Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid
Quick Facts
Biography
Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid is a Yemeni citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, for over fourteen and a half years, from January 11, 2002 to August 15, 2016. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 31. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts report that he was born on August 1, 1977, in Taiz. Yemen. He arrived in the first cohort of twenty individuals who opened the prison. The Guantanamo Joint Review Task Force classed him as a "forever prisoner", in 2009. He was transferred to United Arab Emirate, with fourteen other men, on August 15, 2016.
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.
Scholars at the Brookings Institute, led by Benjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations:
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... are associated with Al Qaeda."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid 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."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... fought for the Taliban."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... were at Tora Bora."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives whose "names or aliases were found on material seized in raids on Al Qaeda safehouses and facilities."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges that the following detainees were captured under circumstances that strongly suggest belligerency."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who "The military alleges ... served on Osama Bin Laden’s security detail."
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who was an "al Qaeda operative".
- Mahmoud Abd Al Aziz Abd Al Mujahid was listed as one of the captives who had "denied all the government allegations."
Al Mujahid chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunals.
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. His ten-page Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment was drafted on March 8, 2008.
It was signed by camp commandant Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby. He recommended continued detention.