Rukniddin Sharipov

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Rukniddin Fayziddinovich Sharipov (born on 15 March 1974 in Leninabad, Tajikistan) is a citizen of Tajikistan held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1]

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review

CSRT notice read to a Guantanamo captive.
CSRT notice read to a Guantanamo captive.

Initially the Bush administration asserted they could withhold the protections of the Geneva Conventions from captives in the War on Terror, while critics argued the Conventions obligated the United States to conduct competent tribunals to determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "enemy combatant".

The trailer where CSRTs were convened.
The trailer where CSRTs were convened.

From July 2004 through March 2005, a CSRT was convened to make a determination whether each captive had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Rukniddin Sharipov was among the one-third of prisoners for whom there was no indication they chose to participate in their tribunals.[2]

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. Rukniddin Sharipov's memo accused him of the following:

Sharipov agreed to testify on behalf of Sobit Valikhonovich at his Tribunal.[3] Valikhonovich's Tribunal transcript contains four pages of Sharipov's testimony.

[edit] Administrative Review Board

Hearing room for ARB hearings, after captives had been found to be "enemy combatants" during their CSRT.
Hearing room for ARB hearings, after captives had been found to be "enemy combatants" during their CSRT.[4]

Detainees whose CSRT labelled them "enemy combatants" were then scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to judge whether the detainee posed a threat if repatriated to their home country.


Sharipov chose to attend his ARB,[5] which meant that translation would be a problem. “...the Persian translation of the Unclassified Summary of Evidence was read to the Detainee. The spoken and written language of the Detainee presented a complication. The spoken language in Tajikistan is Persian, but it is written using the Cyrillic alphabet. The Detainee indicated that he could also read Russian, so a Russian translation of the Unclassified Summary of Evidence was prepared by IOE.”

[edit] The following factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The Detainee stated that his passport and money were taken when he arrived in Lajerg. The Detainee was told his things would be returned once his military job was completed.
  2. The Detainee was given military clothing, received some weapons training, and stood guard duty.
  3. The Detainee traveled from Doshamba, Tajikistan to Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] via Taleel Dora, Lajerg and Konduz, Afghanistan.
  4. The Detainee, along with a group of men, stayed at a military compound in Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] .
  5. The Detainee did admit to fighting in the mountains.
  6. The Detainee was at the front lines for seven days in the Khawaja Ghal region of Afghanistan.
b. Training
  1. The Detainee and other soldiers received military and physical training at the Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] Afghanistan facility.
  2. The Detainee stated that he received three days of weapons training at Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] . The Detainee further stated that he never shot the weapons and that training lasted only about one half hour each day.
  3. The Detainee stated that he knew about weapons prior to Camp Lajerg. He stated after attending school for ten years, he took the one-week mandatory weapons training in Tajikistan.
c. Connections/Associations
  1. The Detainee was introduced to an individual who was in command of the soldiers at Lajerg, Tajikistan. The individual told the Detainee to go into the military to work.
  2. The Detainee stated that this individual was a leader for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The Detainee also stated that there were only IMU leaders and followers at Camp Lajerg.
  3. The Foreign Government Agency established that the Detainee was recruited by an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Emissary in Tajikistan and was sent to Afghanistan.
  4. The Detainee denied membership with the Taliban regime but did admit to being a member with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
  5. The Detainee confirmed that he was a passenger on a truck that contained Taliban soldiers who had surrendered to Dostum’s forces at the Khawaja Ghal compound.
d. Other Relevant Data
  1. The Detainee denied ever receiving a military uniform.
  2. In Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] , Afghanistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan gave the Detainee new clothing which consisted of two long shirts with pants. They also gave him a black turban. The detainee denied knowing that the Taliban wore these clothing items.
  3. The Detainee stated he was captured, along with others, at Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] , Afghanistan.
  4. The Detainee believes he could be in trouble upon returning home to Tajikistan because he was with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
  5. The Detainee stated that he is willing to return to Tajikistan, as long as he faces no charges upon his return.
  6. The Detainee realized he was “tricked” by an individual upon arriving in Afghanistan.
  7. The detainee acknowledged that he has lied to previous investigators regarding training conducted at Camp Lajerg, Tajikistan.
  8. The Detainee was at Mazar-e-Sharif [sic] during the uprising at Khawaja Ghal, Afghanistan.
  9. According to the Detainee, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) ordered all IMU soldiers to surrender to Northern Alliance Forces.

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

a. When asked about weapons training at Camp Lajerg, the Detainee stated that he does not like to shoot and that the never received weapons training at Camp Lajerg. He collected wood for the fire.
b. The Detainee stated that before arriving in Afghanistan he had never heard of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
c. The Detainee stated that he is not an enemy of the United States.
d. The Detainee stated that he likes Cuba. The Detainee said that he would not fight against America, adding that he did not want to fight against anyone.

[edit] Repatriation

A Guantanamo captive named "Ruhniddin Sharopov" was repatriated to Tajikistan in March of 2007.[6]

[edit] Trial in Tajikistan

Radio Free Europe reported on August 7, 2007 that former Gunantanamo captives named "Ruhniddin Sharopov" and Mukit Vohidov were to stand trial in Tajikistan.[6] They were charged with

The report notes that another former Guantanamo captive, Ibrohim Nasriddinov, had recently been sentenced to 23 years for similar charges.[6]

Rukhiddin Sharopov and Mukit Vokhidov received sentences of 17 years on August 18, 2007.[7] The two men were convicted of serving as mercenaries.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ OARDEC, Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005, September 4, 2007
  3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Sobit Valikhonovich's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 39-44
  4. ^ Book, Spc. Timothy. The Wire (JTF-GTMO), "Review process unprecedented", March 10, 2006
  5. ^ transcript (.pdf) from Rukniddin Fayziddinovich Sharipov's Administrative Review Board - pages 107-112
  6. ^ a b c "Former Guantanamo Inmates Go On Trial In Tajikistan", Radio Free Europe, August 7, 2007. Retrieved on 2007--08-07. 
  7. ^ Bernard Hibbitts. "Tajikistan high court sentences ex-Guantanamo detainees", The Jurist, Saturday, August 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.