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Murtadha al Said Makram is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 187. The Department of Defense reports that Magram was born on March 28, 1976, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On February 3, 2009 an individual named "Murtadi Muqrim" was listed on the Saudi Arabian most wanted list.

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.

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Murtada Ali Said Maqram's Combatant Status Review Tribunal. The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is an al-Qaida/Taliban fighter:

1. The detainee voluntarily traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to fight in the Jihad.
2. While traveling through Qandahar, AF, the detainee stayed at a Taliban guesthouse.
3. The detainee received training on the AK-47 assault rifle while in AF.

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

1. While fighting in the Jihad in Afghanistan, the detainee spent seven (7) months on a secondary line approximately 30 kilometers from the front line.
2. After seven (7) months, the detainee then spent two (2) months on another secondary line at Bagram Hill, approximately 13 kilometers from the front line.
3. When the Northern Alliance attacked the front line, the detainee went to the front line on the Bagram side of the mountain.
4. The detainee then retreated to the Tora Bora region, and subsequently fled to Pakistan where he was captured.

Transcript

There is no record that Murtada Ali Said Maqram participated in his Tribunal.

Administrative Review Board hearings

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.

First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Murtada Ali Said Maqram's first annual Administrative Review Board. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. The detainee is an Al Qaida/Taliban fighter:

1. The detainee voluntarily traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to fight in the Jihad.
2. While traveling through Qandahar. AF. The detainee stayed at a Taliban guesthouse.
3. The detainee received training on the AK-47 assault rifle while in AF.

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

1. While fighting in the Jihad in Afghanistan, the detainee spent seven (7) months on a secondary line approximately 30 kilometers from the front line.
2. After seven (7) months, the detainee then spent two (2) months on another secondary line at Bagram Hill, approximately 13 kilometers from the front line.
3. When the Northern Alliance attacked the front line, the detainee went to the front line on the Bagram side of the mountain.
4. The detainee then retreated to the Tora Bora region, and subsequently fled to Pakistan where he was captured.

c. Based upon a review of recommendations from US Government agencies and classified and unclassified documents, Enemy Combatant is regarded as a threat to United States and its allies.

1. In the last year, the detainee has thrown food at guards four (4) times, spit on them twice and set off the sprinkler in his cell. The most extreme conduct occurred on 12 October 2004 when he grabbed an MP through the “beanhole” in his cell and pulled him towards the door.
2. A list of contact points and telephone numbers for Al Qaida Mujahidin (the detainee’s name was included on the list) who were scheduled to fight in Afghanistan but who were arrested by the Pakistani authorities was recovered from a computer hard drive in an Al Qaida safehouse.
3. Detainee related it did not matter whether the Taliban won or lost the war but that he fought for the glory of God. Detainee stated he wanted to be a martyr for the cause.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

A. No inforation available.

Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Murtadh Al Said Makram's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 25 January 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

Repatriation

On November 25, 2008 the Department of Defense published a list of when captives left Guantanamo. According to that list he was repatriated to Saudi custody on November 9, 2007, with thirteen other men. The records published from the captives' annual Administrative Reviews show his repatriation was not the outcome of the formal internal review procedures. The records show his detention was not reviewed in 2007.

At least ten other men in his release group were not repatriated through the formal review procedure.

Peter Taylor writing for the BBC News called the Saudis repatriated on November 9, 2007 with Makram, "batch 10". He wrote that the BBC's research had found this batch to be a problematic cohort, and that four other men forom this batch were named on the Saudi most wanted list.

Named on a Saudi "most wanted" list

On February 3, 2009 the Saudi government published a list of 85 "most wanted" suspected terrorists, that included an individual identified as "Murtadi Muqrim". This list contained ten other former Guantanamo captives. Half of the eleven former captives listed on most wanted list were, like Maqram, from among the eleven men repatriated on November 9, 2007—in spite of their annual reviews recommending continued detention.

References

1. "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
2. Cite error: The named reference CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceMurtadaAliSaidMaqram was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. Cite error: The named reference FactorsMurtadaAliSaidMagram was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. Cite error: The named reference ArbSummaryOfEvidenceMurtadhAlSaidMakram was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. OARDEC (2008-10-09). "Consolidated chronological listing of GTMO detainees released, transferred or deceased" (PDF). Department of Defense. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
6. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). "Index to Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
7. ^ OARDEC (August 10, 2007). Index "Index of Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees from ARB Round Two". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
8. ^ "Index to Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for Administrative Review Boards (Round 3) Held at Guantanamo" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
9. Peter Taylor (2010-01-13). "Yemen al-Qaeda link to Guantanamo Bay prison". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15.
10. Mansour Al-Shihri, Khaled A-Shalahi (2009-02-07). "Names keep climbing on infamous terror list". Saudi Gazette. Retrieved 2009-02-07. mirror

External links

• Innocents and Foot Soldiers: The Stories of the 14 Saudis Just Released From Guantánamo Andy Worthington

Template:Persondata

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from December 2009
• Living people
• 1976 births
• Guantanamo detainees known to have been released
• People from Riyadh
• Saudi Arabian people