Mohammed Quasam

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Mohammed Quasam (born c. 197?) is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Quasam's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 955. American intelligence analysts estimate he was born in 1977, in Bamian [sic] , 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. 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.[2][3] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[4]
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.

ged 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] Allegations

A memorandum summarizing the evidence against Quasam prepared for his Combatan Status Reiew Tribunal, was among those released in March of 2005.[5] The allegations Quasam faced during his Tribunal were:

a. The detainee is associated with an organization engaged in hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners:
  1. The detainee was identified as ############ Hisb-I Islami Gulbuddin [sic] (HIG) operations in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.[6]
  2. HIG has been designated as a terrorist organizaiton by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
  3. The detainee attended a meeting in Pakistan with other leaders of HIG and the Taliban to discuss operations against the United States Forces in December 2002.
  4. ############# was the ################## ################## for the Taliban in Zormat Afghanistan.[7]

[edit] Transcript

Quasam chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[8]

[edit] Opening questions

Mohammed Quasam had initial questions for his Tribunal's President as to disprove the determination he was an enemy combatant when he couldn't learn all the allegations against him.

[edit] Response to the allegations

  • Mohammed Quasam responded to the allegation that he had been in charge of Hisb-I Islami Gulbuddin [sic] operations in Jalalabd by testifying that he had never been in Jalalabad.
    • He testified he believed his capture was based solely on false allegations leveled against him from a personal enemy.
    • He testified he had been completely cooperative with his interrogators, and none of them had ever mentioned Hisb-I Islami [sic] .
    • He denied any ties to Hisb-I Islami [sic] or any other political organization.
    • Mohammed Quasam told his interrogators about the allegations he had faced, during his interrogations:
      • He testified that: "The first time I went to Bagram, I was told I was a butcher, the interrogator."
      • He testified that: "Someone told me I had the wrong visa and I was a smuggler of people."
      • He testified that: "...they told me I fired a rocket."
  • Mohammed Quasam responded to the allegation that he participated in a December 2002 high-level meeting between leaders of the Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin and the Taliban to coordinate operations against United States forces by testifying:

"I don't know anybody that belongs to Hisb-I Islami and nobody that belongs to the Taliban group. How is this possible if I don't know anybody from either group. And I am supposed to have gone to another country and made plans against America, this is impossible. I was the only one to take care of my family. It was impossible for me to leave my home for one day. I hope you have some knowledge of Afghanistan. People have disputes that last for so long. I have a personal enemy. Some people can't go face to face and have to wait for a reason. Now there is a reason and they gave the wrong information to the Americans who put me in prison."

  • Mohammed Quasam responded to the allegations that he was the Taliban's Chief of Investigations and Interrogations for Zormat by offering his personal history. His family had been refugees in Pakistan, where he went to school. He returned to Afghanistan in late 2000. The first six months he was back in Afghanistan he worked at home. The last six months of the Taliban's regime he worked on road-building projects. He identified his personal enemy, but the transcript says the name was "inaudible". He said his personal enemy had been a highly placed Taliban official. The enmity went back to when his father worked for the last communist government. This man had killed his father. He went on to add that he didn't know any Hisb-I Islami [sic] members, he had only heard about this group on the radio.

[edit] Replies to Tribunal questions

  • Mohammed Quasam confirmed that he had been to Zormat. He had been in Zormat when he was fourteen or fifteen -- prior to his family fleeing to Pakistan. And he was captured in Zormat.
  • Mohammed Quasam identified a leading member of the family that had a feud with his as Nur Mohammed.

[edit] Closing statement

When his Tribunal's President asked him if he wished to present evidence to the Tribunal Mohammed Quasam replied:

"There are a lot of things to talk about... (inaudible)... I was not arrested in a war zone or a battlefield, they did not get any weapon from me, they don't have any evidence on me, they just came to my home and arrested me. I didn't do anything wrong or break any law."

[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.

Quasam chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[9]

[edit] Enemy Combatant Election Form

The notes from the Enemy Combatant Election Form Mohammed Quasam's [[Assisting Military Officer prepared from their interview stated they met for 34 minutes on July 6, 2005, and for 45 minutes on July 7, 2005. His Assisting Military Officer described him as "cooperative".

[edit] Factors for and against continued detention

Template:ArbFactorNumbering

  • The detainee was suspected of involvement in rocket attacks against the United States of coalition forces and participation in the manufacturing of false visas.
  • The detainee was part of Saifulrahman Mansur's network in the Zormat District of Paktia Province.
  • Saifulrahman Mansur is an al Qaida exfil [sic] contact and former Commander of the Taliban's 8th Division in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • The detainee met Noorullah, a member of Saifulrahman Mansur's network in November 2002, and that Noorullah has been identified as launching rockets at the United States forces in Gardez during November 2002.
  • The detainee was identified as Mullah Qasim, nicknamed "The Punisher," Chief of Investigations and Interrogations for the Taliban in Zormat, Afghanistan.
  • The detainee was identified as being in charge of Hezb-e-Islamib Gulbuddin [sic] operations in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
  • The United States Department of Homeland Security has designated Hexb-e-Islami Gulbuddin [sic] as a terrorist organization.
  • Gulbuddin Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin [sic] as a faction of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin [sic] [sic] party in 1977, and that it was one of the major Mujadhedin [sic] groups in the war against the Soviets; that the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin has long established ties with Usama Bin Ladin; that Hexb-e-Islami Gulbuddin has staged small attacks in its attmpt to force United States troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghanistan Transitional Administration, and establish a fundamentalist state.
  • On 9 August 2002, Mohammed Qasim attended a meeting in which tow [sic] arms of the Union of Mudjahedin were established; one arm would carry out clandestine attacks and the other guerilla style attacks.
  • The Union of Mudjahedin of Afghanistan is newly formed and alleged to plan attacks against the United States and Afghanistan entities.
  • Jalaluddin Haqqani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar provided the overall leadership for the Union of the Mudjahedin of Afghanistan with support, guidance, and funding provided by al Qaida.
  • In early August 2002 a meeting of the Union of the Mudjahedin of Afghanistan was held; during this meeting Mohammed Qasim was named sub-commander for the District of Jaimaidan.
  • The detainee was present at a December 2002 meeting during which member of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin and Taliban discussed waging jihad against United States military forces in Afghanistan.
  • The detainee was found and captured at a compound by United States and Afghanistan military forces.
  • The detainee worked for the Taliban for five years.
  • The detainee admitted working for the Taliban for five years.
  • The detainee had 18-20 Taliban soldiers working for him.
  • The detainee denied getting weapons or explosives training at the Alizai refugee camp.
  • The detainee continues to deny committing any crimes or being involved with anyone who has.
  • The detainee denied owning any weapons or having access to weapons.
  • The detainee insisted he has had no involvement with anti-coalition actions.
  • The detainee denied meeting Jalaluddin Haqqani.
  • The detainee's intentions, if released, were to go back to his country and work for a wage.
  • The detainee said he wanted to live a simple life and return to a laboring job.

[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. ^ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Mohammed Quasam's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 4, 2004 - page 123
  6. ^ In page 79 of his transcript the redacted text was in the clear, and it stated: "The detainee was identified as being in charge of Hisb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) operations in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan."
  7. ^ In page 81 of his transcript the redacted text was in the clear, and it stated: "Mullah "Qasim" was the Chief of Investigations and Interrogations for the Taliban in Zormat, Afghanistan."
  8. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammed Quasam's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 78-83
  9. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Mohammed Quasam's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 23-29