Nasrullah (Guantanamo detainee 886)

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Nasrullah is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Nasrullah's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 886. American intelligence analysts estimate Nasrullah was born in 1979, in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan.

[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 tribunal 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.

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

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Nasrullah faced during his Tribunal were:

a. -- The general summary of the allegations that establish an association with terrorism were missing from the transcript. --

1. The Detainee is a citizen of Afghanistan who was conscripted into the Taliban and served 2-3 months fighting in Mazar-E-Sharif ^[sic], Afghanistan.
2. The Detainee was instructed on how to operate and fire the Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun sometime in 1997 or 1998.
3. The Detainee stayed with other Taliban fighters at a military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, and worked as a clerk for the Taliban.
4. The Detainee would assist commanders from other Taliban units who would submit requests for funds and repairs.
5. The Detainee traveled with and worked as a secretary for Abdul Razzaq.
6. Razzaq is an al Qaida leader who acted as a smuggler and facilitator.
7. The Detainee and a Taliban leader/commander traveled from Trin Kowl to Oruzgan, Afghanistan, to deliver a letter to a Taliban leader,
8. The letter was from Taliban leaders in hiding.
9. The Detainee admitted that he fought for the Taliban against the United States Forces while in Mazar-E-Sharif ^[sic].
10. The Detainee was captured in a vehicle with his cousin, another Taliban fighter.

[edit] Testimony

Nasrullah confirmed he was conscripted:

• His conscription was several years prior to the attacks of 9-11.
• He confirmed he was employed as Abdul Razzaq's secretary.
  • But he only did so for ten days.
  • Abdul Razzaq was illiterate. His regular secretary had to travel for ten days, so the Taliban rounded up the first civilian they could think of who could read and write, to serve as his replacement.
• He served the Taliban for a term of two months.
  • He never received any military training.
  • He never undertook any military duties.
  • In addition to the ten days he served as an illiterate Taliban Commander's temporary secretary, he was employed as a tailor. He was a tailor in civilian life. He served out the remainder of his two month hitch, working, under guard, without pay, as a tailor for the Taliban.

Nasrullah denied engaging in hostilities.

Nasrullah denied working for other Taliban commanders.

Nasrullah acknowledged traveling with his cousin to deliver a letter. He denied that either he or his cousin knew the letter was from, or was to, a Taliban member.

Nasrullah said his cousin, who was illiterate, asked him to read the letter, to confirm that it was an innocuous letter that it would be safe to carry. Nasrullah said that when he read the letter he didn't see anything that lead him to believe that there was anything in the letter that raised his suspicions.

[edit] Information from his cousin Esmatulla's Tribunal

Esmatulla called for Nasrullah's testimony during his Tribunal.^[3]

During Esmatulla's Tribunal the recipient of the letter was named aa Sangar Rihad. The sender was identified as Abdul Razzaq.

[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.

Nasrullah 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. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Nasrullah's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 35-56
3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Esmatulla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 90-106
4. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Nasrullah's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 78