Gul Zaman

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Gul Zaman 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 459. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1971, in Khowst, Afghanistan.

Gul Zaman is the son of Abib Sarajuddin, and the nephew of Khan Zaman. The three of them, and their neighbor, Mohammad Gul, were captured on January 21, 2002.^[2] Gul Zaman, and Abib Sarajuddin, were released. Mohammad Gul and Khan Zaman were confirmed to have been correctly classified as "enemy combatants.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2 Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant
3 References

[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 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.

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

[edit] allegations

The allegations Gul Zaman faced during his Tribunal were:

The detainee traveled from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia in 2001.
The detainee utilized counterfeit travel documents for his travel to Saudi Arabia.
The detainee returned to Afghanistan at the time the Northern Alliance recaptured Kabul.
The detainee's family and village members stated an important Taliban member used the detainee's father's guesthouse.
The detainee lives with his father, Haji Sarajudeen.
The detainee's father worked as a recruiter for Pacha Khan.
Pacha Khan, a renegade Pashtun Commander, has been conducting military operations against the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA) and coalition foces.
The detainee stated he owns one or two Kalashnikov rifles with 30 rounds of ammunition.
The detainee was captured with communications equipment.
The detainee admits seeing this type of equipment in the possession of Taliban members.
Coalition forces were fired upone during the capture of the detainee and three associates.

[edit] testimony

Gul Zaman acknowledged that he had traveled to Saudi Arabia, to work, but that he traveled on a legal passport.

He returned for personal reasons. His return had nothing to do with the recapture of Kabul.

He denied that his father had hosted any Taliban leaders. He pointed out that he was still in Saudi Arabia at the time his father's house was bombed.

He said that Pasha Khan had asked Mohammed Nasim, a tribal elder, to ask his father to go around to local villages to rally support against the Taliban, during the period when the Taliban was falling. He said his father didn't work directly for Pasha Khan.

He said he had no knowledge of Pasha Khan going renegade. At the time of his capture Khan was supporting the Americans, and enjoyed their support. A February 2, 2002 New York Times article describes Pasha Khan competing with another local leader for the American's endorsement of authority over the city of Khost.^[2]

He acknowledged that his family owned a rifle. Owning weapons was one of the traditional privileges granted by the former kings of Afghanistan to their isolated border district.

He denied that anyone in their area owned a radio transmitter. He acknowledged that, during the Taliban regime, he had seen Taliban officials using communications devices.

He denied hearing or seeing any firing on the night he was captured.

[edit] witnesses

Gul Zaman called two witnesses, his uncle Khan Zaman and his neighbor Mohammad Gul.

[edit] Khan Zaman's testimony

Khan Zaman confirmed that Gul Zaman traveled to Saudi Arabia, on a legal Pakistani passport. He confirmed that Gul Zaman returned around the time Kabul was recaptured, but that this had nothing to do with the timing of his return. He confirmed that he returned for personal and family reasons.

Khan Zaman denied that Gul Zaman's father Abib Sarajuddin had ever hosted Jalaluddin.

Khan Zaman confirmed that Sarajuddin had gone around to neighboring villages, trying to rally opposition to the Taliban. He confirmed that Pasha Khan had requested this of a tribal Elder Nasim. He stated that, at this time, Pasha Khan was working with the Americans.

Khan Zaman confirmed that they did not have a radio of any kind in their household. He said his interrogators showed him a picture of a radio of the kind that American records said was captured in their household. He said he had never seen this kind of radio before in his life.

Khan Zaman denied hearing or seeing any weapons fire on the night they were captured.

Khan Zaman confirmed that they owned a rifle, and that the inhabitants of their isolated district had traditionally been allowed to own a rifle.

In answer to questioning from the Recorder Khan Zaman confirmed that they lived in an area called Zani Khel. But he said it was the name of the area of their tribe, not the name of their village. Their house was midway between two villages, Shamawat and Khojari.

Khan Zaman was asked if he was familiar with the names Wazir Khan Zadran and Zakim Khan. These two names were mentioned in the February 2, 2002 New York Times article. One was the brother of Pacha Khan. The other was his rival for US support for authority over Khost.

Khan Zaman was asked if the village elder Nasim had a relationship with Pacha Khan. He confirmed that they had both been commanders under an anti-Taliban commander named Pir.

Khan Zaman described how Afghans who had been refugees were able to travel legally on Pakistani passports.

Khan Zaman explained he wasn't caught in the attack on the family home because he was in Gardez that day. He said Gul Zaman was still in Saudi Arabia. He said their capture came a month and a half to two and half months following the aerial bombardment destroyed their home. He said at the time of their capture they had been loaned another home.

[edit] Mohammad Gul's testimony

Mohammad Gul confirmed that Gul Zaman arrived back in the village after he did, and he had arrived back after the American air strike against Gul Zaman's father's house. He confirmed that there were no radio transmitters in the village. He confirmed that he did not hear any firing on the night they were captured. He described, in detail, how an Afghan, could travel legally on a Pakistani passport.

Mohammad Gul described how Afghanistan had gone through decades of warfare, and that many Afghanis, including Gul Zaman and himself, had fled to Pakistan as refugees. Pakistan had been willing to issue legal passports to Afghan refugees who could establish their identities.

[edit] Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant

The Washington Post reports that Zaman was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[4] They report that Zaman remains in detention.