Gul Zaman

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Gul Zaman
Born: 1971 (age 36–37)
Zamikhel, Khowst Province, Afghanistan
Detained at: Guantanamo
ID number: 459
Conviction(s): no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status Determined not to have been an enemy combatant after all

Gul Zaman is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] His detainee ID number is 459. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1971, in Khowst, Afghanistan. His father nad uncle were reported to have been born in Zamikhel, a Zadran village in Khowst.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Gul Zaman is the son of Khan Zaman, and the nephew of Abib Sarajuddin. The three of them, and their neighbor, Mohammad Gul, were captured on January 21, 2002.[2] Gul Zaman, and Mohammad Gul were released when their testimony at thie Tribunals confirmed that they were entitled to carry Pakistani passports, and those passports confirmed that they were in Saudi Arabia when American forces bombed their village. Abib Sarajuddin and Khan Zaman's Tribunals confirmed that they had originally been correctly classified as "enemy combatants.
Gulzaman WebDeveloper Sialkot Pakistan

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3 x 6 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands cuffed 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.
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3 x 6 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands cuffed and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.[3] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[4]

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 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 Gul Zaman's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 23 December 2004.[5] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is associated with forces that engaged in hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners.
  1. The detainee traveled from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia in 2001.
  2. The detainee utilized counterfeit travel documents for his travel to Saudi Arabia.
  3. The detainee returned to Afghanistan at the time the Northern Alliance recaptured Kabul.
  4. The detainee's family and village members stated an important Taliban member used the detainee's father's guesthouse.
  5. The detainee lives with his father, Haji Sarajudeen.
  6. The detainee's father worked as a recruiter for Pacha Khan.
  7. Pacha Khan, a renegade Pashtun Commander, has been conducting military operations against the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA) and coalition foces.
  8. The detainee stated he owns one or two Kalashnikov [sic] rifles with 30 rounds of ammunition.
  9. The detainee was captured with communications equipment.
  10. The detainee admits seeing this type of equipment in the possession of Taliban members.
  11. Coalition forces were fired upone during the capture of the detainee and three associates.

[edit] Transcript

Zaman chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[6]

[edit] Testimony

Gul Zaman acknowledged that he had traveled to Saudi Arabia, to work, but that he traveled on a legal passport.

He returned for personal reasons. His return had nothing to do with the recapture of Kabul.

He denied that his father had hosted any Taliban leaders. He pointed out that he was still in Saudi Arabia at the time his father's house was bombed.

He said that Pasha Khan had asked Mohammed Nasim, a tribal elder, to ask his father to go around to local villages to rally support against the Taliban, during the period when the Taliban was falling. He said his father didn't work directly for Pasha Khan.

He said he had no knowledge of Pasha Khan going renegade. At the time of his capture Khan was supporting the Americans, and enjoyed their support. A February 2, 2002 New York Times article describes Pasha Khan competing with another local leader for the American's endorsement of authority over the city of Khost.[2]

He acknowledged that his family owned a rifle. Owning weapons was one of the traditional privileges granted by the former kings of Afghanistan to their isolated border district.

He denied that anyone in their area owned a radio transmitter. He acknowledged that, during the Taliban regime, he had seen Taliban officials using communications devices.

He denied hearing or seeing any firing on the night he was captured.

[edit] Witnesses

Gul Zaman called two witnesses, his uncle Khan Zaman and his neighbor Mohammad Gul.

[edit] Khan Zaman's testimony

Khan Zaman confirmed that Gul Zaman traveled to Saudi Arabia, on a legal Pakistani passport. He confirmed that Gul Zaman returned around the time Kabul was recaptured, but that this had nothing to do with the timing of his return. He confirmed that he returned for personal and family reasons.

Khan Zaman denied that Gul Zaman's father Abib Sarajuddin had ever hosted Jalaluddin.

Khan Zaman confirmed that Sarajuddin had gone around to neighboring villages, trying to rally opposition to the Taliban. He confirmed that Pasha Khan had requested this of a tribal Elder Nasim. He stated that, at this time, Pasha Khan was working with the Americans.

Khan Zaman confirmed that they did not have a radio of any kind in their household. He said his interrogators showed him a picture of a radio of the kind that American records said was captured in their household. He said he had never seen this kind of radio before in his life.

Khan Zaman denied hearing or seeing any weapons fire on the night they were captured.

Khan Zaman confirmed that they owned a rifle, and that the inhabitants of their isolated district had traditionally been allowed to own a rifle.

In answer to questioning from the Recorder Khan Zaman confirmed that they lived in an area called Zani Khel. But he said it was the name of the area of their tribe, not the name of their village. Their house was midway between two villages, Shamawat and Khojari.

Khan Zaman was asked if he was familiar with the names Wazir Khan Zadran and Zakim Khan. These two names were mentioned in the February 2, 2002 New York Times article. One was the brother of Pacha Khan. The other was his rival for US support for authority over Khost.

Khan Zaman was asked if the village elder Nasim had a relationship with Pacha Khan. He confirmed that they had both been commanders under an anti-Taliban commander named Pir.

Khan Zaman described how Afghans who had been refugees were able to travel legally on Pakistani passports.

Khan Zaman explained he wasn't caught in the attack on the family home because he was in Gardez that day. He said Gul Zaman was still in Saudi Arabia. He said their capture came a month and a half to two and half months following the aerial bombardment destroyed their home. He said at the time of their capture they had been loaned another home.

[edit] Mohammad Gul's testimony

Mohammad Gul confirmed that Gul Zaman arrived back in the village after he did, and he had arrived back after the American air strike against Gul Zaman's father's house. He confirmed that there were no radio transmitters in the village. He confirmed that he did not hear any firing on the night they were captured. He described, in detail, how an Afghan, could travel legally on a Pakistani passport.

Mohammad Gul described how Afghanistan had gone through decades of warfare, and that many Afghanis, including Gul Zaman and himself, had fled to Pakistan as refugees. Pakistan had been willing to issue legal passports to Afghan refugees who could establish their identities.

[edit] Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant

Abdul Rahman addressed the Press during his release ceremony in Afghanistan, on April 20, 2005.
Abdul Rahman addressed the Press during his release ceremony in Afghanistan, on April 20, 2005.

Gul Zaman was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[7][8] The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants.

Gul Zaman was freed on April 20, 2005 with sixteen other Afghans whose Tribunals had determined they were not enemy combatants. The Associated Press reported that their release ceremony was addressed by Afghan Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari.[9] Carlotta Gall of the New York Times reported that the Chief Justice encouraged the men to regard their detention as something sent from God.[10] The reports stated that the Chief Justice warned the cleared men that a candid description of their detention could damage the chances of other Afghan captives to be released.

"Don't tell these people the stories of your time in prison because the government is trying to secure the release of others, and it may harm the release of your friends."

Gul Zaman was one of the three captives who chose to address the Press.[10] He was quoted as saying:

"There were some old people there, some of them are still there. And it is very amazing that somebody who was taken from his home stayed for three years in prison. The prison has nothing to commend it. There were difficulties. The other problems the world knows about,"[10]

Both reports quoted Chief Justice Fazil Hadi Shinwari distinguishing three categories of captives[9][10]:

"There are three kinds of prisoners in Guantanamo. There are those that have committed crimes and should be there, then there are people who were falsely denounced, and third there are those who are there because of the mistakes of the Americans."

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ a b John F. Burns, Villagers Add to Reports of Raids Gone Astray, New York Times, February 2, 2002
  3. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ OARDEC (23 December 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Zaman, Gul pages 8-9. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  6. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summarized Statement. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. mirror - pages 39-53
  7. ^ Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classifed as "No Longer Enemy Combatants", Washington Post
  8. ^ "Detainees Found to No Longer Meet the Definition of "Enemy Combatant" during Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo", United States Department of Defense, November 19, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  9. ^ a b "17 Afghans, Turk home from Guantanamo Bay", China Daily, April 20, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. "Pentagon spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said the 17 Afghans and the Turkish man had been cleared of accusations they were enemy combatants during the Combatant Status Review Tribunal process that recently ended. Five others cleared in late March already had been sent home and another 15 await transfers home." 
  10. ^ a b c d Carlotta Gall. "17 Afghans Freed From Guantánamo Prison", New York Times, April 20 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. "In a brief ceremony, Chief Justice Fazil Hadi Shinwari told the 17 men that they were free to return home and he tried to reconcile them to the idea their imprisonment was something sent from God. Some prisoners in Guantánamo were guilty and deserved to be imprisoned, he said, but others were innocent victims of false accusations or military mistakes, or were duped into supporting terrorism." 
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Captives held at Guantanamo Bay before being exonerated
and found to not be "enemy combatants"
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