Indefinitely Detained Guantánamo Prisoner Asks Review Board to Recommend His Release

Two days ago, I published an article looking at the outcome of the first Periodic Review Board held at Guantánamo — a much delayed review process for ascertaining whether 71 of the remaining 155 prisoners should continue to be held indefinitely without charge or trial. This process was supposed to begin three years ago, after President Obama issued an executive order authorizing the ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial of 48 prisoners, based on the recommendations, delivered in January 2010, of his inter-agency Guantánamo Review Task Force, but the first PRB didn’t take place until November 2013.

As I explained in my article, the board members recommended that the prisoner whose case was reviewed — Mahmoud al-Mujahid, a Yemeni — should be released, which is good news, as al-Mujahid was wrongly regarded as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, based on the unreliable testimony of a fellow prisoner. However, it means nothing unless he is released, as, with an irony that is evidently being strenuously ignored by the Obama administration, the review board’s decision to recommend him for release means only that he joins a list of 55 other Yemeni prisoners who were cleared for release by Obama’s task force four years ago, but are still held because of fears of political instability in Yemen.

As I also mentioned in that article, the second PRB, for another Yemeni, Abd-al Malik Wahab al-Rahabi, took place yesterday, January 28, and, unlike the first PRB, from which the media and observers were excluded, limited transparency was provided by the Pentagon, which made available a facility in Arlington, Virginia, where a very small section of the review board could be seen and heard, although not the testimony of al-Rahabi himself, nor anything regarded as classified by the military.

What this meant in reality, as Carol Rosenberg explained for the Miami Herald, was that al-Rahabi, one of Guantánamo’s “forever prisoners,” was “not allowed to speak in the 19-minute portion of his hearing reporters were allowed to see. Instead, his attorney, David Remes, delivered the plea for release in a prepared statement he read” while al-Rahabi sat beside him.

I’m happy to reproduce below David Remes’s statement, and a statement by the military officers assigned to represent al-Rahabi, although it remains unacceptable that we were not allowed to hear directly from al-Rahabi himself. As Andrea Prasow, senior national security counsel and advocate in Human Rights Watch’s US Program, recently told the Associated Press, “The detainee explaining why he doesn’t pose a risk, why he should go home, that seems to be the whole point of the proceeding and we won’t get to see it. I think that’s pretty outrageous.”

Al-Rahabi, it turns out, has a 13-year-old daughter, Ayesha, who he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, and, with the support of his father, who is a tailor, he hopes to study and to teach, as David Remes explained. Remes also told the review board that he and four other prisoners have drawn up a “stunningly detailed” business plan for an agricultural business they hope to establish on their release, called “Yemen Milk & Honey Farms Ltd.” to be “powered by windmills and have 100 farm houses, 10 cows, 50 lambs, 500 chickens and ’10 Honey Bee farming fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.’” According to the plan, the chairman of the project would be Abdulsalam al-Hela, who was a prominent Yemeni businessman before he was kidnapped in Egypt and sent to Guantánamo via the CIA’s network of “black sites,” and al-Rahabi would be the director. David Remes explained that the plan was conceived with Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani businessman who was also kidnapped and sent to Guantánamo via “black site” network.

Last year, al-Rahabi joined the prison-wide hunger strike that awakened, or reawakened the world to the plight of the Guantánamo prisoners. In March, David Remes stated that he had “vowed to fast until he got out of the prison ‘either dead or alive,’” but he is no longer a hunger striker, and yesterday, as Carol Rosenberg described it, he “looked fit and at times smiled as he sat through the first 19 minutes of his hearing silently,” and he also “wore a white prison camp uniform of a complaint prisoner.”

Nevertheless, the military continues to stand by the unreliable information contained in the classified military files released by WikiLeaks in 2011, still claiming, in a profile on the PRB website, that he was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. The profile, to be frank, is full of hollow but ominous-sounding innuendo, such as the following — “There are no conclusive indications that YM-037 [al-Rahabi] during his detention has maintained associations with at-large extremists — except for a former Guantanamo detainee whom has not been observed reengaging in terrorist activity.” The profile also claims that his brother-in-law, Sadeq Muhammad Said Ismail, who was released from Guantánamo in 2007, has since emerged as “a prominent extremist in Ibb,” although no evidence was provided for this claim, and it contradicts the description of Ismail provided by David Remes in his statement below.

The six government officials who make up the review board — the director of National Intelligence, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and the State Department — have several weeks to make their decision, and it is to be hoped that the Pentagon will release a transcript of al-Rahabi’s statement once the government representatives and his lawyer have had the opportunity “to censor his words for national or prison security reasons — as well as for privacy requests by the prisoner,” as the Miami Herald described it.

In the meantime, it is also to be hoped that President Obama will realize how urgent it is to begin the process of freeing the Yemenis who have already been cleared for release, without further delay.

Below (with minor redactions) are the statements of al-Rahabi’s personal representatives and of David Remes:

Periodic Review Board, January 28, 2014: Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab Al-Rahabi, ISN 37

Opening Statement of Personal Representative

Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the board, I’m Lieutenant Commander [redacted]. Major [redacted] and I are the Personal Representatives of Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab AI Rahabi. Mr. David Remes, on my right/left, is Abdel Malik’s Private Counsel. To my right/left is our translator, (translator’s call sign). Major [redacted] and I first met with Abdel Malik on 25 July 2013, and have more than 45 hours ofdirect interaction. Over the past six months, he has demonstrated enthusiasm and desire to participate in the Periodic Review Board process. Throughout this process, Major [redacted] and I have worked closely with Abdel Malik and Mr. David Remes, to provide you with information demonstrating that Abdel Malik does not pose a significant threat to the security of the United States.

It is apparent to us that Abdel Malik desires to return home to Ibb, Yemen, and reunite with his wife, his parents, and especially with his daughter, Aisha [Ayesha], who is now 13. If transferred, he plans to teach, continue his education, and pursue a business of his own, which is outlined in the Yemeni Milk and Honey feasibility report. He also has the ability to work for his father as a tailor. The Periodic Review Board Summary also states that if he is released, he will most likely return to his family. Based upon his strong family ties, his outside employment opportunities and aspirations, his continuing education, and his compliant behavior, we believe he will most certainly return to his family. After careful review of the documents we’ve provided and hearing Abdel Malik’s comments, we are confident you will share our opinion and recommend that he be transferred.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Major [redacted] and I are happy to answer any questions you may have throughout this proceeding. We will now defer to Mr. David Remes for his opening statement.

Opening Statement of Private Counsel David H. Remes

Good morning. I’m David Remes, private counsel for Mr. Rahabi. I have been Mr. Rahabi’s lawyer since 2004. Covington & Burling is my co-counsel.

Here are the factors I urge you to consider in deciding Rahabi’s case.

Looking first to his life as a detainee, Mr. Rahabi is compliant and the camp authorities consider him trustworthy. In 2009, the authorities decided to move most of the detainees from single cell detention to communal living conditions. They tested the waters by moving a selected group of detainees to limited communal conditions, and then to full communal conditions. At each stage, Mr. Rahabi was among the first detainees they moved. When they extended communal conditions to the general detainee population, they put Mr. Rahabi in a communal cell block for the most compliant detainees.

During last year’s hunger strike, in which Mr. Rahabi participated, the authorities moved the strikers back to single cell detention. When Mr. Rahabi ended his hunger strike, they returned him to the cellblock for compliant detainees. His blockmates elected him block leader. He has worked with camp authorities to ease the tensions between camp authorities and detainees that continue to smolder.

In the years before the hunger strike, the authorities offered detainees classes. Mr. Rahabi took practical courses, in English and business, with Saifullah Paracha, who has submitted a statement on his behalf. Mr. Rahabi also took courses for personal growth. Among these were art class, which gave him a love of watercolors. We have submitted examples of his fine colorings. Finally, Mr. Rahabi is one of the principal authors of a substantial business plan for an agricultural enterprise called “Yemen Milk and Honey Farms Limited.” The report is stunningly detailed, thorough, and comprehensive. It shows the detainees’ broad knowledge of commerce, their dedication to constructive pursuits, and their awareness of the need to set returning detainees on a path to economic independence. We have submitted a copy of the report.

Looking to the life that awaits Mr. Rahabi when he returns to Yemen, Mr. Rahabi has a large and supportive family. Over three dozen relatives make the five-hour car journey from lbb to Sana’a to participate in the family calls the authorities allow detainees every two months. Needless to say, Mr. Rahabi’s parents, his wife, and his daughter, Ayesha, are present. Others include his brother-in-law Sadeq Muhammad Said Ismail, a former detainee (ISN 69), who was repatriated in June 2007. After being repatriated, Mr. lsmael returned to lbb. He married and began a family. I have met him and his son. We have submitted videos and interviews with Abdalmalik’s father, his wife, Ayesha, and Sadeq, which I conducted on January 14.

Ayesha is a beautiful girl of 13. Mr. Rahabi has not seen her since she was an infant. His face lights up at the mention of her name. He lives to see her. I spent time with Ayesha in July, when I visited lbb with a news team. She was very shy but rose to the occasion. She brought us to tears softly singing a song for her father. Ayesha writes her father long, detailed letters about her life. She sends him poems and drawings of hearts, roses, and crescent moons. She even sends her report cards and teacher commendations. We have submitted samples of these items and copies of photos showing her growing up. Her writings are heartbreaking. I call the Board’s special attention to pages 9-11.

When he returns to Yemen, Mr. Rahabi will continue his studies at university and use his education to teach. His father, Ahmed, who is a tailor, will employ him if need be. His whole family, Ayesha most of all, will keep him firmly anchored at home.

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer and film-maker. He is the co-founder of the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here – or here for the US).

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the four-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, and “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” an ongoing, 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011. Also see the definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.

Please also consider joining the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.