Ahmad Tourson

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Ahmad Tourson is a citizen of China, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Tourson's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 201. The Department of Defense reports that Tourson was born on January 26, 1971, in Xinjiang Province, China.

Tourson is one of approximately two dozen detainees from the Uighur ethnic group.^[2]

Main article: Uighur detainees in Guantanamo

[edit] Combatant Status Review

CSRT notice read to a Guantanamo captive.

Initially the Bush administration asserted they could withhold the protections of the Geneva Conventions from captives in the War on Terror, while critics argued the Conventions obligated the United States to conduct competent tribunals to determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "enemy combatant".

The trailer where CSRTs were convened.

From July 2004 through March 2005, a CSRT was convened to make a determination whether each captive had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Ahmad Tourson among the two-thirds of prisoners who chose to participate in their tribunals.^[3]

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. Ahmad Tourson's memo accused him of the following: ^[4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is an al Qaeda fighter:

1. The detainee stated that he left China during September, 2000 ^[sic] and traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, by way of Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan.
2. The detainee stated that he was a member of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) AKA Sharq (East) Turkistan Islamic Partiyisa ^[sic] (STIP).
3. ETIM is an extremist Islamic organization operating in the eastern region of China.
4. The detainee was captured near Mazir-E-Sharif ^[sic] , Afghanistan by General Dostum's troops, taken to the Qalai Janghi ^[sic] Prison and later turned over to U.S. Forces.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners.

1. The detainee stated that he was trained to use an AK-47 rifle.
2. The detainee stated that he traveled to Konduz, AF and then on to Mazir-E-Sharif ^[sic] to fight against General Dostum's troops.
3. The detainee was a prisoner at the Qalai Janghi ^[sic] /Mazir-E-Sharif ^[sic] Prison during the Mazir-E-Sharif ^[sic] Prison Riot.

• Tourson acknowledged traveling to Afghanistan by way of Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. He asserted that he had legal travel papers for all his travels. He traveled to Afghanistan in search of religious freedom. He asserted that there was no religious freedom in China. He pointed out that he brought his family with him.
• Tourson denied ever stating that he was a member of any of the organizations of which he was alleged to be a member.
• Tourson pointed out an error in the third allegation. Xinjiang is in China's Northwest, not an eastern region of China. Tourson acknowledged being willing to try to win independence from China for his people, but he disputed that his tied him to al Qaida.
• Tourson acknowledged being captured near Mazar-E-Sharif ^[sic] . He and his traveling companion were passing through the area, as part of a movement of refugees. During a discussion whether fleeing as a refugee made him a member of al Qaida:

  "Everybody passed through on the streets and walked. Foreigners, bad people, good people, soldiers, fighters. Everybody walks through the street and I am passing through the road, then I am captured by General Dostum's troops. It does not explain that all those people are Al Qaida. It is kind of funny looking. Everybody walks in the street, everybody walks."

• Tourson acknowledged he received some rifle training -- approximately two hours worth. He thought it would be useful if he ever fought against the Chinese government. He couldn't be sure whether the rifle was an AK-47, or some other kind of rifle.
• Tourson acknowledged briefly passing through Konduz as he sought to flee Afghanistan. Tourson's Personal Representative quoted from his session with Tourson:

  "I never went to go and fight against General Dostum's troops. When I was captured and traveling to safety, I had no weapon, I am not a soldier. I had a family in Kabul, Afghanistan. I was trying to get to my family because the war started. I wanted to get them to safety in another country, were ^[sic] Uigher ^[sic] people live peacefully."

• Tourson acknowledged being present when the riot took place, but denied any participation. He was injured with bombs were dropped on the prison:

  "I was not a soldier, I have nothing against the Americans. Why would I participate in the riot? Al Uighurs ^[sic] , have one enemy, the Chinese. We have no other enemies.^[5]

• Ahmad Tourson testified that he had paid for his own travel to Afghanistan.
• Ahmad Tourson testified that he had been advised to contact a man named Alim Jhon, in Kabul.
• Ahmad Tourson testified he had worked as a typist for a Uyghur language publishing company run by a small group of Uyghur expatriates.
• Ahmad Tourson acknowledged receiving approximately 100 minutes of training on the assembly and disassembly of a rifle, at his apartment in Kabul. But he never fired any bullets.
• Ahmad Tourson said he traveled north, from Kabul, to the Konduz/Mazari Sharif area because it was an area of Uzbek speakers, a language he could understand. He traveled there with two other Uyghurs, who were both innocent bystanders, who were killed during the Qalia-Janga Prison Riot.
• Ahmad Tourson testified that he had never met any of the other Uyghurs prior to his transfer to US custody.

[edit] Ahmad Tourson v. George W. Bush

A writ of habeas corpus, Ahmad Tourson v. George W. Bush, was submitted on Ahmad Tourson's behalf.^[6] In response, on 4 January 2007 the Department of Defense released 29 pages of unclassified documents related to his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

His enemy combatant status was confirmed, by Tribunal panel 7 on 5 November 2004. His Tribunal recorded:

"When considered in conjunction with the classified evidence, the detainee's testimony was not persuasive."

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

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".^[7]

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] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmad Tourson's Administrative Review Board, on 11 August 2005.^[8] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee traveled from the Xingjiang Province of Chine to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, then on to Karachi, Pakistan, to Islamabad, Pakistan, and finally Kabul, Afghanistan. He arrived there sometime between late September and early October of 2000 ^[sic] .
2. While in Kabul, te detainee stayed at a guesthouse run by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
3. The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a small Islamic extremist group based in China's western Xinjiang Province. It is one of the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separtist groups pursuing an independent "Eastern Turkistan," which would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Zinjiang.
4. ETIM, reportedly with financial support and direction from Usama Bin Laden, recruits within remote areas of eastern China and ships recruits to training camps in Afghanistan. These recruits then return to China to conduct terrorist activities and extend their influence. Training has included religious extremist theory, terrorism, explosives and assassination. Some training camps also include the manufacturing of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices.
5. The detainee admitted to working for ETIM from September 2000 -- October 2001. ETIM has Taliban-sanctioned guesthouses in Kabul, housing Uighur refugees.
6. The detainee was paid about $30 USD a month by ETIM to work as a typist. His duties included writing and printing propaganda in books and magazines.
7. Abdullah, a fellow Uighur, convinced the detainee to travel with him to Konduz, Afghanistan, to see the war. Once in Konduz, the two arrived at a safe house where armed Uzbeks were staying. They said they were members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
8. The Secretary of State has designated the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The IMU is a coalition of Islamic militants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states opposed to Uzbekistani ^[sic] President Islom Karimov's secular regime. Although the IMU's primary goal remains to overthrow Karimov and establish an Islamic state in Uzbekistan, IMU political and ideological leader Tohir Yoldashev is working to rebuild the organization and appears to have widened the IMU's targets to include all those he perceives as fighting Islam.
9. From Konduz, Afghanistan, the detainee and approximately 20 mal soldiers traveled to the Mazar-E Sharif ^[sic] area to fight General Dostum.

b. Training

Once the bombing campaign began Abdullah provided the detainee an AK-47 style weapon and trained him for approximately two days on the sue of the weapon.

c. Connections/Associations

1. While in Pakistan, the detainee became involved with Sharq East Turkistan Islamic Partiyisa ^[sic] (STIP).
2. STIP is one of several extremist Islamic organization operating in the eastern region of China. These organizations attempt to unite all Turkic-speaking Muslims and form a political-religious state in China's Xinjiang Province.
3. The detainee said the Taliban was aware of the STIP organization located at the facility and that they would often visit the facility. He worked there for 10 months.

d. Other Relevant Data

The detainee was captured near Mazar-E Sharif, Afghanistan by General Dostum's troops, taken to the Qalai Janghi Prison and later turned over to United States forces.

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

The detainee stated he did not with to fight, however, he did want to work.

[edit] Current status

Five Uyghurs, whose CSR Tribunals determined they had not been enemy combatants were transferred to detention in an Albanian refugee camp in 2006. A man who was born to Uyghur parents, in Saudi Arabia, and thus was considered a Uyghur, was nevertheless returned to Saudi Arabia. All the other Uyghurs remain in Guantanamo.

In September 2007 the Department of Defense released all the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the Administrative Review Boards convened in 2006.^[9] While a Board reviewed his status in 2005 no Board reviewed his status in 2006.

In September 2007 the Department of Defense released the recommendation memos from 133 of the Administrative Review Boards that convened in 2005 and the recommendation memos from 55 of the Administrative Review Boards that convened in 2006.^[10][11] No recommendation memos were released for Ahmad Tourson.

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ China's Uighurs trapped at Guantanamo, Asia Times, November 4, 2004
3. ^ OARDEC, Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005, September 4, 2007
4. ^ OARDEC (18 September 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Tourson, Ahmad pages 16-17. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
5. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Ahmad Tourson'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 2-14
6. ^ Ahmad Tourson v. George W. Bush pages 29-57. United States Department of Defense (4 January 2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
7. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
8. ^ OARDEC (11 August 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Tourson, Ahmad pages 48-50. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
9. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index of Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round Two. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
10. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). Index to Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
11. ^ OARDEC (August 10, 2007). Index Index of Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees from ARB Round Two. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.