Karam Khamis Sayd Khamsan ''(also transliterated as Karama Khamis and Khamis Al-Mulaiki)'' is a citizen of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
who was held in
extrajudicial detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
US Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
'', May 15, 2006
His Guantanamo
Internment Serial Number An Internment Serial Number (ISN) is an identification number assigned to captives who come under control of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) during armed conflicts.
History
On March 3, 2006, in compliance with a court order from D ...
was 586.
American intelligence analysts estimate that Khamsan was born in 1969, in Al Mahra, Yemen. He was repatriated without ever being charged on August 19, 2005.
Abuse while in detention
The ''New Standard News'' reports that during Amnesty International's interview with Khamsan he reported being abused.
Khamsan reported being beaten, stripped naked, and being stacked in a pile with other naked captives, and then photographed, while held in Bagram. He also reported being threatened with rendition to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
or
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
Elements of the
519th Military Intelligence Battalion
The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion is a unit of the United States Army.mirror
The battalion was first created in 1948. The battalion served in the Vietnam War; the Invasion of Grenada; the Invasion of Panama; Desert Storm; the Invasion o ...
, under
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogator ...
, were responsible for the interrogation of captives in Bagram, before being transferred to
Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib (; ar, أبو غريب, ''Abū Ghurayb'') is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road t ...
, where they were to play a role in the abuse recorded in the photos that started to be released in the winter of 2005.
Khamsan told Amnesty International that, during the long flight to Guantanamo, his handcuffs were so tight they ripped off his flesh, when they were removed. Amnesty's report quoted Khamsan about his abuse in Guantanamo:
In Guantánamo, Karama Khamisan described how, on one occasion, he was taken to the shower room where guards attempted to sexually abuse him. As he pushed them away, ten guards entered the room and beat him before transferring him to a solitary cell where he was held for 25 days, naked. He said that he was only taken to use the toilet and shower once in this entire period and that he ate no solid food in order to avoid having to defecate in his cell.
Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant
The
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
reports that Khamsan was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
They report that Khamsan has been released.
The Department of Defense refers to these men as
No Longer Enemy Combatants
No Longer Enemy Combatant (NLEC) is a term used by the U.S. military for a group of 38 Guantanamo detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) determined they were not "enemy combatants".
None of them were released right away. Ten of ...
.
Three men
Maroof Saleemovich Salehove
On May 15, 2006, the United States Department of Defense acknowledged that there have been 12 Tajik detainees held in Guantanamo.Mohamed Anwar Kurd were
sent home on August 19, 2005.
Yemeni arrest and acquittal
The Americans eventually concluded that Khamis was not part of
al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
, but that his presence in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
was due to his membership in a drug smuggling ring.
Consequently, he was repatriated to Yemen.
According to the
Yemen Observer
The ''Yemen Observer'' ( ar, يمن أوبزرفر) is an English-language, Tri-weekly newspaper published in the Republic of Yemen. It was founded in 1996 by Faris Sanabani, aide and press secretary of then Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It ...
Khamis was arrested on December 24, 2005, when he tried to approach the US Ambassador, while armed with a pistol and two hand grenades.
The
Yemen Times
The ''Yemen Times'' was an independent English-language newspaper in Yemen. The paper was published twice weekly.
History and profile
''Yemen Times'' was founded in 1991 by Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf, a leading economist and human rights activist, who ...
says the alleged threat to the Ambassador was in December 2004.
Khamis has been charged with attempted
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
.
The Yemen Times' account says a conspirator has confessed that the impromptu attack was fueled by qat, a local narcotic, and anti-American sermons by radical clergy.
Khamis's defense lawyer have requested bringing in foreign medical experts to attest to his mental state.
Khamis was acquitted on March 13, 2006.