Gholam Ruhani

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gholam Ruhani
Born: 1975 (age 32–33)
Ghazni, Afghanistan
Detained at: Guantanamo
ID number: 003
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Ghulam Ruhani was one of the first 20 captives to be transferred to Guantanamo. He is one of the twenty men in this photo taken 11 January 2002, the day the camp opened.
Ghulam Ruhani was one of the first 20 captives to be transferred to Guantanamo.[1] He is one of the twenty men in this photo taken 11 January 2002, the day the camp opened.

Gholam Ruhani is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[2] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 003.

A widely distributed Associated Press story said that Ruhani was a clerk for the Taliban intelligence service.[3] AP quoted from Ruhani's testimony before his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

"The Taliban law was that young people had to join the Taliban, I had to join, but protested several times that I had an old father and I wanted to go back to my family. ... If I had not cooperated with the Taliban Intelligence service member, I would have been sent to the front lines. I was afraid I would be killed."

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Gholam Ruhani Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 25 August 2004.[7] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. Detainee is a member of the Taliban.
  1. Detainee admitted being a member of the Taliban. A supervisor of Taliban Civilian Intelligence recruited the detainee into the Taliban.
  2. Detaiene served as the driver for a Taliban Intelligence Service member and performed clerical work for the Intelligence Service in Kabul, AF, from 1999 or 2000 until his capture by U.S. forces in December of 2001. The detainee was required to carry a pistol in this job.
  3. Detainee was captured with a senior Taliban intelligence member, Abdul Haq Wasiq, by U.S. forces on 9 Dec 2001. Detainee was in possession of 7.62MM rounds when captured.

[edit] Transcript

Ruhani chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[8] Summarized transcripts (.pdf)], from Gholam Ruhani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 7-12</ref>

[edit] Ruhani's statement

Ruhani's Personal Representative read a statement prepared by Ruhani. Among the points Ruhani's statement addressed were:

  • Ruhani said he was forced into the Taliban.
  • Ruhani said he had protested his impressment, several times, because he had to care for his elderly father.
  • Ruhani said he was only forced to work for the Taliban part-time. He continued to work in his family's electrical store.
  • Ruhani said: "One of the things I was required to do was to work security for a small group, but I had no position of authority or responsibility."
  • Ruhani said that if he had not cooperated with the Taliban's local security office, he would have been sent to the front, where he was afraid he would be killed.
  • Ruhani said: "In order to cooperate with the Americans, I provided English to Pashtu translation at the 9 December 2001 meeting, during which I was captured. I thought it was a friendly meeting of which I believed I was on the American's side."
  • Ruhani volunteered:
"Abdul Haq Wasiq and Haji Gholam Mohammad and an American called 'Tony" were present at the meeting. I turned over my pistol and ammunition to the American, as an act of faith, because it was a friendly meeting."

Following the reading of his statement Ruhani added:

"I understand that all combatants against the United States were brought here. I never had a war against the United States and I am surprised I'm here.
"This Tribunal was supposed to have happened 3 years ago. I have been here 3 years and I am not guilty.
"My complaint is whether guilty or not, it [my case] is supposed to go to a Tribunal or court at the time of capture. I've been here 3 years and I'm going through the process now."

[edit] Allegations

Unlike most of the other transcripts from captive's Combatant Status Review Tribunal Ruhani's transcript did not record the allegations against him.

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

  • Ruhani grew up in Ghazni, about 140 km from Kabul.
  • Ruhani was asked how he came to work for the Taliban in Kabul, when he lived in Ghazni. Ruhani did not appear to understand this question.
  • Ruhani confirmed he was armed with a pistol when he arrived at the meeting where he was captured. He added: "...all Afghan people carried a gun at that time."
  • Ruhani confirmed he understood English, but clarified he had never provided translation services for the Taliban.
  • Ruhani said he served as an occasional driver, delivering vehicles, and that he served as an occasional security guard in the Taliban's local lost and found department.
  • Ruhani said that although he wore his gun in his civilian life, he was not proficient with firearms, never visited firing ranges, and had never had occasion to use his weapon.
  • Ruhani's pistol was a Makarov.
  • Ruhani only finished five years of formal education -- he had learned English on his own.

[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".[9]

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.[10] 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 Gholam Ruhani's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 02 May 2005.[11] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. Detainee admitted being a member of the Taliban. A supervisor of Taliban Civilian Intelligence recruited the detainee into the Taliban.
  2. Detainee served as the driver for a Taliban Intelligence Service member and performed clerical work for the Intelligence Service in Kabul, AF, from 1999 or 2000 until his capture by U.S. forces in December of 2001. The detainee was required to carry a pistol in this job.
  3. Detainee was captured with a senior Taliban intelligence member, Abdul Haq Wasiq, by U.S. forces on 9 December of 2001. The detainee was in possession of 7.62MM [sic] rounds when captured.
  4. During confinement the detainee has made death threates to guards.
b. Connections / Associations
  1. For years the detainee worked for the Taliban in the Operations Department of the Ministry of Intelligence in Kabul. The detainee supervised several associates.
  2. The detainee and his 13-14 associated were members of a quasi-police organization affiliated with Taliban Internal Affairs. The detainee and others in the unit were armed.
  3. The detainee's sister is married to a Taliban Intelligence Officer.
  4. The Taliban Chief of Intelligence led a group of 600 to 700 armed Taliban fighters in an Afghan province.
  5. The detainee couriered a letter between the Taliban Chief of Intelligence and a Taliban military commander.
  6. The Taliban military commander is associated with Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Terrorist Organization Reference Guide, states that HIG has long established ties with Usama Bin Laden [sic] and has staged attacks in attempts to force United States troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
c. Intent
After the fall of Kabul the detainee and his associated fled the city in a pick-up truck armed with two RPG-7's [sic] , twenty AK-47's [sic] and two PK machine guns.

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

a.

The detainee claims his involvement with the Taliban should not be viewed as synonymous [sic] to the Taliban's ideology. [sic] The detainee claims he joined the Taliban because it was a matter of political and survival necessity. [sic]
b.

The detainee denied having knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on September 11th and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or its interests.

[edit] Transcript

Ruhani chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[12]

[edit] Ruhani's statement

Ruhani had prepared a statement:

  • He was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 1355.
  • He has five years of schooling.
  • He speaks some English.
  • He married in 1973, and had children.
  • When the Taliban took power:
    "There was heavy fighting in Afghanistan and most people lost their lives. Therefore, I was forced to join one of the Security Forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, so they wouldn't take me to the battlefield.
  • His work for the Security Force was part time, and consisted of occasionally going in to the office to mow the grass or sweep the floor.
  • When the Americans attacked he thought it was time to return to Ghazni.

[edit] Factors for and against Ruhani's continued detention

Most captives have the factors for and against their continued detention read aloud, so they could respond to them, one at a time. And those factors are then recorded in the transcripts. The factors for and against Ruhani's detention, however, are not recorded in his transcript.

[edit] Response to the factors

While responding the the factors Ruhani described how he came to be captured. He was asked to translate between a local senior Northern Alliance leader hew knew, another senior Northern Alliance leader, and two visiting American VIPs. The other Northern Alliance leader had also brought a translator, named Abdul Haq, who had a much superior command of English. So, he went for some tea, and left Abdul Haq to perform the translations. When he returned the Americans took him into custody. He believed he had been denounced by Abdul Haq, the other translator.

[edit] Response to Board members questioning

  • Ruhani testified he took five semesters, about one year, of private English lessons. He said his work in Electronics required a lot manuals that were written in English.
  • Ruhani testified he wasn't engaged in hostilities, and never received any military training. He preferred doing low level tasks for the intelligence department because he thought it would be safer than engaging in hostilities.
  • Ruhani testified he never witnessed the Taliban torturing anyone.
  • Ruhani wasn't sure when he started working for the Taliban -- possibly 1999.
  • Ruhani was asked what he knew about Ghulan Mohammed Hotak, who he mentioned in his opening statement. He said he knew him through an introduction from a baker who had the shop next to his. He said Hotak "...was a close friend of the Americans and he is working with the Americans."
  • When Ruhani was asked if Hotak was an American intelligence agent he replied: "I don't know his specific duties but he's with the Americans and whatever they ask him I guess he will do."
  • When Ruhani was asked what his association with Abdul Haq Wasiq was he replied: "He is the gentleman that the Americans wanted to talk with him and Haji Ghulan Mohammed asked me to go there to translate."
  • Ruhani said he knew Abdul Haq by sight, but had never been introduced to him.
  • Ruhani was asked why Hotak asked him to translate, at a sensitive meeting, when Hotak didn't know him personally. Ruhani said Hotak wasn't from Ghazni.
  • Ruhani's Board expressed surprise that Ruhani, who represented himself as a lowly driver, janitor and gardner, felt the need to go about armed. Ruhani assured them that being armed was not unusual in Afghanistan.
  • Ruhani said he didn't usually wear his gun when he went to the Taliban office. He said he sometimes took it to his shop too.
  • Ruhani denied ever receiving any intelligence or law enforcement training.
  • The Presiding Officer asked:
    "Part of the Unclassified Summary says that you and 10 to 12 other people were part of a 'quasi-police organization associated with Taliban Internal Affairs.' Is that correct?"
    Ruhani repeated that he preferred duties in security because it saved him from serving on the front lines, where he could be killed.
  • When the Presiding Officer asked Ruhani if he knew anything about Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin, he replied he knew nothing about it.
  • When the Presiding Officer asked if is Abdul Haq was a Mullah he said he didn't know him that well. Ruhani suggested that Abdul Haq was detained in Guantanamo that the Board ask him.
  • Ruhani's Presiding Officer insisted that Ruhani would know if Abdul Haq was a mullah.
  • Ruhani testified he had never seen the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar or any other senior members of the Taliban leadership. He repeated he was just a low-level worker.
  • Ruhani denied that he had been a non-compliant captive. He insisted he had never been visited by the Immediate Response Force.

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Gholam Ruhani's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 22 March 2006.[13] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
When the Taliban captured Kabul, Afghanistan, they conscripted many people. The detainee did not want to go to war so he took a job with the ministry of intelligence in Kabul.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. A senior member of civilian intelligence offered the detainee a job because he needed the assistance.
  2. A source identified a director of the Taliban Intelligence Service and the detainee as his deputy. They were responsible for counter-terrorism operations and terrorism believed to be connected to organized crime.
  3. The detainee stated he was the officer in charge of the operations department in the ministry of intelligence. The detainee noted that the operations department had 15 associates.
  4. The detainee's sister is married to a Taliban Intelligence Officer.
  5. The detainee stated that he is very close with a senior leader in the Taliban Intelligence Service.
  6. The detainee stated that a director in the ministry of intelligence quickly promoted him. The detainee did not receive any formal training for his new position.
  7. The detainee spent the last four years before his capture working in the operations department of the ministry of intelligence in Kabul for the Taliban. The detainee was in charge of crime scenes and small case investigations.
  8. The detainee left Kabul on the last day that the Taliban still had control. The detainee was able to get a ride from a person who worked for the minister of interior criminal division. This person was traveling in a Toyota pick up truck with 14 associates who were armed with two rocket-propelled grenades (RPG-7s), 20 Kalashnikov rifles and two PK machine guns.
  9. The detainee couriered a letter between the Taliban Chief of Intelligence and a Taliban military commander.
  10. The detainee attended a meeting with a military commander, a senior Taliban intelligence member, a couple of Americans, and the Americans' translator. Shortly after the meeting, the Taliban intelligence member and the detainee were arrested.
c. Other Relevant Data
  1. There was no specialized training given to civilian intelligence officers. It was assumed that officers already knew how to use pistols.
  2. The detainee worked with 13 to 14 men. The detainee did not have an official title, wore ordinary civilian clothes, and carried a Russian made pistol.
  3. The detainee was issued a concealed weapons permit and had the permit on his person at the time of his capture.
  4. The detainee believed he was arrested because he had a pistol on his hip.

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

a.

The detainee denies any prior knowledge of the attacks on 11 September 2001 and claims to have no personal knowledge of al Qaida or its operatives.
b.

The detainee had never heard of al Qaida until the Americans started bombing in Afghanistan. The detainee thinks Usama bin Laden brought war to Afghanistan.
c.

The detainee claims to be no more than a simple shopkeeper who helped Americans.
d.

The detainee stated that his only wish was to return to Afghanistan and assist his ailing father with operating the family appliance store in Kabul.
e.

The detainee explained that when he identified the head of Taliban Intelligence as his brother-in-law that it was a lie to shut up the interrogator.
f.

The detainee explained that his work in the security office was simply to perform manual labor and drive different people in the office to their destinations.
g.

The detainee denied any intelligence collecting activities during his work with the Taliban.
h.

The detainee stated that he worked for the people, not the Taliban.
i.

The detainee claims his involvement with the Taliban should not be viewed as synonymous to the Taliban's ideology. The detainee claims he joined the Taliban because it was a matter of political and survival necessity.

[edit] Repatriation

A captive named "Ghulam Ruhani" was transferred to Afghan custody in "a U.S-sponsored lockup near Kabul.[1] An American sponsored wing of the Pul-e-charkhi prison was opened near Kabul, in mid 2007. This 316 cell prison was built at a cost of $30 million, to enable captives to be transferred from Guantanamo and the Bagram Theater internment facility.

According to an article by Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, Ghulam Ruhani had initially been held with David Hicks and John Walker Lindh, aboard a USN warship.[1] Ruhani was one of the first twenty captives transferred to Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, whose images were captured in a widely republished picture of kneeling captives.

Further information: First twenty Guantanamo captives

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Carol Rosenberg. "7 of first Guantánamo captives now home", Miami Herald, January 16, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. "A Taliban member from the first flight, Ghulam Ruhani, has just gone home -- to a U.S-sponsored lockup near Kabul. In the earliest days of the American-led coalition assault on Afghanistan, he was held on a U.S. Navy ship at sea, along with Hicks and American captive John Walker, now serving in a federal penitentiary in California for being a Taliban foot soldier." 
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Sketches of Guantanamo detainees-Part I, The State (newspaper), March 15, 2006
  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. ^ OARDEC (25 August 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ruhani, Gholam page 3. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  8. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summarized Unsworn Detainee Statement, read by Personal Representative pages 7-12. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  9. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  10. ^ Army Sgt. Sarah Stannard. "OARDEC provides recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense", JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs, October 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
  11. ^ OARDEC (02 May 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ruhani, Gholam pages 54-55. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
  12. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Gholam Ruhani's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 152-163
  13. ^ OARDEC (22 March 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ruhani, Gholam pages 1-3. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.