Sada Jan

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Sada Jan is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] His detainee ID number is 1035.

[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.

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

[edit] allegations

The alleagations Jan faced during his Tribunal were;

a. -- The general summary of Jan's association with terrorism was missing from the transcript. --

1. The Detainee served as the governor of the Narang district while the Taliban was in power.
2. During a raid conducted on his residence 2 May 2003, the Detainee was apprehended in possession of assorted Taliban paraphernalia; items for making improvised explosives and information about military posts.
3. The Detainee gained experience with weapons during the Russian jihad.

1. The Detainee participated in military operations against the coalition. A witness observed the Detainee discussing rocket attacks on coalition forces, as well as transporting missiles.
2. The Detainee fired rockets at coalition forces.
3. The Detainee provided weapons to the Taliban.

[edit] Jan's reports of abuse

Jan reported a serious case of abuse, when he was taken into American custody:

"When Americans came to my house, they said lay down on the floor. I laid down. They took me away for two days and beat me up badly. I'm still sick since that time. I'm not blaming you. The new people do not want the new government growing up. Americans hit me and beat me up so badly, I believe that I'm sexually dysfunctional. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep with my wife or not. Since that time, I'm really sick. I can't control my urination, and sometimes I put toilet paper down there so I won't wet my pants."

[edit] Jan opening statement

Jan repeated that he was innocent, and that he shouldn't be at Guantanamo. He said he was very worried about his children.

Jan said he supports the Karzai government. He said the Taliban were very oppressive, and he hated them as much as hated the Russians.

Jan said he believes he was denounced by someone who opposed the Karzai government.

[edit] Jan's testimony in response to Tribunal officer's questions

Jan confirmed that he was a carpenter during the Russian jihad, just as he was during the Taliban's regime.

Jan tried to explain what his job as a district manager consisted of. He said the position was a new one, created by the Karzai government. He said:

"As a district officer I would try to bring security to the district and peace fo the people. If someone had charges against each other, I would take care of that. It was my job."

Jan said he wanted to restore the Afghan monarchy.

Jan said the Americans found no weapons when they searched his home.

When asked who he thought denounced him Jan said:

"I am thinking that would be on of the members of the Taliban or HiG organization. These are the people playing games for their own benefit. They reported me to take money from the Americans. I'm thinking it was one of them.

Pashat, the district Jan administered, is a city in the Province of Kunar. He had been district officer there for 8 months. His home was hin Nowabad.

When Jan was asked about the Derunta Camp, which one of the Tribunal officers thought was near his district, he thought he was talking about a hydroelectric project.

Jan confirmed that he had lived in Afghanistan all his life. He had spent some time in the Baichina refugee camp.

Jan said he had never heard of someone named "Red Eye".

Jan said the Taliban never tried to recruit him.

Jan said part of the reasons he was chosen as a district officer was that he was a protege of Haji Jahndat. He said: "...security had been very bad here. Five of the people from the council were killed in the Pashat district. There were a lot of thieves. and I was there to keep security..."

Jan said he couldn't understand why his mentor didn't come to his assistance when he was arrested.

When the Tribunal's President repeated the question of why his mentor didn't come to help him Jan replied:

"I don't think at that time, the Americans were listening to anybody. They were only listening to the report of the document more [sic]. There was this man named Ruhalou who was captured, and the whole province went to try to help release him. They tried by a bail bond, but he's still in jail. People came from 4 provinces to help him, but they did not listen. One day, I had the documents proving I was working for to the government. They had them here, but I don't know what they did with them. They keep asking me to cooperate, and tell whatever I know, and they'r still holding me up in prison.

[edit] testimony

Jan's response to the allegation that he was the Taliban's Governor of the Narang district was:

• He worked for the Karzai government, not the Taliban.
• There is no Narang disting in Afghanistan. He was a district officer in the Pashat district.

Jan denied the allegation that he possessed Taliban items. He challenged the reasonableness of this allegation.

[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.

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

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee was a sub-commander during the Russian jihad.
2. The detainee was a former Taliban Governor for the Village of Narang.
3. The detainee was involved in the mob takeover of the Konar Province Governor's Office.
4. The detainee attended a meeting to appoint senior government positions in Konar Province. The detainee stated all appointed personnel were affiliated with the Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist organization.
5. The detainee was a bodyguard for Haji Jan Dad Khan, the Governor of Konar Province.
6. The detainee was Pashat District Manager. His office managed security for the District of Pashat. The transfer of weapons occurred with the Detainee's office. The security forces within his office had weapons including machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and small radioos.
7. The detainee was referred to as commander in a letter addressed to him, requesting a receipt for a transfer of weapons from his office to another.
8. The detainee was involved in transporting missiles and had knowledge of attacks on the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
9. The detainee was responsible for rocket attacks on the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
10. The detainee reportedly took rockets into the house of a Taliban Commander.
11. At the time of the detainee's capture, numerous documents were found in his house that implicated him as being Taliban. Other items found in the detainee's house included document making items, items for making improvised explosives, Arabic instructional materials, Taliban cards and documents, Taliban hand stamps and affiliated documents and a report with information about military posts.
12. The detainee had a Jamiat-e-Dawa al Quran Wasounab/Islamic Emirate passport for security officers with his name on it. He also had multiple blank copies of passports.
13. At the time of the detainee's capture, two documents were found in the detainee's house listing the detainee as a camp commander.
14. At the time of the detainee's capture, signed promotion orders were found in the detainee's house that promoted him to the rank of Colonel.
15. At the time of the detainee's capture, a letter was found in the detainee's house stating the detainee had 28 people with weapons that he wanted to send to Jan Dad Khan.
16. At the time of the detainee's capture, a list of 36 names was found in the detainee's house stating the detainee was their commander. The list had the detainee's personal seal at the bottom.
17. The detainee signed a document stating he had 120 former Khalis [sic] individuals plus weapons.
18. The detainee stated that he had a shoulder-fired rocket and several other weapons in his house along with loaded magazines for each weapon. The detainee stated that he hid the rocket in the foothills near his house.
19. The detainee was a member of Jamiat-e-Dawa al Quran Wasounah and had several related pamphlets and books.
20. The detainee knows details of the chain of command for a branch of Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist organization.
21. The detainee knows complicated details about opium and lumber smuggling operations from the Konar Province, Afghanistan to Pakistan.

b. Training

The detainee knows how to fire an AK-47 and a shoulder-fired rocket. The detainee fired these types of weapons during the Russian jihad.

c. Connections/Associations

The detainee was given his job of Pashat District Manager because of his close relationship with his former commander.

[edit] The following primary factors release or transfer:

a. The detainee served as a lieutenant in the Northern Alliance military when Rabbanni [sic] was President.

b. The detainee stated that he hates the Taliban and was loyal to the current Karzai government.

c. If released, the detainee wants to return to his job with the government.

d. The detainee stated he used to work for the Afghani government and he approves of the American involvement in Afghanistan.

e. The detainee stated he knows the Americans are helping Afghanistan.

f. The detainee stated he is pleased with American involvement in Afghanistan.

g. The detainee considers the Taliban to be oppressors who have contributed to a poor situation in Afghanistan.

h. The detainee stated Usama bin Laden is not from Afghanistan and he does not believe what he says.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Sada Jan's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 1-13
3. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Sada Jan's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 22