Habib Rahman

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Habib Rahman is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Rahman's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 907. American intelligence analysts estimate that Rahman was born in 1982, in Mansaira, Pakistan.

Contents

[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.
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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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations Rahman faced during his Tribunal were:[2]

a. The detainee is associated with Al Qaida and the Taliban.
  1. The detainee worked for Samoud Khan as a bodyguard and cook in his Mousauwal Compound in Zormat, Afghanistan in December 2001.
  2. A senior Taliban commander, and Al Qaida supporter, in Gardez frequently visited Samoud at the Mousauwal Compound.
  3. Samoud Khan has claimed to be on a jihad against the United States and instructed his men they must do the same.
b. The detainee engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.
  1. The detainee admitted to being on a jihad.
  2. Samoud Khan, with the assistance of others, was responsible for rocket attacks against United States forces from firing positions on Laywan Mountain.
  3. The detainee was instructed to fight to the death when American forces raided the Mousauwal Compound on 11 December 2002, but surrendered instead.
  4. Just prior to the U.S. forces raid on the Mousauwal compound, the detainee instructed his compatriots to all provide the same false story if captured.

[edit] testimony

[edit] Release and abuse claims

Rahman was returned to Afghanistan on October 12, 2006.[3] According to the Associated Press Rahman reported recent abuse:

Habib Rahman, a 20-year-old Afghan who was flown from Guantanamo to his homeland on Thursday, said he was beaten as recently as four months ago.
"They were kicking us all the time, beating us with their hands," Rahman told reporters in Kabul, adding that he was once kept awake for 38 hours while being questioned.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Habib Rahman's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 84-89
  3. ^ Andrew O. Selsky Suspicion permeates Guantanamo, Houston Chronicle, October 17, 2006