User:Geo Swan/Ahmed Ould Abd al-Aziz

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Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz is a citizen of Mauritanian, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 757. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report that he was born on February 24, 1970, Atar, Mauritania.

Background
Historian Andy Worthington, the author of The Guantanamo Files, described al-Aziz as a scholar, who was fluent in French and English as well as Arabic.

The Guantanamo Review Joint Task Force instituted by President Barack Obama in January 2009 al-Aziz acknowledges that al-Aziz asserted he had been tortured.

Inconsistent identification
Aziz's name was spelled inconsistently on various official documents released by the United States Department of Defense.
 * Aziz is called Ahmed Abdel Aziz on the official list of all Guantanamo captives, released on May 15, 2006.
 * Aziz is called Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz on the official list of captives whose earlier determination as an "enemy combatants" was reconsiderd by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, and on various official memos and lists released in September of 2007.
 * Aziz is called Akhmed Aziz on the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for his second, third and fourth annual Administrative Review Boards.
 * Aziz is called Ahmed Ould Abd al-Aziz on the Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment drafted on February 27, 2008.

Official status reviews
Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention. In 2004 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
Following the Supreme Court's ruling the Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal


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 Tribunals. 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 Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on November 1, 2004. There were 23 allegations listed on Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz's Summary of Evidence memo, including:
 * That he traveled to Afghanistan in 1999.
 * That he attended the celebration of al-Zawahiri joining al Qaida.
 * That he fought for the Taliban.
 * That he stayed at al Qaeda guest houses in Kabul and Jalalabad.
 * That he trained at Afghan military camps.
 * Thae he had spoken with Usama bin Ladin, and attended his son's wedding.
 * That someone from al Qaeda arranged a wedding for him.

Administrative Review Board hearing


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. XXX chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.

First annual Administrative Review Board
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Aziz's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 2005-11-08.

Second annual Administrative Review Board
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Aziz's second annual Administrative Review Board, on September 20, 2006. Aziz was named Akhmed Aziz on this memo. That memo was three pages long.

Third annual Administrative Review Board
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Aziz's third annual Administrative Review Board, on November 27, 2007. That memo was four pages long.

Fourth annual Administrative Review Board
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Aziz's fourth annual Administrative Review Board, on July 30, 2008. That memo was five pages long.

Brookings summary
Scholars at the Brookings Institute, lead by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations :


 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban."
 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges that the following detainees stayed in Al Qaeda, Taliban or other guest- or safehouses."
 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."
 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... fought for the Taliban."
 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the captives who was ab "al Qaeda operative".
 * Al-Aziz was listed as one of the "82 detainees made no statement to CSRT or ARB tribunals or made statements that do not bear materially on the military’s allegations against them."

Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment
On April 25, 2011, whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts. Aziz's assessment was 14 pages long.

Interviewed by President Obama's review team
United States President Barack Obama dispatched a team to report back to him about Guantanamo. His team conducted close to one hundred interviews. Eleven interviews were conducted with captives. Their Internee Security Number were redacted from the field devoted to that purpose. But the comment field for two of the interviews contained Ahmed Ould's ID number. The notes said he was interviewed in "Papa tier" of Camp 3 by a legal member of the team. He said:
 * {| class="wikitable"


 * 2009-02-05 || ''757 made unsolicited claim he was tortured (showing a "bandage" on his thigh); followed up with DIMS reports, FCE record and medical reDorts
 * 2009-02-09 || ''Explained findings "unsubstantiated" during walk-through, when 757 made additional, unrelated claims.
 * }
 * }

Repatriation
Historian and journalist Andy Worthington reported on June 1, 2013 that Aziz and his compatriot Mohamedou Ould Slahi were repatriated on May 31, 2013. Worthington wrote that their release "...appears to be confirmation that President Obama’s promise to resume the release of prisoners from Guantánamo was not as hollow as many of his promises have turned out to be." Also repatriated was a Mauritanian who had been a long term captive in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility.