Juma Din

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Juma Din is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Din's Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 941. American intelligence analysts estimate Juma Din was born in 1973, in Alinghan, Afghanistan.

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.
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.[2][3] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[4]
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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 U.S. could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunal 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.

Din chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[5]

[edit] Witness request

Juma Din requested the testimony of his uncle, Mohammed Rasol. The Tribunal ruled that his uncle’s testimony would be “relevant”, and requested the US State Department to request the Afghanistan embassy to request the Afghan civil service to locate Rasol “on or about October 28, 2004”. After waiting approximately one month the Tribunal’s President ruled Rasol’s testimony “not reasonably available”.

Main article: Witnesses requested by Guantanamo captives

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Juma Din's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 7 October 2004.[6] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

The detainee is associated with al Qaida:
  1. The detainee reportedly was a main advisor to a Hezb-e-islami Gulbuddin (H1G) leader.
  2. HIG is a designated terrorist group with long-established links to Usama Bin Laden.
  3. Detainee is associated with an al Qaida facilitator.
  4. The detainee lived in the same house with his brother in law, who is the al Qaida facilitator.
  5. The detainee used a vehicle owned by the al Qaida facilitator.
  6. The detainee was captured at the suspected al Qaida safehouse in Peshawar, Pakistan.
  7. The Detainee was arrested with four counterfeit 100 USD bills.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearings

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 hearing

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his first annual Administrative Review Board on August 15, 2005.[7]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. As of mid-November 2002, the local commander for the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, Haji Abdul Ghafour, had a bodyguard identified as the detainee.
  2. Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin has long-established ties with Bin Laden. Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin has staged small attacks in its attempt to force U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration (Afghan Transitional Administration) [sic] , and establish a fundamentalist state.
  3. In addition to his brothers, the detainee was a main advisor [sic] to Ghafour in the Kantiwa [sic] .
b. Training
  1. The detainee was trained on the AK-47.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee’s brother-in-law has been identified as an al Qaida operative.
  2. The detainee lived with is sister and brother-in-law three months prior to the time of his capture.
d. Other Relevant Data
  1. The detainee was captured in the house associated with a known al Qaida operative.
  • The detainee was arrested with $400 USD.

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

  • The detainee was never interested in the Taliban. He would like to return to his home country of Afghanistan someday.
  • When asked about al Qaida the detainee denied any knowledge.

[edit] Transcript

Din chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[8]

[edit] Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his second annual Administrative Review Board on May 2, 2006.[9]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a.
 Commitment
1.

The detianee was identified as a bodyguard for a Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) leader who, as of mid-November 2001, continued to control Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin activity in the Kantiwa area of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan and had taken measures to strengthen the Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin position in the area.
2.

The detainee was identified as a main advisor to the Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin leader in the Kantiwa area.
3.

Among Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the leader operating in Kantiwa, Nuristan Province, commanded approximately 150 fighters and had approximately 500 unarmed men in reserve.
4.

Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin was one of the major Mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin has long-established ties with Usama bin Laden. Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin has staged small attacks in its attempt to force United States troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration, and establish a fundamentalist state.
b.
 Connections/Associations
1.

The detainee's brother-in-law said he went to Afghanistan with the intent to fight with the Taliban but his relationship with the Taliban never woeked out. The detainee's brother-in-law admitted that he attended training at the Daruntah Camp near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
2.

Daruntah is one of Usama bin Laden's most important bases in Afghanistan. It became known after many captured terrorists admitted they were trained in the use of explosives there.
3.

The detainee and his family lived with his brother-in-law for three months.
4.

The detainee's brother-in-law owned a used car and alloed the detainee to use the car as a taxi to earn money. The detainee earned 150 to 400 Pakistani Rupees a day driving the car and gave his brother-in-law half of what he earned with the car.
5.

According to a Foreignt Government Service, the detainee's brother-in-law is a member of the Tunisian Combatant Group. He is a terrorist known for his calls for jihad and who has received military training in Afghanistan. He participated in the Bosnian war in 1995 and he was a member of the Bologna Network, which was dismantled in Italy in 1997. He is based in Jalalabad, Afghanistan where he is in charge of receiving and lodging Tunisian volunteers for onward travel to al Qaida training camps.
6.

The Tunisian Combatant Group reportedly is seeking to establish an Islamic regime in Tunisia and targets United States and Western interests. The loosely organized group has come to be associated with al Qaida and other North African extremist networks that have been implicated in terrorist plots during the past two years.
7.

A senior al Qaida lieutenant described the detainee's brother-in-law as a document forger al Qaida once used.
8.

A senior al Qaida lieutenant felt that the detainee's brother-in-law was a good candidate to become an operative who could potentially be used by al Qaida for operations in the United States.
c.
 Other Relevant Data
1.

The detainee was arrested by Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate (ISID) personnel while attempting to flee the scene of detention.
2.

The detainee was cpatured for suspiciton of working for al Qaida and was captured with four counterfeit 100 United States Dollar bills.

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

a.

The detainee denied any knowledge of Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin.
b.

The detainee denied that he had four 100 United States Dollar bills in his possession when he was captured. He denied ever having possession of a weapon such as a Kalashnikov rifle.
c.

The detainee admitted he has heard of al Qaida, but he is unsure what the group does. He believes that the people involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks should be captured, punished, or controlled to make sure they are unable to do anything like that again.
d.

The detainee claimed he does not know what a fatwa is.
e.

The detainee has heard the word jihad before and knows it is part of Islam. When asked if he would follow a trusted Imam's order to attack someone in the name of God, the detainee stated he would not and that such orders are not for men to give.
f.

The detainee was never interested in the Taliban. He would like to return to his home country of Afghanistan someday.
g.

The detainee stated he did not hate Americans and was not angry about his incarceration. The detainee believes his incarceration is the will of God and has nothing to do with men.
h.

The detainee's brother-in-law said the detainee should be released because the detainee had done nothing wrong and had 4-5 children at home that he needed to take care of.

[edit] Transcript

There is no record that Juma Din chose to participate in his second annual Administrative Review Board hearing. Juma Din's Assisting Military Officer reported on his responses to the factors during the unclassified session of his Board hearing.[10] Other captives who didn't attend their hearings, but whose Assisting Military Officers reported their answers to the factors to their Boards, had a transcript from their unclassified sessions released. The Department of Defense has not explained why the report of Juma Din's Assisting Military Officer remains secret.

[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.[11][10] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on November 15, 2006.

[edit] Current location

As of March 18, 2008 the Washington Post list Ahmad as still in detention in Guantanamo.[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  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. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Juma Din's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 38-44
  6. ^ OARDEC (7 October 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Din, Juma page 70. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  7. ^ OARDEC (15 August 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Din, Juma pages 59-60. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
  8. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Juma Din's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 261
  9. ^ OARDEC (May 2, 2006). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Din, Juma pages 87-89. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
  10. ^ a b OARDEC (23 May 2006). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 941 page. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  11. ^ OARDEC (November 15, 2006). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 941 page. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  12. ^ "Names of the Detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba", Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.