primary factors favor release or transfer.
- You will be afforded a meaningful opportunity to be heard and to present information to me Board; this includes an opportunity to be physically present at the proceeding. The Assisting Military Officer (AMO) will assist you in reviewing all relevant and reasonably available unclassified information regarding your case. The AMO is not an advocate for or against continued detention, nor may the AMO form a confidential relationship with you or represent you in any other matter.
Both the factors favoring continued detention, and the factors favoring release or transfer were followed by lists of allegations, or "factors".
Transfer, in this context, means repatriation to the custody of the authorities in their native country.
The allegations, or "factors", the favored continued detention were always further categorized into sub-headings, like: "Intent", "Commitment", "Connections", "Associations", "Training", and "Other Relevant Data". The factors under each subheading were always separately numbered, except intermittently, if the subheading only had a single factor.
Some of the allegations, or factors, did not concern the activities or associations of the captives, before their capture.
- The continued detention of some captives were justified by reports from the guards that there had been occasions when they had been "non-compliant".
- The continued detention of some captives were justified by reports that they had "lead prayer sessions".
The factors favoring release were not numbered. This list was almost always quite brief, and, in some instances, merely said: "not applicable". One common factor favoring release was that the captive had claimed he had no advance knowledge of the plans for Al Qaeda's attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001.
Guantanamo captives whose memos were released
The 121 captives whose Summary of Evidence memo, prepared for their first annual Review Board, was released are:| ID | Name | Nation | Page numbers | Notes |
| 3 | Gholam Ruhani Gholam Ruhani Gholam Ruhani is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 3.... |
AFG Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... |
[ 54] |
|
| 6 | Mullah Norullah Noori | AFG Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... |
[ 99] |
|
| 8 | Abdullah Gulam Rasoul Abdullah Gulam Rasoul Abdul Qayyum "Zakir" , alias Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, is a citizen of Afghanistan previously held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 8.... |
AFG Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... |
[ 36] |
Jihad Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is... if his country was invaded. |
| 38 | Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi is a citizen of Tunisia currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on January 24, 1965, in Unfidel, Tunisia and assigned him the Internment Serial Number 38.As of August 16, 2011, Ridah... |
TUN Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area... |
[ 51-53] |
|
| 45 | Ali Ahmad Muhammad Al Rahizi Ali Ahmad Muhammad Al Rahizi -Conclusion:Ali Ahmad Muhammad Al Rahizi's Tribunal based its conclusion on classified evidence.His Tribunal unanimously concluded that he had properly been deternmined to have been an "enemy combatant".-Ali Ahmed Mohammed Al Rezehi v. George W. Bush:... |
YEM Yemen The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east.... |
38 |
|
| 48 | Abdulah Alhamiri Abdulah Alhamiri Abdulah Alhamiri is a citizen of United Arab Emirates and former student of Portland State University. He is best known for the time he spent in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.... |
UAE | [ 41] |
|
See also
- Administrative Review Board transcript
- Combatant Status Review Tribunal transcriptsCombatant Status Review Tribunal transcriptsOn March 3, 2006 the United States Department of Defense partially complied with a court order and released 53 portable document format files that contained several hundred Combatant Status Review Tribunal transcripts....
- Guantanamo military commissionGuantanamo military commissionThe Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...
- OARDEC
- Summary of Evidence (CSRT)Summary of Evidence (CSRT)Counter-terrorism analysts prepared a Summary of Evidence memo for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of the 558 captives who remained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba in the fall of 2004.-The 2005 release:...