User:Geo Swan/Guantanamo/review/Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa’i

Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa'i
Detained at	Guantanamo
ISN	129
Charge(s)	no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status	transferred back to Yemen

Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa'i (also transliterated as Tawfiq Al-Murwai) is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His detainee ID number is 129. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate that he was born in 1976, in Al Dumaina, Yemen.

Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa'i arrived at Guantanamo on June 12, 2002. He was repatriated on December 15, 2006. He was one of the first Yemeni captives held in Guantanamo to have been transferred. Yemenis now represent the most common nationality at Guantanamo, with approximately 90 remaining at Guantanamo in January 2010, when transfers were suspended.

Inconsistent identification

Toufiq was identified inconsistently on various official Department of Defense documents:

• He was named Toufig Saber Muhammad Al-Marwa'i on the official list released on April 20 2006, and on five other lists released in September 2007.
• He was named Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al-Marwa'i on the Summary of Evidence memo prepared for his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 13 October 2004, the Summary of Evidence memo prepared for his Administrative Review Board, on 30 June 2005, and on the official list released on May 15 2006.

The Yemen Times transliterate his name as Tawfiq Al-Murwai.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3x5 trailer where the captive sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor. Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa'i's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 13 October 2004. The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban: In early November 2000, the detainee traveled from Yemen, through Pakistan, and into Afghanistan. Once in Afghanistan, the detainee went to live in Kabul at a Taliban center, called the Said House, run by a man who spoke Arabic. The detainee admitted that he spent approximately seven months in Northern Afghanistan as a cook for the Taliban. The detainee fled Konduz, Afghanistan and headed for Mazir-E-Sharif [sic], when the group of approximately 100 Arabs he was traveling with was captured by General Dostrum's [sic] Northern Alliance forces on the ninth day of Ramadan, 2001.

Administrative Review Board hearing

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".

Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant".

They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat -- or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free.

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa'i's Administrative Review Board, on June 30, 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment The detainee went to Afghanistan to fight jihad. b. Connections/Associations The detainee was advised to leave Yemen and migrate to Afghanistan by Sheik Abdul Majid al Zindani [sic]. Sheik Abdel al-Majid al-Zindani [sic] of Yemen is of interest to the FBI due to his strong al Qaida ties and his association with Usama Bin Laden. The detainee stayed at a Taliban center called Said. He became the cook at the Said center, where he stayed for four months. He went to visit the front lines where the fighting had been taking place and stayed to live at the Omar Saif house. There, the detainee cooked for the front line. The detainee's name was found on a list of al Qaida Mujuahidin in the files recovered from computers seized during al Qaida safehouse raids in Rawalpindi and Karachi, Pakistan. The list indicated his trust account contained his passport. c. Other Relevant Data The detainee surrendered to Dostum's forces at Mazar e Sharif [sic]. He did not have any weapons and was taken to Al Jenke in Mazar e Sharif.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

The detainee stated he regrets going to Afghanistan and would like to return to Yemen. He stated he never fought against coalition forces or U.S. troops. He stated he did not want to fight so he was given the position as cook for the Taliban.

Transcript

Toufiq Saber Muhammad Al Marwa’i' chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. In the Spring of 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a seven page summarized transcript from his Administrative Review Board.

Enemy Combatant election form

His Assisting Military Officer reported on the notes recorded during on the [[Enemy Combatant election form filled out during their pre-hearing interviews. They met on 11 July 2005 and 12 July 2005. His Assisting Military Officer reported that he was "cooperative and respectful".

Testimony

Al Marwa'i confirmed that he traveled to Afghanistan on the advice of a religious scholar. But, he explained that this scholar warned him that Afghanistan was troubled. He counseled him to avoid other Arabs, and avoid engaging in hostilities.

Al Marwa'i confirmed that he had served as a cook.

He confirmed that he traveled to the area of the front lines, once. He said that he was one a shopping expedition with someone else who worked in the kitchen, who suggested that since they were near the front lines, they go take a look. Al Marwa'i said he was frightened.

He confirmed he was one of the survivors of the Al Janqi prison uprising. When the firing started he hid in the basement, and didn't see any of the actual fighting.

Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official. His Board's recommendation was unanimous. His Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on October 7 2005.

Repatriation

Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, demanded the release of the remaining Yemenis held in Guantanamo on December 23 2006. The Yemen Observer identified Mohammed Ahmed al-Asadi, Esam Hamid al-Jaefi and Ali Hussain al-Tais as three of the six Yemeni who had been repatriated the previous week. Al Asadi, the first of the six men to be released, on December 29 2006, was asked to sign an undertaking promising to refrain from armed activity. On January 7 2007 the Yemen Times identified two of the three remaining men as Tawfiq Al-Murwai and Muhassen Al-Asskari. Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the men would be released as soon as Yemeni authorities had cleared them.

References

Category:Living people Category:Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp Category:Yemeni extrajudicial prisoners of the United States