Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman

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Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman
Citizenship Yemeni

Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman is a Yemeni who is in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1][2]

Born on March 5 1982, in Malal, Pakistan, he was a traveling religious teacher. He was ostensibly refused exit from Afghanistan by the Taliban.

When he escaped the country in December 2001,[3] he turned himself over to Pakistani authorities asking them to take him to the Yemeni embassy, but was instead handed over to the American military as an "enemy combatant" whom they alleged had received al-Qaeda training based on his admission that he had met Osama bin Laden, and had "seen" a rifle while visiting a Taliban home.

Uthman's Guantanamo detainee number is 027, and his name has alternately been given as Uthman H. al-Rahim.[1][3]

[2]

a. The detainee is affiliated with al Qaeda.
  1. The Detainee voluntarily traveled from Yemen to Quetta, Pakistan where he stayed in a Taliban house in March 2001. The detainee admitted to seeing an assault weapon in the Taliban house during his stay.
  2. The detainee voluntarily traveled from Quetta, Pakistan to Kandahar, Afghanistan in March 2001.
  3. The detainee traveled between Khost and Kabul, Afghanistan to teach the Koran from march 2001 to December 2001.
  4. The detainee visited Usama Bin Laden’s home in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
  5. The detainee is associated with two suspects in the USS Cole bombing in Yemen.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. The detainee attended advanced training at Tarnak Farm near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee fled Afghanistan subsequent to the fall of Kabul. The detainee was caught and detained in the Tora Bora region.

Statement

Uthman didn't participate in the hearing of his CSRT. But he dictated a statement that answered each allegation, point by point.

Uthman denied all knowledge of the Tarnak Farms, and any participation in, or training for military operations. He stated that he had never even heard of "al-Qaeda" until after he was brought to Guantanamo.

He said he had traveled to Afghanistan to teach the Koran; that he had been prevented from leaving, first by the Taliban, and later by the opening of hostilities. He said when he arrived in Pakistan he voluntarily turned himself in to Pakistani authorities, who he expected would help him reach the Yemeni Embassy.

The final paragraph of his statement read:

"The Detainee asks that the Tribunal make their decision with the truth and that all the information in his unclassified summary are lies and fabricated to hold him. He went to Pakistan and Afghanistan to teach the Koran and he taught the Koran in Yemen before he left for Pakistan. The Detainee states that he is innocent and the whole world is his witness."

First annual Administrative Review Board hearing

A three page Summary of Evidence memo was drafted for his first annual [[Administrative Review Board hearing.[4] The memo listed eighteen "primary factors favor[ing] continued detention" and seven "primary factors favor[ing] release or transfer".

Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing

A four page Summary of Evidence memo was drafted for his second annual [[Administrative Review Board hearing.[5] The memo listed twenty-seven "primary factors favor[ing] continued detention" and eight "primary factors favor[ing] release or transfer".

First annual Administrative Review Board hearing

A five page Summary of Evidence memo was drafted for his third annual [[Administrative Review Board hearing.[6] The memo listed thirty-two "primary factors favor[ing] continued detention" and eight "primary factors favor[ing] release or transfer".

References