Initially the
Bush administration asserted they could withhold the protections of the
Geneva Conventions from captives in the
war on terror, while critics argued the Conventions obliged the United States to conduct
competent tribunals to determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted
Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "
enemy combatant". Detainees do not have the right to a lawyer before the CSRTs or to access the evidence against them. The CSRTs are not bound by the rules of evidence that would apply in court, and the government’s evidence is presumed to be “genuine and accurate.” However, unclassified summaries of relevant evidence may be provided to the detainee and each detainee has an opportunity to present “reasonably available” evidence and witnesses. From July 2004 through March 2005, a CSRT was convened to make a determination whether each captive had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Abdulla Majid Al Noaimi was among the one-third of prisoners for whom there was no indication they chose to participate in their tribunals. In the landmark case
Boumediene v. Bush, the
U.S. Supreme Court found that CSRTs are not an adequate substitute for the constitutional right to challenge one's detention in court, in part because they do not have the power to order detainees released. The Court also found that "there is considerable risk of error in the tribunal’s findings of fact." A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. His memo accused him of the following:
Witness statements The documents the Department of Defense released include two statements, both dated November 11, 2004. One statement was from Mohammed Salman Al-Khalifa, a cousin of Salman Al Khalifa, a member of the
Bahrain royal family. It states since Abdullah Al Noaimi was a childhood friend of Salman Al Khalifa he was asked to travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan to look for him, when he went missing, in August 2001. The other statement is from Mohamad Suleiman Alkaleifa, a childhood friend who testified to his good character, and lack of interest in politics. If his Board considered these witness statements then it was redacted from their recommendations. ==Abdullah Al Noaimi v. George Walker Bush==