Benyam Mohammed

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Binyam Ahmed Mohamed

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image_size =
image_caption = | date_of_birth = Birth date|1970|07|24
place_of_birth = Ethiopia
date_of_arrest =
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citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo
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group =
alias = Benjamin Mohammed,
Benyam (Ahmed) Mohammed,
Benyam Mohammed al-Habashi
charge =
penalty =
status = Charged before a Guantanamo military commission
csrt_summary =
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occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children =

Binyam Ahmed Mohamed (Lang-ar|بنيام محمد) (also described as Benjamin Mohammed, Benyam (Ahmed) Mohammed and Benyam Mohammed al-Habashi) (born 24 July 1978) is an Ethiopian national who is detained in Guantanamo Bay prison. In 1994, Mohamed sought asylum in the UK. He was captured and transported in the frame of the US extraordinary rendition program.

In June 2001, Mohamed travelled to Afghanistan. The reasons for the trip are in dispute. UK and U.S. authorities contend that Mohamed trained in a paramilitary Al-Qaeda camp. Mohamed's supporters contend that he had gone to conquer his drug problems and to see Muslim countries "with his own eyes". [http://www.amnestyusa.org/waronterror/document.do?id=ENGAMR511522005 Ethiopian national/UK resident:Benyam Mohammed al Habashi] , "Amnesty International", September 21 2005] After 9/11, he went to Pakistan. On April 10, 2002, Mohamed was arrested at the Karachi airport by Pakistani authorities as a suspected terrorist. Mohamed contends that he was a subject of the United States extraordinary rendition policy, and entered a "ghost prison system" run by US and UK intelligence agents. [http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/08/26/news/gitmo.php 89 Guantánamo detainees resume hunger strike] , "Boston Globe", August 27, 2005]

Before his transfer to Guantanamo Bay, Mohamed states that he was incarcerated in prisons in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan, and that while in Morocco, interrogators tortured him by using scalpels to cut his chest and penis. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1540552,00.html 'One of them made cuts in my penis. I was in agony'] "The Guardian", July 2, 2005] Mohamed's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, states that Mohamed participated in recent hunger strikes to protest against the harsh conditions and lack of access to any judicial review. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1540558,00.html Suspect's tale of travel and torture] "The Guardian", August 2, 2005] The hunger strike started in July 2005, and resumed in August 2005 because the detainees believed the US authorities failed to honour promises to meet their demands. From a written statement by Mohamed dated 11 August, 2005:

:"The administration promised that if we gave them 10 days, they would bring the prison into compliance with the Geneva conventions. They said this had been approved by Donald Rumsfeld himself in Washington DC. As a result of these promises, we agreed to end the strike on July 28."

:"It is now August 11. They have betrayed our trust (again). Hisham from Tunisia was savagely beaten in his interrogation and they publicly desecrated the Qur'an (again). Saad from Kuwait was ERF'd [visited by the Extreme Reaction Force] for refusing to go (again) to interrogation because the female interrogator had sexually humiliated him (again) for 5 hours _ Therefore, the strike must begin again." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1566197,00.html Hunger strikers pledge to die in Guantánamo] , "The Guardian", September 9 2005] [http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2299 Guantanamo Hunger Strikes Resume] , "The NewStandard", August 30, 2005]

On August 7 2007, he was one of five Guantanamo detainees that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband requested be freed, citing the fact they had all been granted refugee status, or similar leave, to remain in Britain prior to their capture by US forces. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070807/ap_on_re_eu/britain_guantanamo;_ylt=Ag_e97o3ozdSYvym_YGegZL9xg8F]

Charged with conspiracy

On November 7, 2005, Benyam was charged with conspiracy. The complaint alleges that Binyam was trained in Kabul to build dirty bombs (weapons combining conventional explosives with radioactive material intended to be dispersed over a large area). According to the complaint, he "was planning terror attacks against high-rise apartment buildings in the United States and was arrested at an airport in Pakistan, attempting to go to London while using a forged passport." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5399561,00.html Five More Guantanamo Detainees Charged] , "The Guardian", November 7 2005] [http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/12/09/padilla.accomplice/ Pentagon IDs suspected terror accomplice: Detainee's lawyer denies accusation, alleges torture] , "CNN", December 9 2005]

In the summer of 2006 the United States Supreme Court over-ruled President Bush.They ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the President lacked the constitutional authority to create military commissions.

In the winter of 2008 new charges were filed against Binyam Mohammed after the United States Congress authorized new military commissions under the Military Commissions Act.

Accusations of abusive incarceration

In December 2005 the declassification of his lawyer's notes permitted further claims of abusive interrogation to be made public. [ [http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/article_1068368.php 'No record` of CIA flight requests] , "Monsters and Critics", December 12 2005] Binyam further claims include that he was transported to a black site known as "the dark prison", where captives were permanently chained to the wall, kept in constant darkness, and constantly bombarded by loud noises and rap and heavy metal music. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/19/afghan12319.htm U.S. Operated Secret ‘Dark Prison’ in Kabul] , "Human Rights Watch", December 18 2005] Benyam claims that, while in the dark prison, his captors purposely injected him with heroin, to get him addicted, in order to use his addiction against him.Fact|date=August 2008

According to the "Wall Street Journal", Ralph Kohlmann, the President of Mohamed's military commission, led a discussion, at his child's high school, entitled "Torture, Terrorism and National Security." [http://www.dma.thaiembdc.org/usa%20news/e20060328aaindex_concat.html#e20060328425886.html As Justices Weigh Military Tribunals, A Guantanamo Tale: Torture in Morocco Is Alleged By Accused Accomplice In Old 'Dirty Bomb' Plot] , "Wall Street Journal", March 28 2006]

On June 21 2008 the "New York Times" reported that the UK Government had sent a letter to Clive Stafford Smith, confirming that it had information about Binyam Mohammed's allegations of abuse.cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/world/europe/21gitmo.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
title=Britain Sends Information on Suspect to the U.S.
publisher=New York Times
author=Raymond Bonner
date=June 21 2008
accessdate=2008-06-21
quote=]

On Monday July 28 2008 his lawyers filed a petition in an UK court that the Foreign Office should be compelled to turn over the evidence of Binyam Mohammed's abuse.cite news
url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/07/uk-guantanamo-detainee-asks-court-to.php
title=UK Guantanamo detainee asks court to order turnover of 'torture' evidence
publisher=The Jurist
author=Mike Rosen-Molina
date=2008-07-29
accessdate=2008-07-31
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjurist.law.pitt.edu%2Fpaperchase%2F2008%2F07%2Fuk-guantanamo-detainee-asks-court-to.php&date=2008-07-31 mirror] ] They also filed a petition with the Irish government for the records of his illegal transport over Ireland. On August 21 2008, the High Court of the United Kingdom found in his favour, ruling that the Foreign Office should disclose this material. The judges said of the information that it was "not only necessary but essential for his defence". cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7574284.stm
title= UK Guantanamo inmate wins ruling
publisher=BBC News
author=
date=2008-08-21
accessdate=2008-08-21
quote=]

CSRT-Yes [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_mar05.pdf Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf)] prepared for Mohamed Ahmed Binyam's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - November 10 2004 - page 135]

:a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida or the Taliban.:#"The detainee is ########## who lived in the United States from 1992 to 1994, and in London, United Kingdom, until he departed for Pakistan in 2001.:#"The detainee arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, in June 2001, and traveled to the al Faruq training camp in Afghanistan, to receive paramilitary training.:#"At the al Faruq camp, the detainee received 40 days of training in light arms handling, explosives, and principles of topography.:#"The detainee was taught to falsify documents, and received instruction from a senior al Qaida operative on how to encode telephone numbers before passing them to another individual.:#"The detainee proposed, to senior-al Qaida leaders, the idea of attacking subway trains in the United States.:#"The detainee was extracted from Afghanistan to Karachi, Pakistan, where he received explosives and remote-controlled-detonator training from an al Qaida operative.:#"The detainee met with an al Qaida operative and was directed to travel to the United States to assist in terrorist operations.:#"The detainee attempted to leave Pakistan for the United States but was detained and interrogated by Pakistani authorities, revealing his membership in al Qaida, the identities of Mujahidins he knew, and his plan to use a "dirty bomb" sic to carry out a terrorist attack in the United States.

Release negotiation

On August 7, 2007 the United Kingdom government requested the release of Binyam Mohamed and four other men who had been legal British residents without being British citizens.cite news
url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5034407.html
date=August 7, 2007
publisher=Houston Chronicle
title=UK asks US to release 5 from Guantanamo
author=David Stringer
accessdate=2007-08-07] He was not released however, and in June 2008 the U.S. military announced they were formally charging Mohammed.

References

External links

* [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2005/d20051104muhammad.pdf Charge Sheets (.pdf)]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/commissions_exhibits_muhammad.html Commissions Transcripts, Exhibits, and Allied Papers]
* [http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/document.do?id=ENGAMR511522005 Amnesty International USA]
* [http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=Dt1C09XkyL&Content=619 Center for Constitutional Rights]
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TEbquHRbySU Short Documentary about Benyam Mohamed and Extraordinary Rendition to Guantanamo Bay]