Mohammad Nabi Omari

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Mohammad Nabi Omari 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 832. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1968, in Khowst, Afghanistan.

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

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.

Omari chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[2]

[edit] Confusion

As the Tribunal process was explained to him Omari expressed confusion over his right to request the testimony of witnesses on his behalf.

[edit] Allegations

Most transcripts included the allegations against the captive, as they were read aloud for the captive to address each in turn.

Omari's transcript is relatively brief and the allegations against him were not included.

[edit] Response to the allegations

  • Omari denied being a member of the Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin [sic] , or that he had any involvement with it.
  • Omari denied being a member of al Qaida, or that he had any involvement with it.
  • Omari addressed one allegation by testifying:
    "I did the job that was given to me by an American. I went to Pakistan and I tried very hard. Anything I did in Pakistan, Mark is a witness. Mr Mark."
  • Omari acknowledged working for the Taliban:
    "I did work for the government of the Taliban, I confessed it and I will confess again. I don't see anything wrong with it. The charges that you are telling me that I was in charge of the border. I was, but that was before the Americans came to Afghanistan."
  • Omari testified that he believed he had been denounced, in Khowst, because he had chosen to work with the Americans and Hamid Karzai's interim Government. He said: "There are lots of good people and bad people that are in Kwost. You asked all of the bad people and did not ask any of the good people in Kwost about me."

[edit] Omari's description of his US intelligence handler, Mark

Q: One of the allegations here, sir, is that your name and phone number was discovered in a senior member al Qaida's house?
A: Like whom?
Q: At this point that is the only information that we have. Based on that information, do you have any reason to believe that it may be true?
A: First, I don't believe my telephone number was found in anybody's house. Second, even if it were found, you provided the telephone number. The American made it up because everybody wants to be connected to one person or one group.
Q: Are you saying that you worked for the United States?
A: I think my file is full of these kinds of things.
Q: Do you have a point of contact that you actually made contact with while working for the United States?
A: I said previously that his name was Mark and that he was an American.
Q: And when was this?
A: Five to six months prior to my capture.
Q: And you were specifically doing what with this person named Mark?
A: I think that you are trying to make me tell you what's already in all my files. If you want, I will do it If you want to give me something to do again, I'll try.
Q: So you'll give me the information to this Mark person?
A: Yes. After that Mark was gone from Kwost and after Mark left the job our connection was with another individual by the name of Nasir to Mark.
Q: Do you know what organization Mark worked for in the US?
A: A: I don't know but he was working in the province of Kwost.

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

  • Omari offered the following reply to the question "Is it ever okay for a Muslim to not tell the truth?":
    "No. For an infidel and for a Muslim, it's no good to tell a lie."
  • Omari denied knowing any al Qaida members.
  • Omari repeated that he never had any association with Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin.
  • Omari said that during the civil war, when Rabbani was the nominal President, he was a member of Haraket-e-Inqlab-e-Islami [sic] . It was during that time he acquired the wounds that left the scars on his body. He said he was too young to have fought the Soviet occupiers.
  • When asked what he did when he worked for the Taliban Omari replied:
    "I was sitting in an office and working in an office."

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammad Nabi Omari's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 37-41