Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab

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Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab or Motai Saib is a citizen of Algeria currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial 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.

As of October 15, 2010, Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab has been held at Guantanamo for eight years nine months.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3 x 6 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands cuffed 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 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 Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 17 September 2004. The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. Detainee is a member of al Qaeda and associated with the Taliban.

1. The detainee, an Algerian citizen, admitted to traveling from France through London, England; to Pakistan, and to an Algerian safehouse in Jalalabad, Afghanistan; and finally to Kabul, Afghanistan a couple of weeks before September 11, 2001.
2. The detaiene purchase a fraudulent Belgian passport for 2,500 French Francs (approximately $300 U.S.) and used the passport en route to Afghanistan.
3. The detainee admits receiving small arms training on the assembly and disassembly of the AK-47 rifle near Jalalbad, Afghanistan. He identified the AKS-47.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.

1. Two weeks after September 11, 2001 the detainee fled to Pakistan and was arrested.

Transcript

Sayab had chosen to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a one-page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

It states 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

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 were not authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they were not 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.

First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 22 March 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

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 en route 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 en route 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 recorded in this 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 did not say he did not 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.

A response from the captive, to allegations, dated 28 March 2005, was published together with transcripts of hearings from 2006.

Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mutij Sadiz Ahmad Sayab's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 27 February 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment

1. The detainee traveled from Algeria to Damascus, Syria and then to Champignie, France.
2. In France, the detainee met an individual that convinced the detainee to travel to Afghanistan.
3. The detainee was instructed that he would have to travel through London prior to going to Afghanistan.
4. The detainee eventually left France and traveled to London, United Kingdom using a forged Belgian passport he had purchased for 2500 Francs.
5. While in London, the detainee gave money to another individual so that the other individual could purchase a plane ticket for the detainee to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan as well as purchase a Pakistani visa for the detainee.
6. While the detainee was still in London another individual provided the detainee with a point of contact in Islamabad.
7. According to the detainee, he stayed in London for only a short period while he was waiting to travel to Pakistan.
8. Once in Pakistan the detainee was picked up and taken to the Afghan border. At the border, the detainee was dropped off and the detainee crossed the border by foot and then traveled to Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
9. When the detainee arrived in Jalalabad he went to an Algerian guesthouse. The detainee stayed at this guesthouse for approximately three to four months.
10. The detainee left Jalalabad around the time of the attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. The detainee then traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan and stayed there for one to two months.

b. Training

The detainee admits receiving small arms training on the assembly and disassembly of the Kalashnikov rifle near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

c. Other Relevant Data

1. After the TOra Bora bombing campaign began and the Northern Alliance pushed through Kabul and Jalalabad, the detainee escaped into Pakistan. Pakistani Forces captured the detainee in Pakistan; the detainee was subsequently turned over to United States Forces based at Kandahar, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee has been identified as someone who stayed at the guesthouse in Jalalabad.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. According to the detainee, he did not participated in Jihad in Algeria and was neither a member of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC, nor the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, GIA.

b. According to the detainee, he does not know anything about Usama bin Laden except from what the detainee had seen on the al-Jazeera satellite station.

c. The detainee has stated that he would not sacrifice his life for an al Qaida member.

d. The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001.

e. The detainee denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests.

f. The detainee denied any knowledge or planning of internal uprisings at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Written reply

A response from the captive, to allegations, dated 28 March 2005, was published together with the transcripts of other captives' hearings from 2006. A marginal note, at the bottom of the document, indicates that it had been presented to his 2005 Board, and was re-used in 2006.

Habeas corpus petition

After the Supreme Court restored access to the civilian court system to the captives Danielle Voorhees reinitiated his habeas corpus petition on July 18, 2008. He had a DTA appeal filed on May 16, 2007. But the Department of Justice had made no progress in filing the necessary "factual returns". Mutij's lawyers opted to agree to stay the DTA appeal in favor of his habeas petition.

References

External links

• Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Four: Captured Crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan (2 of 2) Andy Worthington, September 24, 2010

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