- DOB: 2-20-1959
- Nationality: Algerian
- ISN 705
- Residence: Pakistan
Background
Mustafa Hamlily was a charity worker at the time of his capture on May 25, 2002. He was captured from his home near Pashawar. He was 42 years old at the time, and very well liked in his village. He’d been a university professor who fought against the Russians in Afghanistan.
He takes his religion seriously and he explains that Islam is against all terrorism and violent acts. He states that he dislikes al-Qaeda because “they try to control you and they do things to your religion.”
Mustafa traveled to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia in 1987 and began working for IIRO, an Islamic Charity organization. He worked in the Orphans department, and took care of the school until it’s closing in 1990.
After that time, he took care of his family while working as a welder and a honey seller for the next ten years, traveling to Yemen from 1195 though 1997, where he took the opportunity to study as he didn’t need a visa. From June through September of 2001 he worked for al-Wafa because he was told that it was a Saudi organization who needed employees. Most Afghanis didn’t want to work for al-Wafa because it was a Saudi organization, but Mustafa was proud to work for a charity.
At the time of his arrest, his books and audio tapes were confiscated, but they found nothing. He believes that the Pakistani government was under pressure from the US government to deliver al-Qaeda prisoners.
The Pakistani officer who arrested him told him there’d be nothing to worry about, because he wasn’t al-Qaeda, and he thought he would be released soon since they were specifically looking for al Qaeda operatives. Since Mustafa was not an operative, he thought he would be released. He is now “eligible for release” but is still in Guantanamo.
FROM WIKI:
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 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.
Hamlily chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
allegations
- The detainee voluntarily traveled from Mauritania, Africa to Islamabad, Pakistan in 1987 to work for the Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO).
- The detainee received weapons training on the Kalashnikov rifle while working for the IRO. The training took place near the boarder town of Peshawar, Pakistan.
- -missing from the transcript-
- The detainee worked for the IIRO in their Orphan’s Department (which included a school) until 1990, when the school closed.
- Between 1991 and 2001, the detainee traveled back and forth between Algeria, Pakistan, Yemen, and Pakistan. He worked various jobs during this time.
- The detainee worked for the Al-Wafa organization in Jalalabad, Pakistan from June through August 2001. In September 2001 the Al-Wafa Organization closed.
- The detainee was arrested at his home in Peshawar, Pakistan by the Pakistani police on 25 May 2002.
testimony
Hamlily acknowledged working for the Islamic Relief Organization. But he didn’t travel to Pakistan directly. He traveled to Saudi Arabia. The IIRO is a Saudi organization, and he was hired there for a job in Pakistan.
Hamlily acknowledged being taught how to fire an AK47. There was no security in the area he was working, and men routinely went around armed.
During the five years he worked for the IIRO he met and married a Pakistani woman, which is why Pakistan remained his home.
He acknowledged working for Al Wafa, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He said he thought it was simply another humanitarian organization. He had no idea that anyone thought it had ties to terrorism. He saw no signs of support for terrorism during the time he worked for them.
When asked by a Tribunal member why he thought he was arrested Hamlily said:
- “From what I understand, the Pakistani Intelligence was under pressure from the Americans to deliver al Qaida operatives and other terrorists. The Pakistani Intelligence arrested people (some were poor and innocent) so they could show the Americans they were working with them. The Pakistani officer that arrested me said I had nothing ot worry about. I would be released shortly since they were looking specifically for al-Qaida members.”
- Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mustafa Ahmed Hamlily’sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 16-20
- Mustafa Hamlili Action Letter!
