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Riduan Isamuddin

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Riduan Isamuddin (Hambali)
Isamuddin in 2012
BornEncep Nurjaman
(1964-04-04)April 4, 1964(age 60)[1][2][3]
Cianjur,West Java,Indonesia
ArrestedAugust 11, 2003
Ayutthaya,Thailand
Detained atCIAblack sites,Guantanamo
Other name(s)Hambali Nurjaman
ISN10019
Alleged to be
a member of		Al-Qaeda
Jemaah Islamiyah
Charge(s)Charged before a military commission in 2021

Riduan Isamuddin[a],also known by thenom de guerreHambali(born April 4, 1964), is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist organizationJemaah Islamiyah(JI). He is now in American custody atGuantanamo Bay detainment campinCuba.[4]He is currently awaiting trial in a military commission.[5][6]

Hambali was often described as "theOsama bin LadenofSoutheast Asia".Some media reports describe him as bin Laden's lieutenant forSoutheast Asianoperations. Other reports describe him as an independent peer. He was highly trusted by al-Qaeda and was the main link between the two organisations. Hambali was a close friend ofKhalid Sheikh Mohammed,who plannedOperation Bojinkaand theSeptember 11 attacks.Hambali envisioned creating aMuslimstate, in the form of anIslamicsuperpower (atheocracy) across SoutheastAsia,with himself as its leader (Caliph). His ambition was to ruleIndonesia,Malaysia,Singapore,Bruneiand parts of thePhilippines,Myanmar,andThailand.[7][8]

He received increasing attention in the aftermath of the 2002Bali nightclub bombing,in which 202 people died.[9] He was eventually apprehended in a joint operation by theCIAandThaipolice in 2003. He is currently imprisoned inGuantanamo Bay detention campin Cuba, after three years of CIA custody in a secret location.

Early life[edit]

Riduan Isamuddin was bornEncep Nurjamanin thericebelt ofSukamanah,a small village inCianjur Regency,in the province ofWest Java,Indonesia.He was the son of a peasant farmer, and was the second of thirteen children. He first became involved with Jemaah Islamiah as a teenager. He was a diligent student at his Islamic high school, Al-Ianah. He travelled toAfghanistanin 1983 to fight theSoviet Unionduring theSoviet–Afghan War.During his three years as amujahid,from 1987 to 1990, he metOsama bin Laden.Friends and family in Indonesia say they did not know of his activities overseas.[10]

His name has been transliterated into English text in several different ways over the years, including;

Jemaah Islamiah[edit]

In 1991, Nurjamin returned to Cianjur for one week, before going toMalaysia,where he met the two co-founders of JI,Abdullah SungkarandAbubakar Bashir.The three lived in a housing compound in Kampung Sungai Manggis,Banting,Selangor.Nurjaman internationalized the terrorist group's activities and took on a new name in his permanent residence permit: Riduan Isamuddin. His nickname,Hambali,is an allusion toHanbali,an Islamic school of jurisprudence.

The two co-founders sent their students to "study" in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The students actually fought the Soviets until the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. A woman named Noralwizah Lee Abdullah had gone to Malaysia for religious schooling. She secretly married Isamuddin after meeting him at the Luqmanul Hakiem School inUlu Tiram,Johor.The school was founded by Sungkar and Bashir.

Initially, Isamuddin struggled to make a living for his family. He switched from sellingkebabsto patenting medicines. He soon disappeared from his home for weeks at a time, and he received many visitors at home. He eventually came to own a red hatchback and several cell phones. Investigators say that many calls on those cell phones were made toMohammed Jamal Khalifa,Osama bin Laden's brother in law, who had arrived back inManila,Philippinesin 1991.

After Arab visitors gave his family much money, he founded ashell company,Konsojaya,in June 1994. Ostensibly an import-export company trading inpalm oilbetween Malaysia andAfghanistan,it was essentially a front company for terrorism.[citation needed]Wali Khan Amin Shah,who would become the financier ofOperation Bojinka,was a director of Konsojaya. The company provided financial assistance to the project until it was discovered by investigators on a laptop computer after an apartment fire on January 6, 1995. Shah was arrested in the Philippines but escaped on a short order. Shah was arrested in Malaysia in December 1995. Both Shah and mastermindRamzi Yousef,who escaped the Philippines but was arrested inLahore,Pakistan,were extradited to theUnited States.They were both convicted and sentenced to life in prison for participating in the project.

Hambali goes underground[edit]

Hambali's company attracted attention of investigators so his dealings went quiet for a while.[citation needed]He decided to preach, raise money, and recruit for his cause. He went underground in 2000 and started awave of church-bombingsin Indonesia. He always had a "hands-on" technique; he met his foot soldiers and came to them "with detailed plans, plenty of cash and two of his own bombmakers." He always fled before the bombing commenced. Meanwhile, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah,Abu Bakr Bashir,was preachingjihadat his schools while denying links to Islamic militants.[citation needed]

Hambali planned and attended the January2000 Al Qaeda SummitinKuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Among the others present were twoSeptember 11 hijackers,Khalid al-MihdharandNawaf al-Hazmi.This gathering in Kuala Lumpur was observed by theCIAand Malaysian authorities, but what specifically was being said at the meetings was not picked up. Hambali also provided money and documents toZacarias Moussaouiin October of that year. However claims bySingaporeansecurity analystRohan Gunaratnathat he had flown toAustraliawere dismissed by Australian authorities.[15]

After theBali nightclub bombing,in which 202 people were killed, Hambali received more attention from the United States. In the years leading up to the attack, the Indonesian government's action against Islamic militants had been minimal. Following the attack, Abu Bakr Bashir was arrested as part of a crack down on Jemaah Islamiah. He was wanted in Indonesia[16] for the bombings of several churches in the region, and wanted for the Bali bombing and a failed plot on several targets in Singapore.

Capture[edit]

Hambali used a series of safe-houses throughoutSoutheast Asia,especiallyThailandandCambodia,to move around. While he was inAyutthaya,Thailand,75 kilometres north ofBangkok,he was planning aterrorist attackagainst several Thai hotels and theAsia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit(APEC) inBangkokin October 2003. Hambali had used a falseSpanishpassportto enter Thailand while his wife used her Malaysian passport.

Thai police found him as part of a joint operation between the Thai police and theCIAon August 11, 2003.[17][18]The twenty uniformed and undercover police smashed down the door to his one bedroom apartment in Ayutthaya, and arrested him and 33-year-old Noralwizah Lee Abdullah, aChineseMalaysianwho was considered to be his wife. Hambali was wearing a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, a baseball cap, and a pair of sunglasses. Police also seizedexplosivesandfirearmsin the property. It marked the end of a 20-month hunt for Hambali, who was 37 years of age when he was captured.

According to a 2010Associated Pressreport, by March 2004 Hambali was being held at aCIA black siteinRabat, Morocco,and by October of that year he had been transferred to a black site inBucharest, Romania.[19]On September 6, 2006,PresidentGeorge W. Bushconfirmed that Hambali was being held by the CIA and revealed that he had been transferred toGuantanamo Bay.[20]His wife is now inMalaysiancustody.

A On September 8, 2006,Indonesiaformally requested access to Hambali to ensure afair trial.[21]

Hambali is also wanted in the Philippines for the transfer of explosives on Filipino soil in an attempt to transport them toSingapore.

Detention, Interrogation and Torture[edit]

Following his capture the USA would not confirm or deny that he was in their custody. But on September 6, 2006,PresidentGeorge W. Bushacknowledged[22]the existence of covert, overseasCIAinterrogation centres (colloquially known asblack sites) and announced that 14 high-profile members (al Qaeda and other related groups) had been transported from those sites to Guantanamo Bay.[23][24][25][26][27]Those 14 include Hambali and an alleged lieutenant of his calledMohammed Nazir Bin Lepalias Lillie or Li-Li.

On August 11, 2003, the United States government subjected Hambali to almost three years of isolation, interrogation and torture.[23][24][25][26]Within days of his arrest, he was taken to an undisclosed secret detention facility where he was subject to "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EITs) inflicted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for approximately three years as part of the notorious Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (RDI) program, which is now commonly known as the "Torture Program."

But a complete description of his torture as well as the locations in which it occurred remained classified by the United States government.[23][24][25][26]Only limited amounts of information describing his torture have been released - first from the International Committee of the Red Cross Report on the Treatment of Fourteen 'High-Value Detainees' in CIA Custody dated February 2007 and later by the SSCI Report in 2014.

According to the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report, Hambali was told by an interrogator that he would never go to court: "We can never let the world know what I have done to you."[23][24][25][26][28]

Combatant Status Review[edit]

TheBush administrationasserted that:

the protections of theGeneva Conventionsdid not extend to captured prisoners who are not members of the regular Afghan armed force nor meet the criteria for prisoner of war for voluntary forces.[29]

Critics argued the Conventions obliged the U.S. to conductcompetent tribunalsto determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently, theU.S. Department of DefenseinstitutedCombatant Status Review Tribunals(CSRTs), to determine whether detainees met the new definition of an "enemy combatant".

"Enemy combatant" was defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as:

an individual who was part of, or supporting, the Taliban, or al-Qaeda forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners. This includes any person who commits a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces.[30]

The CSRTs are not bound by therules of evidencethat would normally apply in civilian court, and the government’s evidence is presumed to be “genuine and accurate.”[31] From July 2004 through March 2005, CSRTs were convened to determine whether each prisoner had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant".

Riduan Isamuddin was among the 60% of prisoners who chose to participate in tribunal hearings.[32]ASummary of Evidence memowas prepared for the tribunal of each detainee, listing the allegations that supported their detention as an "enemy combatant".

Riduan Isamuddin's memo accused him of the following:[33]

TheDepartment of Defenseannounced on August 9, 2007 that all fourteen of the "high-value detainees" who had been transferred to Guantanamo from the CIA'sblack sites,had been officially classified as "enemy combatants".[34]Although judgesPeter BrownbackandKeith J. Allredhad ruled two months earlier that only "illegalenemy combatants "could face military commissions, the Department of Defense waived the qualifier and said that all fourteen men could now face charges beforeGuantanamo military commissions.[35][36]

Possible transfer to Washington, D.C. for a civilian trial[edit]

According toXinhua,the state-owned newspaper of theChinese Communist Party,theDepartment of Justicewas considering transferring Riduan Isamuddin toWashington, D.C.for a civilian trial.[37]

Joint Review Task Force[edit]

When he assumed office in January 2009,PresidentBarack Obamamade a number of promises about the future of Guantanamo.[38][39][40] He promised the use of torture would cease at the camp. He promised to institute a new review system. That new review system was composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, theJoint Review Task Forceclassified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was no evidence to justify laying charges against them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after aFreedom of Information Actrequest.[41] Riduan Isamuddin was one of the 71 individuals deemed too innocent to charge, but too dangerous to release. Although Obama promised that those deemed too innocent to charge, but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from aPeriodic Review Boardas less than a quarter of men have received a review. Isamuddin was denied approval for transfer on September 19, 2016.[42]

Further reading[edit]

Some of the above information about Hambali, and more, can be read in the report[13]of the 9-11 Commission.

In popular culture[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^AlsotransliteratedasRiduan Isamudin,Riduan Isomuddin,andRiduan Isomudin.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Hambali".globalsecurity.org.Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2015.Retrieved11 May2020.
  2. ^JTF- GTMO Detainee Assessmentprs.mil
  3. ^"JTF- GTMO Detainee Assessment"(PDF).nyt.Retrieved14 May2024.
  4. ^Vicini, James (March 11, 2010)."Guantanamo prisoner known as Hambali seeks release".Reuters.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-09-24.Retrieved2017-07-01.
  5. ^Rosenberg, Carol (31 August 2021)."Three Guantánamo Detainees Charged in 2002 Bali Bombing".The New York Times.
  6. ^Fox, Ben (2021-08-30)."Bali bomb case starts in Guantanamo 18 years after capture".AP NEWS.Retrieved2022-08-11.
  7. ^Maria Ressa(August 29, 2002)."The quest for SE Asia's Islamic 'super' state".CNN.Archivedfrom the original on 2008-03-29.Retrieved2008-03-30.The main financier of the operation is alleged to have been Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, and now purported to be al Qaeda's main operative in Southeast Asia.
  8. ^"'We will fight until we run out of blood'".The Age.Melbourne. October 15, 2002.Archivedfrom the original on 2008-04-05.Retrieved2008-03-30.In Malaysia, Bashir began to surround himself with a hard-core of militants. One of these was Hambali, alias Riduan Isamuddin, a 37-year-old Indonesian who fought against the Soviets. Today, he is described by Western sources as the chief operations officer of JI, and is reputedly the mastermind of al Qaeda cells in this part of the world.
  9. ^"Detainee Biographies"(PDF).Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-09-01.
  10. ^"WebCite query result"(PDF).webcitation.org.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-09-01.Retrieved2020-05-12.{{cite web}}:Cite uses generic title (help)
  11. ^OARDEC(February 9, 2007)."Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Hambali, Riduan bin Isomuddin"(PDF).Department of Defense.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2007-06-14.RetrievedApril 13,2007.
  12. ^Scott McClellan(August 14, 2003)."Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan and a Senior Administration Official Aboard Air Force One".White House.Archivedfrom the original on 2011-07-28.RetrievedApril 13,2007.
  13. ^ab"9/11 Commission Report"(PDF).9/11 Commission.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2016-10-19.RetrievedApril 14,2007.
  14. ^"Treasury Designates Four Leaders of Terrorist Group" Jemaah Islamiyah "".US Treasury.April 13, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-04-14.RetrievedApril 13,2007.
  15. ^Small, David (24 August 2004)."Terrorism Expertise of Rohan Gunaratna Questioned".Scoop.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-03-18.Retrieved17 March2017.
  16. ^"Hunt for Hambali - the Osama of the Far East".Sydney Morning Herald.16 October 2002.Archivedfrom the original on 2008-01-09.Retrieved2008-03-01.
  17. ^"CIA Makes Major Al Qaeda Arrest".ABC News.Retrieved2020-05-11.
  18. ^"Hambali arrested in Thailand: reports - ABC News".abc.net.au.2003-08-15.Retrieved2020-05-11.
  19. ^"Secret jails: Terror suspect's odyssey through CIA's black sites".The Associated Press.August 19, 2010.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  20. ^"Bush admits to CIA secret prisons".BBC News.2006-09-07.Archivedfrom the original on 2006-10-05.Retrieved2006-09-08.
  21. ^"Jakarta seeks access to Hambali".BBC News.2006-09-08.Archivedfrom the original on 2007-03-27.Retrieved2006-09-08.
  22. ^Bush: CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisonsArchived2008-05-16 at theWayback Machine,CNN, 7 September 2006.
  23. ^abcdPeter Lloyd (2014-12-10)."US Senate report, declassified cables question results of CIA's interrogation of Hambali".Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-06-28.Retrieved2018-06-28.Top secret cables, now declassified, revealed the torture of Hambali began one month after his capture.
  24. ^abcdPaul Farrell (2014-12-10)."US Senate rejects CIA claims torture was key to capture of Bali bombings suspect".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-06-29.Retrieved2018-06-28.Hambali was one of eight key examples given by the agency to justify the success of "enhanced interrogation" techniques.
  25. ^abcdAlistair Bell (2014-12-11)."Did torture really help U.S. find al Qaeda chief Hambali?".Reuters.Washington, DC.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-06-29.Retrieved2018-06-28.
  26. ^abcd"RIDUAN ISAMUDDIN (HAMBALI)".The Rendition Project.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-06-29.Retrieved2018-06-28.It was at this point that Hambali entered CIA custody, and was, according to CIA records cited by the SSCI report, almost immediately subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques". There are no declassified records detailing the torture of Hambali, although there are cables recording the fact that he later recanted the information he provided under torture, which he gave "in an attempt to reduce the pressure on himself... and to give an account that was consistent with what he assessed the questioners wanted to hear."
  27. ^"Detainee Biographies"(PDF).Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-09-01.
  28. ^Executive Summary, Findings and Conclusions, and Foreword by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Chairman Dianne Feinstein, of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program, released on or about December of 2014 (SSCI "Torture Report" ) at xiii.
  29. ^"Q&A: What next for Guantanamo prisoners?".BBC News.2002-01-21. Archived from the original on 2008-11-23.Retrieved2008-11-24.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  30. ^"Guatanamo Detainee Processes,"United States Department of Defense, updated October 2, 2007, accessed February 23, 2010
  31. ^Elsea, Jennifer K. (July 20, 2005)."Detainees at Guantanamo Bay: Report for Congress"(PDF).Congressional Research Service.Retrieved2007-11-10.
  32. ^OARDEC,Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005Archived2007-12-03 at theWayback Machine,September 4, 2007
  33. ^OARDEC(April 4, 2007)."Combatant Status Review Tribunal, transcript 10017"(PDF).Department of Defense.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2007-06-14.RetrievedApril 13,2007.
  34. ^Lolita C. Baldur(August 9, 2007)."Pentagon: 14 Guantanamo Suspects Are Now Combatants".Time magazine.Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2012.RetrievedMay 25,2022. mirror
  35. ^ Sergeant Sara Wood(June 4, 2007)."Charges Dismissed Against Canadian at Guantanamo".Department of Defense.Retrieved2007-06-07.
  36. ^ Sergeant(June 4, 2007)."Judge Dismisses Charges Against Second Guantanamo Detainee".Department of Defense.Retrieved2007-06-07.
  37. ^"U.S. may bring key Guantanamo detainee to Washington for trials: officials".Xinhua.2010-01-16. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-03-23.
  38. ^ Peter Finn (January 22, 2010)."Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely".Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-05-04.RetrievedJuly 21,2010.
  39. ^ Peter Finn (May 29, 2010)."Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says".Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-05-10.RetrievedJuly 21,2010.
  40. ^ Andy Worthington (June 11, 2010)."Does Obama Really Know or Care About Who Is at Guantánamo?".Archivedfrom the original on 2010-06-16.RetrievedJuly 21,2010.
  41. ^ "71 Guantanamo Detainees Determined Eligible to Receive a Periodic Review Board as of April 19, 2013".Joint Review Task Force.2013-04-09.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-05-19.Retrieved2015-05-18.
  42. ^Final determinationprs.mil
  43. ^สํานักข่าวไทย TNAMCOT (30 December 2018)."ข่าวดังข้ามเวลา ตอน" Black Magic Operations ปฏิบัติการลับจับฮัมบาลี "[คลิปเต็มรายการ]".Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
  44. ^Long Road to Heaven (2007) - IMDb,retrieved2022-07-24

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