Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab

Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab is a citizen of Algeria, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. Sayab's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 288. The Department Of Defense reports that he was born on July 1 1976. The Department of Defense reported a place of birth of all but ten of the detainees. Sayab was one of those ten.

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 a 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.

Sayab had chosen to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. But when the Tribunal President finished reading the Tribunal's ground rules, and invited Sayab to make an opening statement Sahab surprised his Personal Representative by choosing to decline to participate after all.

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.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Mutu Sadiz Ahmad Sayab were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3 2006.

''The following primary factors favor continued detention:

'''''a. Training

1. ''The detainee admits receiving small arms training on the assembly and disassembly of the AK-47 rifle near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

'''''b. Connections/Associations

1. ''In June 2001, the detainee provided an al Qaida facilitator with his Belgian passport and 6,000 French Francs who purchased (the detainee) a plane ticket and Pakistan visa for travel to Islamabad, Pakistan.
2. ''Detainee's travel to London enroute to Afghanistan was facilitated by an Algerian in Kritay, France.
   • ''The Algerian is connected to, or possibly a member of the al Qaida network.
3. ''The detainee stayed in an Algerian safehouse in Jalalabad commanded by Jafar.
   • ''Omar Chaabani (aka Ja'far) operated an extremist network which ran a transit center that was activated and financed by Usama Bin Ladin.

'''''c. Intent

1. ''The detainee, an Algerian citizen, admitted to traveling from France through London, England; to Pakistan, and to an Algerian safe house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan; and finally to Kabul, Afghanistan a couple of weeks before September 11,2001.
2. ''The detainee purchased a fraudulent Belgian passport for 2,500 French Francs (approximately $300 U.S.).
3. ''The detainee utilized the fraudulent Belgian passport to enter France and England, and enroute to Afghanistan.

'''''d. Other Relevant Data

1. ''Two weeks after September 11,2001, the detainee fled to Pakistan and was arrested.
2. ''Without prompting, the detainee knew in detail of the September 11,2001 attacks.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

{|

| a. || The detainee stated that at no point during his travels to Afghanistan was he ever approached for the purpose of fighting Jihad. |- | b. ||The detainee stated that he was never approached to attend any sort of training camp. |}

Transcript

Sayab did not chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. But he did choose to dictate a statement. Sayab's statement was read aloud. But Sayab's statement was not included in his transcript. But the Board's officers had a brief discussion of several of the points Sayab made during the unclassified portion of his hearing.

The first factor under the "Connections/Associations" heading said that Sayab provided a Belgian passport and 6,000 Francs to an al Qaeda facilitator. But when Sayab responded to that factor he felt it was important to make clear that he paid for his own travel.

His Assisting Military Officer told the Board that he had the translator explain to Sayab that the English language version of the factors didn't say he didn't pay for his own travel -- the English language version of the factors rather could be interpreted that he paid for someone else's travel. According to the Assisting Military Officer Sayab continued to feel it was important to respond to that allegation by stating he paid for his own travel.

The second last point that Sayab's Assisting Military Officer made to the Board during the unclassified portion of the Board's hearing was that he asked Sayab AbOUT his visits to Kritay, France, and that Sayab explained that he visited Kritay frequently, to look for work.

The final point Sayab's Assisting Military Officer made was in response to a question from the Board members. He confirmed that he believed that Sayab understood some English, but he never responded in English.