Mohammed Mustafa Sohail

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Mohammed Mustafa Sohail (born 1981) is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Sohail's Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 1008. American intelligence analysts estimate Sohail was born in 1981, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2 Administrative Review Board hearing
- 2.1 Enemy Combatant election form
- 2.2 Factors for and against continued detention
3 References

[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.^[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 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.

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

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Sohail faced during his Tribunal were:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban or al Qaida

The detainee worked at a U.S. military base in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The detainee assisted a member of a terrorist organization, Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin, who had plans to plant a bomb at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin is a known terrorist organization that has long established ties to al Qaida.
The detainee provided a list of personnel assigned to the Karzai Protection Detail and the serial numbers to their weapons to a member Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin.
The detainee provided photographs of a U.S. military base in Afghanistan to a member of Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin.
The detainee provided computer media containing a template of the security badge used at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and digital images of personnel involved with security at the aforementioned base.
The detainee stole his work computer and transferred the information to computer media for the purpose of providing it to a member Hezb~E-Islami Gulbuddin.
The detainee applied for a visa to the United States under a different name.

[edit] Use of English

Unlike most Guantanamo captives, Sohail was able to agree to respond directly to questions posed to him in English.

[edit] Witness request

Sohail's transcript records that he requested a witness; that the Tribunal's President deemed his witness to be "relevant". But the procedure through which Tribunals attempted to contact witnesses failed, so his Tribunal's President ruled his witness "not reasonably available".

Main article: witnesses requested by Guantanamo captives

[edit] Response to the allegations

Sohail denied working at a US military base in Kabul. He worked for Dyne Corporation as a translator and driver for Jerry Williams, an "American program officer at site 3" ^[sic] .
Sohail denied assisting any members of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin. Sohail said one of Dyne's contractors was a man nammed Chamman. Chamman commanded the escort for equipment convoys between Herot and Kabul. Sohail said that he knew of a man named Chamman who had been an HIG commander and a famous bandit between Kabul and Chava. Then he saw Chamman at the Dyne office, and he ran away.
Sohail said he did not know that HIG was identified as a terrorist group. All he knew was that Chamman was an HIG commander.
Sohail acknowledged saying he worked for Chamman, but he did so only under torture.
- Unlike other Guantanamo captives who claimed torture, he was able to identify the interrogator — an American civilian named Julio.
- Sohail said Julio subjected him to 68 hours of sleep-deprivation.
- Sohail said Julio stuck a gun in his mouth.
Sohail denied taking any pictures of American bases.
In response to the allegation that he provided a machine readable template of the security badge to a US base, and digital images of security staff. Sohail confirmed that part of his job was to take the pictures, and laminate them, to make security badges for the other employees of Dyne. He confirmed confessing to providing the security template, but it was while he was being tortured.
Sohail denied stealing his work computer, he denied he ever said he stole the computer. Rather, he explicitly had permission from his boss, Jerry Williams, to take his laptop home, so he could take a computer course.
Sohail confirmed that he applied for a visa to the United States. He denied that it was not under his correct name.

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

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.

Sohail chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[6]

[edit] Enemy Combatant election form

The notes from Mohammed Mustafa Sohail's Assisting Military Officer's Enemy Combatant election form state that they met for 20 minutes on December 2, 2005, and 10 minutes of December 5, 2005. He described Mohammed Mustafa Sohail as "cooperative".

[edit] Factors for and against continued detention

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for every captive for whom an Administrative Review Board hearing was convened, summarizing the "factors" for and against their continued detention. Those factors were always broken down under two headings: "The following primary factors favor continued detention"; and "The following primary factors favor release or transfer". The factors favoring continued detention were further subdivided under sub-headings like: "Training"; "Intent"; "Commitment"; "Associations". And the factors under those sub-headings were sequentionally numbered.

Te Summary of Evidence memo was always read out, in its entirety, at the beginning of the hearing. Most captives were offered an opportunity to hear the factors read out, one at a time, so they would have an opportunity to respond to each in turn.

Some captive's transcript recorded the factors, and the captive's responses, but did not record the headings, sub-headings or sequential numbering.

The detainee provided the names of security personnel assigned to the Karzai Protection Detail to a man who was associated with Hizb-E-Islami Gulbuddin ^[sic] .
The detainee took photographs of an American camp in Kabul. He allowed the Hizb-E-Islami Gulbuddin member to take them from the detainee's car.
The computer disk was given to the security subcontractor. The detainee believes he is associated with Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin.
Three men identified the detainee as a source for a high level member of an anti-American terrorist organization Hezb-E-Islami Gulbuddin.
The detainee claims that he provided information to an anti-American terrorist organization because he was told that if he did not cooperate, his family would be killed.
The detainee was aware of a possible plan to attack United States and Afghan forces.
The detainee applied for a visa to the United States under a false name.
The detainee claims that the confession regarding him ^[sic] providing classified information is false and coerced.