Akhtiar Mohammad (Guantanamo detainee 1036)

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Akhtiar Mohammad is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 1036. Intelligence analysts estimate that Mohammad was born in 1953 in Kundarkhiel, Afghanistan.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved.

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 a 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.

Mohammad chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] allegations

The allegations against Mohammad were:

a The detainee is associated with Al Qaeda.

1. The detainee traveled from Gardez to Kabul, Afghanistan in May 2003.
2. The detainee is a member of Itihad Islami.
3. The HiG is listed in the Terrorist Organization Reference Guide as having long-established ties with Usama Bin Laden.
4. The detainee had a HIG identification card on his person when he was captured.
5. The detainee received training on AK-47s, Rockets, RPGs and also driver/operator training on APCs during his military service.

b The detainee participated in hostilities against the United States or it’s coalition partners.

1. The detainee was the HIG commander in charge of the Seyyed Karam district.
2. The detainee participated in planning and attack of the governor in Seyyed Karam, Afghanistan.
3. The detainee participated in February 2003 rocket attack against U.S. forces in Gardeiz Afghanistan.
4. The detainee was arrested in May 2003 in Gardeiz, Afghanistan.
5. The detainee found to have ammunition to a U.S. sniper rifle.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

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.

Mohammad chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[3]

[edit] note

There was another detainee named Akhtar Mohammed, with the detainee ISN 845.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Akhtiar Mohammad'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 43-52
3. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Akhtiar Mohammad's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 38