Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani

Iraqi former Guantanamo Bay detainee
Jawad Jabber Sadkhan is a citizen of Iraq who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. Sadkhan's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 433. Jawad's lawyers dispute that Jawad should have been held a single day, because he was a political refugee from Iraq and a Shi'a Muslim – whereas the Taliban and al Qaeda were Sunni Muslims.

Captive number 433 wrote a letter on behalf of Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely, to his Administrative Review Board. He signed himself Abu Fatima Al Iraqi.

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. Sadkhan chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Sadkhan had a statement from detainee 758 submitted as evidence at his Tribunal. In his statement detainee 758 identified himself as "Shaker Al Iraqi (Abass Abdou Erromi)". The official record identifies him as Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely. In September 2007, the Department of Defense published the unclassified dossiers arising from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 179 captives. The documents record Captive 433 requested witnesses. However different documents in his dossier state he requested two, three, four, and five witnesses. Tribunal panel 19 convened on 2004 12 03 and confirmed his enemy combatant status.

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 status, 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.

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his first annual Administrative Review Board.

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his second annual Administrative Review Board, on 5 September 2006.

Sackhan wrote a letter for Abbas Habid Rumi Al Naely, an Iraqi refugee. Sadkhan's letter confirmed Al Naely's account that he had to rely on charity during his time in Afghanistan. I know this man from Afghanistan when he visited me in my own home begging me for some help. I did not have anything to offer [him]. But when I looked at his overall look and his dirty clothing he had on, he looked so miserable. So I went to another friend of mine and asked him for money. That person gave me about $3 and I gave it to ISN 758. I have invited him to stay at my house for that particular night, but he refused. This person came back to me again (meaning ISN 758) asking me for more money that I didn't have to give him. I also learned from other people that this person was addicted to Hash, he smokes grass. This was a reason that made me decide not to help him because every time I would help him he would spend it on Hash. To me he was not a political person, a religious person, or a military person. I have never heard once that he hated America or allies. I never heard that he really served with the Taliban. He received some help from the Taliban like other Iraqi refugees, and I am one of them. I am one of them and I have received help from the Taliban. They only gave me food for my family and me. They gave me a house to stay with my family. In regards to 758, they did not give him a house because he was not married. They only gave [one] to me. He is a peaceful man and he does not pose a threat on nobody and he has parents that need him. Anything that happened between him and me, like some kind of animosity was a result of the investigators here on this facility. So they can create animosity between the two of use I was exposed to a lot of abuse, psychological abuse from the investigators and God only knows what happened. This person ISN 758 is innocent from any allegations and God knows everything. This is what I have and peace be upon [you].

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.

On June 12, 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant". On July 9, 2008, Jeffrey D. Colman of JENNER & BLOCK LLP submitted a "RESPONSE OF PETITIONER JAWAD JABBAR SADKHAN AL SAHLANI, ISN NO. 433, TO ISSUES RAISED AT JULY 8, 2008 HEARING" in Civil Action No. 05 CV 1497 (RCL) on behalf of Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al Sahlani (ISN 433). On July 18, 2008, Jeffrey D. Colman renewed Jawad's petition, noting that he is an Iraqi Shiite Muslim. Colman noted he is a Shiite Muslim from Iraq and that he is married and the father of four children, approximately ages 11, 9, 8, and 6. On October 31, 2008, Jeffrey D. Colman filed a Petitioner's Opposition to Respondent's Motion for Leave to File Amended Factual Return on behalf of Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al Sahlani (ISN 433) in Civil Action No. 05 CV 2384 (RWR). Colman described the Department of Justice's attorneys were acting in bad faith.

On June 11, 2009, Sadkhan was transferred from Guantanmo Bay to Iraq. Following his repatriation to Iraqi custody, in a profile of his lawyer, Jeffrey Colman, AM Law provided more details of Jawad's repatriation. According to the article, Jawad was first cleared for release in 2003. According to the article Colman was informed that the Obama review team cleared him for release on May 15, 2009.