Shabir Ahmed

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For the Pakistani cricket player see Shabbir Ahmed.

Shabir Ahmed is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Ahmed's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 1003.

[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.

[edit] Allegations

A memorandum summarizing the evidence against Ahmed prepared for his Combatan Status Reiew Tribunal, was among those released in March of 2005.^[2] The allegations Ahmed faced during his Tribunal were:

a. The detainee is a member of the Taliban:

1. The detainee was the Taliban Police Commander of ###############
2. The detainee admitted supporting the Taliban.
3. The detainee admitted executing three Afghanis as the ############### for the Taliban in Sheberghan.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition:

1. The detainee stated he commanded 40 men armed with AK-47 rifles.
2. The detainee surrendered himself to neutral elders of Andkhoy City, Afghanistan.

[edit] Testimony

Ahmed chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[3]

[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.

Ahmed chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Shabir Ahmed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 19, 2004 - page 115
3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Shabir Ahmed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 80-90
4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Shabir Ahmed's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 203-216