User:Geo Swan/Guantanamo/Review/April 2008/Yakub Abahanov

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Yakub Abahanov
Born: 1980 (age 27–28)
Semey, Kazakhstan
Detained at: Guantanamo
ID number: 526
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention

Yakub Abahanov is a citizen of Kazakhstan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1][2] Abahanov's Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 526. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report that Abahanov was born in Semeya, Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts provided a birthdate, or an estimated year of birth for all but 22 of the detainees. Abahanov was one the 22 detainees whose age they declined to estimate.

The human rights group Reprieve reports Yakub arrived in Guantanamo on May 3, 2002.[3]

Contents

[edit] Three captives from Semey, Kazakhstan

During his Combatant Status Review Tribunal Abdallah Tohtasinovich Magrupov said he had been captured with, two friends from his village, Yakup [sic] and Tolkin.[4] They were both from his village. The official list of detainees, released on May 15, 2006, lists Abahanov as being from Semeya, Kazakhstan, and Magrupov as being from Semey, Kazakhstan.

However Magrupov says they are from Omond, Kazakhstan.

The allegations against Magrupov in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal said he: "...was captured by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA) and turned over to U.S. custody in December 2001."

Magrupov said that their initial captors imprisoned them in a cellar for over two months.

Historian and journalist Andy Worthington described Yakub and his two neighbors in his book "The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison".[2] Worthington wrote that Abdulrahim Kerimbakiev said Yakub Abahanov had worked "as a cook for the back-up forces", while he had stayed home and tended a garden. Kerimbakiev had described the three men being captured by a a Northern Alliance commander, being held "in some kind of huge container" and a "place like a barn".

[edit] Release negotiations

Officials in Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry were negotiating for its four citizens release as early as January 16, 2003.[5][6] Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev stated:

"...the situation is complicated by the admissions of some of the prisoners that they took part in military operations with the Taliban in Afghanistan."

Kazakhstan security officials reported[6]:

"...none of the Kazakh citizens held at Guantanamo admitted having fought for the Taliban. The [security official] committee claimed they had been employed as support personnel.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a double-wide trailer.Three chairs were reserved for members of the press; 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a double-wide trailer.[7]Three chairs were reserved for members of the press; 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[8]
 The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(April 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Initially the Bush Presidency 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 Presidency's definition of an enemy combatant.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Yakub Abahanov's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 18 October 2004.[9][10] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

[edit] Allegations

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban:
  1. The detainee is 25-year old Kazakhstan (KZ) national[11] who relocated with his family in August 2000 [sic] to Afghanistan after recruitment by Taliban representatives working in Semey, KZ [sic] .
  2. Detainee was an assistant cook at the Taliban Karabakh camp from August 2001 to October 2001.
  3. The Taliban Karabakh camp served primarily as a field kitchen and transit point for Taliban troops serving on the front lines in the war against Northern Alliance forces.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners:
  1. Detainee was issued a Kalashnikov [sic] rifle, which was used for Taliban guard duty. He claimed to be a good shot.
  2. When detainee was specifically questioned, he admitted to being part of a small fighting team during his employment as an assistant cook.
  3. Detainee claims that Northern Alliance commander, Topan, single-handedly arrested him in his home.

[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".
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".[12]

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.[13] 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 Yakub Abahanov's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 8 July 2005.[14] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee claimed that Yusupov Parkhat (name variants Farhat, Parhat, Farkhat, and possibly Barhat) recruited him in the detainee's garden in Shelek Village of Almaty Oblast.
  2. Yusupov Parkhat facilitated all the detainee's travel arrangements into Afghanistan and was the decision-maker for the group.
  3. The detainee and his family moved into a Taliban provided house in Kabul.
  4. The detainee was offered a job as an assistant cook at a Taliban camp, where about 45 soldiers were located. The detainee had a Kalashnikov for guard duty and firing team duties but claimed he only fired the weapons [sic] three times, while at a range.
  5. The detainee fought with the Taliban in the Bagram area under the command of Gul Rahman.
b. Training
  1. The detainee was a member of the Kazakhstan Army from 1995 to 1997. He was trained in the use of a Kalashnikov rifle and his duties included communications and base guard.
  2. The detainee has admitted to receiving military training at the Taliban's Karabakh Camp. The detainee received training in hand-to-hand combat, the AK-47, and RPGs.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee was identified as a member of a Uighur criminal organization in Kazakhstan. The organization split with one branch moving to Afghanistan to join the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party/Movement (ETIP/ETIM) leader Hassan Makhsum (aka Abu Muahmmad Al-Turkistani; aka Aysu Maksum) to become terrorists.
  2. The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a small Islamic extremist group based in China's western Xinjiang Province, is the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separatist groups pursuing an independent "Eastern Turkistan." ETIM is linked to al Qaida and the international mujahidin movement.
  3. The detainee indentified five other detainees as members of the ETIM who he knew from Afghanistan.
  4. On 24 August 2004, the Uzbek Supreme Court convicted and sentenced Furkat Kasimovich Yusupov to 18 years deprivation of freedom for his involvement in terrorist attacks in Tashkent and Bukhara Provinces, Uzbekistan, during March and April 2004.
  5. Farhat Yusupov is a senior member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) who was arrested in Tashkent in 2002.
  6. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is closely affiliated with al Qaida and under the leadership of Tohir Yoldashev, has embraced Usama Bin Laden's anti-US, anti-Western agenda.
d. Intent
  1. The detainee has claimed he had a strong desire to wage "jihad" when he went to Afghanistan.
e. Other Relevant Data
  1. The detainee was arrested at his residence by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA) in December 2001.
  2. At the time of his arrest, the detainee was found to be in possession of anti-aircraft missiles. He claims to know nothing at all about anti-aircraft.

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

a.

The detainee stated he was unaware of the September 11th attacks on the U.S. until he was questioned about them in Kandahar. He was saddened to hear so many innocent people were killed and that the perpetrators were not true Muslims.
b.

Early in the interrogation process, the detainee expressed an interest in cooperating with the United States in any manner he could.
c.

The detainee denies ever being a member of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) or the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

[edit] Transcript

Yakub Abahanov's hearing convened on July 27, 2005.[15] The Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation stated:

(U) The Assisting Military Officer (AMO) presented the Enemy Combatant Notification as Exhibit EC-A, identified herein as Enclosure (2). The AMO then presented the Enemy Combatant Election Form as Exhibit EC-B, identified herein as Enclosuer (3). The EC chose not to participate, as shown in Exhibit EC-B. The AMO verbally summarized the detainee's responses to the unclassified comments during the interview.

However the Department of Defense did not release a transcript of the unclassified session.

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[15][16] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. The memo recommending his release was drafted on July 27, 2005. England apparently authorized his transfer on October 22, 2001 [sic] .

The Board considered assessments drafted by the CIA, the FBI and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs.[15] Unredacted passages from the memos stated:

  • "...determined ISN 526 continues to be a threat to the United States and its allies."[15]
  • "...CITF defers to the JTF-GTMO assessment that the detainee poses a ########' threat. CITF recommends the detainee be ######## ######## ######## ######## #######."[16]
  • "(U) The detainee fought with the Taliban in the Bagram area under the command of [[Gul Rahman (DM-4)."[16]
  • "(U) The detainee did provide written or oral testimony in response to allegations in the Unclassified Summary of Evidence."[16]

[edit] Release

The Miami Herald reports that three of the four Kazakh detainees in Guantanamo were repatriated and set free on December 21, 2006.[17][18] According to the Herald Abdullah Tohtasinovich Magrupov, Ihlkham Battayev and Yakub Abahanov were the three released men.

During a May 22, 2007 press briefing at the Kazakhstani Press Club American ambassador John M. Ordway stated that it was against US policy to compensate former Guantanamo captives.[19]

[edit] References

  1. ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  2. ^ a b Andy Worthington (October 2007). The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison. Pluto Press, pages 112-113. ISBN 0745326658. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. 
  3. ^ "The Journey of death -- over 700 prisoners illegally rendered to Guantanamo Bay with the help of Portugal", Reprieve, 28 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. 
  4. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdallah Tohtasinovich Magrupov's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 7-11
  5. ^ "Kazakhstan to appeal to U.S. to release Guantanamo detainees", Central Asia Caucasus Institute Analyst, February 2, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. 
  6. ^ a b "Kazakhstan inquiries about its citizen at Guantanamo", Central Asia Caucasus Institute Analyst, November 25, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. 
  7. ^ "Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court", New York Times, 2004-11-08. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ OARDEC (18 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Abahanov, Yakub (published March 2005) page 273. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  10. ^ OARDEC (18 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Abahanov, Yakub (published September 2007) page 48. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  11. ^ The phrase "25-year old Kazakhstan (KZ) national" was redacted when this memo was first released in March 2005.
  12. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  13. ^ Army Sgt. Sarah Stannard. "OARDEC provides recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense", JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs, October 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
  14. ^ OARDEC (8 July 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Abahanov, Yakub pages 85-87. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  15. ^ a b c d OARDEC (July 27, 2005). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 526 pages 102-107. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  16. ^ a b c d OARDEC (October 22, 2001 [sic]). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 526 page 101. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  17. ^ "Three ex-Guantánamo detainees free in Kazakhstan", Miami Herald, December 21, 2006. 
  18. ^ "2006 Country Report on Terrorism in Kazakhstan", Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, April 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. [dead link]
  19. ^ John M. Ordway. "Press Conference with Ambassador Ordway", American Embassy in Kazakhstan, May 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. "With regard to the issue of compensation, we do not pay compensation for any of the enemy combatants who were in the Guantanamo facility." 


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