Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba

Jamal Kiyemba, also known as Jamal Abdullah, is a Ugandan citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, on suspicion of being a terrorist. His Guantanamo detainee ID number is 701. The Department of Defense reports he was born on April 22, 1979, in Bunamwaya, Uganda.

Identity

Kiyemba was named inconsistently on various official documents:

• He was named Anthony Kiyemba on the Summary of Evidence memo prepared for his Administrative Review Board.
• He was named Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba on the official list of captives the Department of Defense was forced to release on April 20, 2006 and May 15, 2006.

Background

After his father died, he came to the UK from Uganda to join his mother in 1993 when he was 14 years old, and completed his education in London. He has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the country, but is not a British citizen. Because of this, the British Government has declined to make representations on his behalf.

Kiyemba's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, says that Kiyemba was a participant in a hunger strike which started in July 2005 in protest at the conditions in the camp and alleged maltreatment, including alleged desecration of the Qur'an by American guards. The hunger strike ended on July 28, 2005 after promises were made to address the detainees' concerns. Many detainees resumed the hunger strike on August 8, 2005, believing the camp authorities had not lived up to their promises.

Sam Kutesa, the Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, was quoted on December 12, 2005 about his government's responsibility to intervene on Kiyemba's behalf. He said: "I understand that Britain gave up on him. I am yet to look at the papers. We have to intervene, but this depends on the documents."

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands 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.

Kiyemba chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Testimony

Kiyemba's transcript did not record the allegations against him, nor did it directly quote his testimony. Everything in the transcript was a paraphrase.

• Kiyemba said he believed in a Muslim’s duty to engage in jihad, but his definition of jihad was very broad, including any kind of spiritual self-improvement.
• He acknowledged that he was heading to Afghanistan to help Muslims who were under attack. But he had not arrived. Further, he did not think he would know who the innocent parties were until he arrived, and he was not committed to helping through violence. His help might have taken other forms.
• He acknowledged that someone at the guesthouse he stayed at, in Pakistan, showed him how a Kalashnikov worked. This was his sole weapons training.
• He said he did not believe in terrorism, or killing innocents.
• He insisted that anyone who knowingly kills any innocent person, regardless of their religions, is wrong.
• No one in England encouraged him to go to Afghanistan.
• He said he paid for his own travel, from his savings.
• He denied that he had said that the United States Government was an enemy to Islam.

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 weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW Xstatus, 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.

The factors for and against continuing to detain Kiyemba were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment

1. Detainee stated that any system like a democracy, which tries to end Sharia law, is worthy of a Jihad against it.
2. The detainee knew that Afghanistan (AF) lived under Sharia law before September 11, 2001.
3. After September 11, 2001, the detainee traveled from England to Iran then to Pakistan in an attempt to travel to Afghanistan in order to fight in the Jihad.

b. Training

1. While waiting in Pakistan on his way to AF, the detainee received weapons training on the Ak-48. The detainee learned how to shoot, assemble and disassemble the weapon.

c. Intent

1. Detainee stated that he traveled to Afghanistan to try to stop the aggression against the innocent.
2. While attempting to travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan in order to fight in the Jihad, the detainee was arrested at the border.
3. Detainee stated that if he had a weapon, he might attack Camp Delta guards.
4. Detainee stated that he would go fight Jihad in the future if he found a way.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

• Detainee has stated that he would never be a threat.
• Detainee stated that September 11, 2001 was a terrorist attack against women and children, which is never warranted.
• Detainee stated that he does not support what happened on September 11, 2001.
• Detainee stated that he has never been a part of an organization or laundered any money.

Transcript

Kiyemba chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.

Statement

Kiyemba, on the advice of his lawyer, had told his Assisting Military Officer that he should decline to answer any questions. But he did agree to give an oral statement.

He told his Board that he hoped to return to England, complete his education, get married and live a normal life. He said he was not a threat to the USA or the UK. While he said he hadn't always been treated well, while in detention, he thought most Americans were kind and decent people. He said he understood how the shock of 9-11 could trigger an over-reaction. He said he bore no ill-will due to his detention. He thought the attacks of 9-11 were terribly wrong and that he believed in settling differences through peaceful means.

Release

Kiyemba was transferred to the United Kingdom in the winter of 2006, according to Ugandan paper The New Vision. Kiyemba was denied entry to the United Kingdom, and deported to Uganda. He was detained in Ugandan custody for two months, and released on April 18, 2006.

According to the BBC, 02/06/06, he was considering whether to fight the government decision not to let him back into Britain. Kiyemba further stated: "I have lived in a 21st Century nightmare. I have been held hostage by the most developed, advanced, richest superpower".

External links

• Third British resident held in Guantanamo Bay, The Guardian, August 1, 2003
• UK's 'forgotten' Cuba detainees, BBC, 25 January 2005
• Hunger strikers pledge to die in Guantánamo, The Guardian, September 9, 2005
• Terror camp man’s protest, This is Local London, September 16, 2005