Salim Ahmed Salim Hamdan (Arabic: سالم احمد سالم حمدان; born February 25, 1968) is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008.

In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), the Court ruled that the military commissions as set up by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) were flawed and unconstitutional.

After passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Hamdan was tried on revised charges beginning July 21, 2008, the first of the detainees to be tried under the new system.

He was found guilty of "providing material support" to al Qaeda, but was acquitted by the jury of terrorism conspiracy charges.

[7] A Pentagon spokesman noted then that the DOD might still classify Hamdan as an "enemy combatant" after he completed his sentence, and detain him indefinitely.

[9] Hamdan and his brother-in-law Nasser al-Bahri were the subjects of the award-winning documentary, The Oath (2010), by the American director Laura Poitras, which explored their time in al-Qaeda and later struggles.

On July 14, 2004, the Department of Defense formally charged Salim Ahmed Hamdan with conspiracy, for trial by military commission under the President's Executive Order of November 13, 2001.

[14] On November 8, 2004, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia halted Hamdan's military commission because no "competent tribunal" had determined whether Mr Hamdan was a POW (as required by the Geneva Conventions), and because regardless of such determination, the commission violated the procedures of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

"[20] In two separate military rulings, on June 4, 2007, the court dropped all charges against Hamdan and Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen.

On December 21, 2007, Judge Allred heard arguments, and ruled that Hamdan was an "illegal enemy combatant", who could thus be tried by a military commission.

[24] Lieutenant Brian Mizer, one of Hamdan's lawyers, said his team had introduced evidence: ... to suggest that, if the weapons at issue were in the car he was driving at the time he was apprehended, Mr. Hamdan was doing nothing more than transporting conventional weapons of war in the direction of a conventional battleground in support of a known enemy combatant engaged in an international armed conflict.A hearing was convened on February 8, 2008.

[26][27][28] They argued that prolonged solitary confinement was having such a negative effect on his mental stability that it was impairing his ability to assist in his own defense.

Emily Keram, a psychiatrist, examined Hamdan and, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer: ... said he shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and could be at risk for "suicidal thoughts and behavior.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Hamdan's lawyers said he is suicidal, hears voices, has flashbacks, talks to himself and says the restrictions of Guantánamo "boil his mind.

Chief Prosecutor Colonel Lawrence Morris suggested that the missing files contained "generally innocuous stuff".

[25] In February 2008, Hamdan's lawyers requested access to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the thirteen other high value detainees in order to gather more information for their defense, which Morris opposed.

[30] On April 29, after seven years of cooperation, Hamdan announced he was joining the ongoing detainee boycott of Guantanamo Military Commissions, saying: America tells the whole world that it has freedom and justice.

Ours, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agent, testified that Abdellah Tabarak had been in charge of Osama bin Laden's security detail.

[39] Andrew Cohen, a legal affairs commentator for CBS News, called the testimony that Tabarak had been released a "colossal embarrassment" to the government.

[43] On July 29, 2008, the Presiding Officer ruled that he was going to penalize the Prosecution for failing to release documents to the Defense by disallowing McFadden's testimony from May 2003.

[44] The key testimony expected from McFadden was his having heard Hamdan confirm that he had sworn "Bay'ah", a kind of oath of fealty, to Osama bin Laden.

A Pentagon spokesman noted that Hamdan's status could revert to "enemy combatant" after his sentence was served, and as such he could be indefinitely detained.

[10][47] He told Hamdan: I hope the day comes that you return to your wife and daughters and your country, and you're able to be a provider, a father and a husband in the best sense of all those terms.Former Chief Prosecutor, Air Force Colonel Morris Davis commented:[10] According to the Associated Press, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson wrote an e-mail regarding the sentence:[48] The lesson I hope the government learns from this case, among other things, is ... don't bring skimpy or weak charges of conspiracy.The American Civil Liberties Union's spokesman Ben Wizner, said:[48] If the government heard the jury's message, it will not use a flawed war court to prosecute conduct that does not violate the laws of war.On August 10, 2008, Josh White, writing in The Washington Post, reported that in late 2006, the Hamdan prosecution and defense had discussed a plea deal.

[49] He reported that Charles "Cully" Stimson, then the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, had agreed to make a case for a negotiated sentence of ten years.

On September 26, 2008, Army Colonel Lawrence Morris, Guantanamo's Chief Prosecutor, asked for a new sentencing hearing for Hamdan.

Brian Mizer said:[52] The government, having stacked the deck, is now complaining about the hand it was dealt.On October 31, 2008, Judge Allred ruled that Hamdan's sentence would not be reconsidered.

[53] In November 2008, the United States transferred Hamdan to Yemen, where the government had agreed to keep him in custody until he served the remaining month of his sentence.