Baridad

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Baridad is held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Baridad's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 966.

[edit] Skirmish at Lejay, February 10, 2003

Baridad was one of approximately one dozen men captured following an ambush of an American convoy on February 10, 2003, near the village of Lejay, Afghanistan.^[2]

[edit] Identity

Several of the factors offered to Hafizullah's Administrative Review Board, justifying his continued detention, was that he had been captured with senior Taliban leaders Mullah Bari Dad Khan and Mullah Rahmatullah, who had traveled for high level Taliban planning meetings.. Several of those factors conflated Bari Dad Khan with Lejay villager Baridad.

The title "Mullah" means educated man. The Lejay villager Baridad claims he was illiterate, and had never traveled outside of the area of Lejay.

[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 his 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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations against were:^[3]

1. The Detainee, when captured, was wearing an olive drab green jacket. He was stopped at a checkpoint because he was with a group observed caching weapons, which had recently been used against United States forces.
2. The Detainee suffered hearing loss, which was caused by firing weapons.
3. The Detainee had knowledge of an early warning system used to warn villagers of approaching United States or coalition forces.
4. The Detainee operated an intelligence collection network in support of a former Taliban Chief of Intelligence.

[edit] testimony

Baridad said he had welcomed the American invasion. That surplus green jackets were in common use in Afghanistan, That his deafness dated back to his childhood.

Baridad lived in an isolated village named Lejay, in the province of Helmond. He said his village was isolated enough that they hadn't been bothered by the Taliban, during their occupation. Baridad said he was illiterate, and that he didn't own any land of his own. He farmed the land of a neighbor of his who had lost the use of his legs. He had owned two donkeys. He told the Tribunal he was worried about his family.

"I was in the house when I saw the Americans crossing my village; I came outside and greeted them. Then they ... arrested me."

[edit] Baridad's testimony at Abdul Bagi's CSRT

Abdul Bagi requested as witnesses at his CSRT three fellow Lejay villagers who were detained at Guantanamo.^[4][2] One of them was Baridad. Bagi asked his neighbors to testify that he was not a member of the Taliban; that he didn't own a weapon; that he was just a farmer, who was the sole support for his seven younger orphaned siblings.

During the Tribunal's questioning of Baridad he explained that he farmed Bagi's uncle's land.

[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.

Baridad chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[5]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee is a combatant involved in the ambush of U.S. Special Forces in Lejay, Afghanistan. He has knowledge of HIG and Taliban early warning systems and may have courier information.
2. Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin ^[sic] has long established ties with Bin Ladin. In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ^[sic] ran several tourist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic confiicts. Hikmatyar ^[sic] offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996.
3. The Baghran Valley region extends through Lejay. The region has provided a continuous safe-haven to hostile Taliban forces providing C2 nodes, supplies, guerillas, training and staging areas. In time of attack all males pick up arms in defense of the valley against "invaders" (United States or coalition forces).

b. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee stated he had met Taliban member Abdul Wahid ^[sic] once a long time ago briefly in the Shinai village.
2. Abdul Rais Wahid is a Mullah and is very closely linked with the Taliban and HIG.
3. The detainee was detained during the United States/coalition forces muster of suspected individuals involved in a series of defensive attacks against U.S. forces attempting to apprehend Abdul Rais Wahid.

-- general heading missing from the transcript --

1. On 10 February 2003, USSF observed an enemy at the top of the mountain. They stopped, appeared to cache weapons, and then maneuvered down the mountain. There the enemy entered into taxis or mounted motorcycles. They then proceeded to the checkpoin.
2. Capture data indicates the detainee was apprehended at a checkpoint in a taxi.
3. The detainee was wearing clothing that matched that of the attackers.
4. Detainee suffered from hearing loss (assessed due to firing activity).
5. The detainee said that USSF arrived in Lejay that morning, surprising everyone. This directly contradicts his previous statement that USSF had arrived in Lejay two days prior to detainee's arrest.
6. The Baghran Valley provides a ready financial source to hostile Taliban forces courtesy of a robust poppy growth with subsequent opium and heroin production.
7. The detainee is thin and feels weak. He requeste a serum shot be given to him intravenously. The detainee received three of these from a doctor while living in Afghanistan. He does not know what these shots contained.
8. The detainee said that on the day of his capture when he awoke he felt ill. I was not able to go outside so my wife gave me a penicillin injection.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

• The detainee stated he prays for American people because they provided wheat to him and other people in his village. He does not pray for the Taliban, because they have never done anything to help the people.

[edit] Response to the factors

[edit] Baridad's statement

• Baridad begged for release, because he was so poor, and anyone back home could confirm that he had told the truth about his innocence.
• Baridad described his home as not fit even for animals, showing how poor he was.
• Baridad marvelled that, at Guantanamo, he was supplied with two pairs of slippers, and two blankets -- representing riches he did not have at home.
• Baridad testified that he was mystified that it was only during his third year of detention that he faced the allegation that a cache of weapons and ammunition was his responsibility

[edit] Response to Board questions

• Baridad testified he was growing wheat and corn at the time of his capture.
• Baridad testified that when he was taken to Bagram Air Base he received medical treatment for his ear.

[edit] Repatriation and Release

The New York Times reported that Baridad was repatriated to Afghanistan with six other Afghans on December 16, 2006.^[6][7][8] The men were released the next day. The story reported:

"Another returning Afghan, Haji Baridad, who said he did not know his age, spent five years in Guantánamo. He appeared disturbed and kept complaining that an Afghan translator took his money — 3,600 Pakistani rupees, or about $62 — when he was detained."

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b} Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Abdul Bagi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 42
3. ^ ^{a b} Summarized transcripts (.pdf) from Baridad's Combatant Status Review Tribunal pages 59-64
4. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Bagi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 1-12
5. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Baridad's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 67-74
6. ^ Abdul Waheed Wafa, Freed From Guantánamo Bay, 7 Afghans Arrive in Kabul, New York Times, December 17, 2006
7. ^ Abdul Waheed Wafa, 7 Afghans free after 5 years at Guantánamo, International Herald Tribune, December 17, 2006
8. ^ Seven home from Guantanamo, Taipei Times, December 17, 2006