Abdul Haq Wasiq

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Abdul Haq Wasiq is a citizen of Afghanistan in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] Wasiq's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 004. American intelligence analysts estimate that Wasiq was born in 1971, in Ghazni, Afghanistan.

The factors in favor of the continued detention of Gholam Ruhani said he and Abdul Haq Wasiq were captured together on December 9, 2001.[2]

Abdul Haq testified before Mohammad Fazil's Combatant Status Review Tribunal where he said he worked for the governor of Takhar province.[3]

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor. Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed. The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007)Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.[4][5] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[6]
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

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.

Abdul Haq chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[7]

[edit] allegations

The allegations against Abdul Haq were:

a The detainee is associated with al Qaida and the Taliban.
  1. The detainee in a letter to his brother, included greetings to an al Qaida member.
  2. The detainee was the Taliban Deputy Minister of Intelligence.
  3. The detainee used a radio to communicate with the Taliban Chief of Intelligence.
b The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. The detainee was involved in the operation to re-establish the front lines of Konduz, Afghanistan.

[edit] Testimony

Unusually, Abdul Haq's Tribunal convened twice, on October 25, 2004 and November 30, 2004.

The Tribunal's President informed Abdul Haq that a witness he had requested was relevant, but "not reasonably available". The transcript does not record the identity of the unavailable witness.

Abdul Haq expressed confusion over how he could defend himself against the claim that he had written the letter described in the allegation, since, if it existed, it would be classified, and he would unavailable to him.

Abdul Haq said:

"I asked my Personal Representative who told him about the letter, and he told me, the interrogators. In the past three years of interrogation, no one has mentioned such a thing. I am surprised that over the past three years no one told me anything except for today."

Abdul Haq acknowledged working for the Taliban. He returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan, when the Taliban took power. He testified that he was warned, by a subordinate of Qari Ahmadullah named Kalmi Abdul Magduli, that he was about to be forcibly recruited to the Taliban, so he chose to volunteer instead. He worked for Ahmadullah, who was the Governor of Takhar Province, and was also Minister of Intelligence. Ahmadullah liked him and promoted him. According to Haq his job was fighting bribery.

Abdul Haq acknowledged receiving orders from Ahmadullah, over the radio. But he asserted that all those orders were prior to September 11, 2001.

Abdul Haq disputed the allegation that he participated in military operations. He said he was a civilian employee, not a military commander. He denied ever traveling to Konduz, which is in the North of Afghanistan, while he lived in the South. As with the letter he said that his interrogators had never asked him any questions about Konduz.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearings

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".
Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".[8]

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.

[edit] First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdul Haq Wasiq's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 18 July 2005.[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee served as Deputy Minister of Intelligence in the Taliban Intelligence Service.
  2. The detainee served as acting Minister of Intelligence when [[Qari Ahmadullah was away from Kabul performing his duties as governor of Tahar province
  3. The detainee was a participant in military operation in Konduz.
  4. Detainee used Icom radios and provided information on communications security procedures within the Taliban Intelligence Department.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee arranged to have an Egyptian al Qaida member, Hamza Zobir teach Taliban intelligence officers about intelligence work.
  2. The detainee gave a suspected Afghani arms smuggler a Codan high frequency radio set for safekeeping. The suspected arms smuggler allegedly had many weapons caches near Ghazni.

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

a.

At the time of his capture, the detainee claims he was attempting to assist the U.S. in capturing Mullah Mohammed Omar. He claims if the Americans had not arrested him, then they might have captured Mullah Mohammed Omar and the detainee's superior, Qari Ahmadullah, head of Taliban Intelligence.
b.

Detainee has very citations, primarily for non-aggressive infractions including physical training in cell, leading prayer; making excessive noise; and periodically refusing medications, food, and showers.

[edit] Press reports

An article in the Christian Science Monitor quotes Ahmadullah, who was told by Mohammed Omar to go back to Kandahar.[10] It quotes him:

"He called me twice to come to Kandahar. But I cannot go there easily, because a lot of people know me, and I am frightened they will capture me somewhere on the road. So I sent my assistant Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq to Kandahar. Unfortunately he was captured by American agents in Ghazni."

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Gholam Ruhani Administrative Review Board, May 2, 2005 - page 54
  3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammad Fazil's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 1-6
  4. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  5. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  6. ^ Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. United States Department of Defense (March 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  7. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Haq Wasiq's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 13-24
  8. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  9. ^ OARDEC (18 July 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Wasiq, Abdul Haq pages 1-2. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
  10. ^ Al Qaeda planning next phase, Christian Science Monitor, December 28, 2001