Nasrullah (Guantanamo detainee 886)

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Nasrullah is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] Nasrullah's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 886. American intelligence analysts estimate Nasrullah was born in 1979, in Oruzgan Province, 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.

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.

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

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Nasrullah faced during his Tribunal were:

a. -- The general summary of the allegations that establish an association with terrorism were missing from the transcript. --
  1. The Detainee is a citizen of Afghanistan who was conscripted into the Taliban and served 2-3 months fighting in Mazar-E-Sharif [sic] , Afghanistan.
  2. The Detainee was instructed on how to operate and fire the Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun sometime in 1997 or 1998.
  3. The Detainee stayed with other Taliban fighters at a military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, and worked as a clerk for the Taliban.
  4. The Detainee would assist commanders from other Taliban units who would submit requests for funds and repairs.
  5. The Detainee traveled with and worked as a secretary for Abdul Razzaq.
  6. Razzaq is an al Qaida leader who acted as a smuggler and facilitator.
  7. The Detainee and a Taliban leader/commander traveled from Trin Kowl to Oruzgan, Afghanistan, to deliver a letter to a Taliban leader,
  8. The letter was from Taliban leaders in hiding.
  9. The Detainee admitted that he fought for the Taliban against the United States Forces while in Mazar-E-Sharif [sic] .
  10. The Detainee was captured in a vehicle with his cousin, another Taliban fighter.

[edit] Testimony

Nasrullah confirmed he was conscripted:

  • His conscription was several years prior to the attacks of 9-11.
  • He confirmed he was employed as Abdul Razzaq's secretary.
    • But he only did so for ten days.
    • Abdul Razzaq was illiterate. His regular secretary had to travel for ten days, so the Taliban rounded up the first civilian they could think of who could read and write, to serve as his replacement.
  • He served the Taliban for a term of two months.
    • He never received any military training.
    • He never undertook any military duties.
    • In addition to the ten days he served as an illiterate Taliban Commander's temporary secretary, he was employed as a tailor. He was a tailor in civilian life. He served out the remainder of his two month hitch, working, under guard, without pay, as a tailor for the Taliban.

Nasrullah denied engaging in hostilities.

Nasrullah denied working for other Taliban commanders.

Nasrullah acknowledged traveling with his cousin to deliver a letter. He denied that either he or his cousin knew the letter was from, or was to, a Taliban member.

Nasrullah said his cousin, who was illiterate, asked him to read the letter, to confirm that it was an innocuous letter that it would be safe to carry. Nasrullah said that when he read the letter he didn't see anything that lead him to believe that there was anything in the letter that raised his suspicions.

[edit] Information from his cousin Esmatulla's Tribunal

Esmatulla called for Nasrullah's testimony during his Tribunal.[6]

During Esmatulla's Tribunal the recipient of the letter was named aa Sangar Rihad. The sender was identified as Abdul Razzaq.

[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.

Nasrullah chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[7]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee is identified as having a been a member of the Taliban for four years before the United States attacked Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee was conscripted into the Taliban around 1997 and 1998 where he worked for approximately 60 days as a clerk and guard.
  3. In 1997, the detainee served 12 days as a secretary to a senior Taliban Official because the detainee could read and write. As a secretary, the detainee wrote money orders for other commanders and wrote receipts.
  4. The detainee states he was a soldier and did not know the political or military issues.
  5. The detainee is identified as joining a 40-man group after the end of the Taliban regime.
  6. The detainee told another individual that he lied to his interviewers and actually did fight for the Taliban against United States Forces while at Mazar-e-Sharif.
  7. The detainee told another individual he was part of the uprising at the compound that was surrounded by United States and Northern Alliance Forces and later used as a prison.
  8. The detainee told another individual he retreated with Taliban Forces to the compound and he was able to escape with approximately 80 others after the uprising.
  9. The detainee was captured delivering a letter to a former Taliban Brigade Commander. The letter was from a high-ranking Taliban Commander who requested the Brigade Commander to report to Quetta, Pakistan to fight and avoid capture by the Americans.
b. Training
The detainee received training on the Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol while he was at Mazar-e-Sharif.
c. Intent
The detainee told another individual that when he got back to Afghanistan he would get even with the interviewers.
d. Other Relevant Data
The detainee traveled to Quetta, Pakistan to receive medical treatment. That was the only time the detainee had been outside of Afghanistan.

[edit] The following primary factors release or transfer:

a. The detainee denied knowledge of a 40-man unit, that weapons were found at his home, or that he had any further association with the Taliban other than the two months he was a conscript.
b. The detainee denied being involved with any extremist group.
c. The detainee states he does not hate Americans, but if Americans know in their hearts that he is innocent and keep him in jail on purpose, then they are not humane.
d. The detainee did not have a satellite phone.
e. The detainee's future plans are to provide for his family.

[edit] Habeas corpus submission

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Nasrullah is one of the sixteen Guantanamo captives whose amalgamated habeas corpus submissions were heard by US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton on January 31, 2007.[8]

[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 Nasrullah's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 35-56
  6. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Esmatulla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 90-106
  7. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Nasrullah's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 78
  8. ^ Reggie B. Walton (January 31, 2007). Gherebi, et al. v. Bush. United States Department of Justice. Retrieved on May 19, 2007.