Sada Jan

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Sada Jan is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 1035. The Department of Defense reports he was born in Konar, Afghanistan. Guantanamo intelligence analysts provided the date of birth, or an estimated year of birth for all but 20 of the first 759 acknowledged captives. Sada Jan is one of the 20 whose age has not been made public.

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Sada Jan Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 5 November 2004.[5] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban:
  1. The Detainee served as the governor of the Narang district while the Taliban was in power.
  2. During a raid conducted on his residence 2 May 2003, the Detainee was apprehended in possession of assorted Taliban paraphernalia; items for making improvised explosives, and information about military posts.
  3. The Detainee gained experience with weapons during the Russian jihad.
b. The Detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. A witness observed the detainee discussing rocket attacks on coalition forces, as well as transporting missiles.
  2. The Detainee fired rockets at coalition forces.
  3. The Detainee provided weapons to the Taliban.

[edit] Transcript

Sada Jan chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[6] The Department of Defense released a 13 page summarized transcript on March 3, 2006.

[edit] Sada Jan's reports of abuse

Sada Jan reported a serious case of abuse, when he was taken into American custody.[7] He also reported he believed he was falsely denounced by someone who received a bounty::

"I have nothing to say because I'm still saying I'm innocent. I should not be here. I shouldn't even be at this Tribunal. I'm innocent, and I don't know why I'm here. I'm requesting that I'm still innocent. I have small children at home, and I still want to support the new government Actually, the Taliban was very oppressive. You are good people and respect human rights. Whoever sold me took money from the Americans. Whoever reported me, I'm thinking, was a friend of the government. When Americans came to my house, they said lay down on the floor. I laid down. They took me away for two days and beat me up badly. I'm still sick since that time. I'm not blaming you. The new people do not want the new government growing up. Americans hit me and beat me up so badly, I believe that I'm sexually dysfunctional. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep with my wife or not. Since that time, I'm really sick. I can't control my urination, and sometimes I put toilet paper down there so I won't wet my pants. I will not say anything if there is justice and honesty. I'll leave that up to you. I just say I'm very innocent"

[edit] Sada Jan opening statement

Sada Jan repeated that he was innocent, and that he shouldn't be at Guantanamo. He said he was very worried about his children.

Sada Jan said he supports the Karzai government. He said the Taliban were very oppressive, and he hated them as much as he hated the Russians.

Sada Jan said he believes he was denounced by someone who opposed the Karzai government.

[edit] Sada Jan's testimony in response to Tribunal officer's questions

Sada Jan confirmed that he was a carpenter during the Russian jihad, just as he was during the Taliban's regime.

Sada Jan tried to explain what his job as a district manager consisted of. He said the position was a new one, created by the Karzai government. He said:

"As a district officer I would try to bring security to the district and peace fo the people. If someone had charges against each other, I would take care of that. It was my job."

Sada Jan said he wanted to restore the Afghan monarchy.

Jan stated that his capture was not America's fault and that the Americans did not know him. He said the Americans found no weapons when they searched his home.

When asked who he thought denounced him Sada Jan said:

"I am thinking that would be on of the members of the Taliban or HiG organization. These are the people playing games for their own benefit. They reported me to take money from the Americans. I'm thinking it was one of them.

Pashat, the district Sada Jan administered, is a city in the Province of Kunar. He had been district officer there for 8 months. His home was in Nowabad.

When Sada Jan was asked about the Derunta Camp, which one of the Tribunal officers thought was near his district, he thought he was talking about a hydroelectric project.

Sada Jan confirmed that he had lived in Afghanistan all his life. He had spent some time in the Baichina refugee camp.

Sada Jan said he had never heard of someone named "Red Eye".

Sada Jan said the Taliban never tried to recruit him.

Sada Jan said part of the reasons he was chosen as a district officer was that he was a protege of Haji Jahndat [sic] . He said: "...security had been very bad here. Five of the people from the council were killed in the Pashat district. There were a lot of thieves. and I was there to keep security..."

Sada Jan said he couldn't understand why his mentor didn't come to his assistance when he was arrested.

When the Tribunal's President repeated the question of why his mentor didn't come to help him Sada Jan replied:

"I don't think at that time, the Americans were listening to anybody. They were only listening to the report of the document more [sic] . There was this man named Ruhalou who was captured, and the whole province went to try to help release him. They tried by a bail bond, but he's still in jail. People came from 4 provinces to help him, but they did not listen. One day, I had the documents proving I was working for to the government. They had them here, but I don't know what they did with them. They keep asking me to cooperate, and tell whatever I know, and they'r [sic] still holding me up in prison.

[edit] Testimony

Sada Jan's response to the allegation that he was the Taliban's Governor of the Narang district was:

  • He worked for the Karzai government, not the Taliban.
  • There is no Narang disting in Afghanistan. He was a district officer in the Pashat district.

Sada Jan denied the allegation that he possessed Taliban items. He challenged the reasonableness of this allegation.

[edit] Testimony on behalf of Taj Mohammed

Another Guantanamo captive from Konar, Taj Mohammed, asked Sada Jan to testify on his behalf.[8]

[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.

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

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee was a sub-commander during the Russian jihad.
  2. The detainee was a former Taliban Governor for the Village of Narang.
  3. The detainee was involved in the mob takeover of the Konar Province Governor's Office.
  4. The detainee attended a meeting to appoint senior government positions in Konar Province. The detainee stated all appointed personnel were affiliated with the Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist organization.
  5. The detainee was a bodyguard for Haji Jan Dad Khan, the Governor of Konar Province.
  6. The detainee was Pashat District Manager. His office managed security for the District of Pashat. The transfer of weapons occurred with the Detainee's office. The security forces within his office had weapons including machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and small radios.
  7. The detainee was referred to as commander in a letter addressed to him, requesting a receipt for a transfer of weapons from his office to another.
  8. The detainee was involved in transporting missiles and had knowledge of attacks on the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
  9. The detainee was responsible for rocket attacks on the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
  10. The detainee reportedly took rockets into the house of a Taliban Commander.
  11. At the time of the detainee's capture, numerous documents were found in his house that implicated him as being Taliban. Other items found in the detainee's house included document making items, items for making improvised explosives, Arabic instructional materials, Taliban cards and documents, Taliban hand stamps and affiliated documents and a report with information about military posts.
  12. The detainee had a Jamiat-e-Dawa al Quran Wasounab/Islamic Emirate passport for security officers with his name on it. He also had multiple blank copies of passports.
  13. At the time of the detainee's capture, two documents were found in the detainee's house listing the detainee as a camp commander.
  14. At the time of the detainee's capture, signed promotion orders were found in the detainee's house that promoted him to the rank of Colonel.
  15. At the time of the detainee's capture, a letter was found in the detainee's house stating the detainee had 28 people with weapons that he wanted to send to Jan Dad Khan.
  16. At the time of the detainee's capture, a list of 36 names was found in the detainee's house stating the detainee was their commander. The list had the detainee's personal seal at the bottom.
  17. The detainee signed a document stating he had 120 former Khalis [sic] individuals plus weapons.
  18. The detainee stated that he had a shoulder-fired rocket and several other weapons in his house along with loaded magazines for each weapon. The detainee stated that he hid the rocket in the foothills near his house.
  19. The detainee was a member of Jamiat-e-Dawa al Quran Wasounah and had several related pamphlets and books.
  20. The detainee knows details of the chain of command for a branch of Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist organization.
  21. The detainee knows complicated details about opium and lumber smuggling operations from the Konar Province, Afghanistan to Pakistan.
b. Training
The detainee knows how to fire an AK-47 and a shoulder-fired rocket. The detainee fired these types of weapons during the Russian jihad.
c. Connections/Associations
The detainee was given his job of Pashat District Manager because of his close relationship with his former commander.

[edit] The following primary factors release or transfer:

a. The detainee served as a lieutenant in the Northern Alliance military when Rabbanni [sic] was President.
b. The detainee stated that he hates the Taliban and was loyal to the current Karzai government.
c. If released, the detainee wants to return to his job with the government.
d. The detainee stated he used to work for the Afghani government and he approves of the American involvement in Afghanistan.
e. The detainee stated he knows the Americans are helping Afghanistan.
f. The detainee stated he is pleased with American involvement in Afghanistan.
g. The detainee considers the Taliban to be oppressors who have contributed to a poor situation in Afghanistan.
h. The detainee stated Usama bin Laden is not from Afghanistan and he does not believe what he says.

[edit] Interview with his Assisting Military Officer

The Assisting Military Officer reported to the Board that he interviewed the captive for forty minutes on November 21, 2005.

[edit] Responses to the factors

  • Sada Jan denied being a deputy commander, or sub-commander, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He said he didn't believe in jihad. Although his brother did.
  • Sada Jan responded to the allegation that he had served as the Taliban Governor of his village, by first pointing out villages don't have Governors, and second, that as someone who hated the Taliban, they never would have appointed him to any kind of post, and he wouldn't have agreed to serve.
  • Sada Jan acknowledged that when the Taliban fled he was part of a group of anti-Taliban forces who occupied the former Taliban Governor of Konar's office. Hamid Karzai appointed Jan Dad, the leader of his group, the new Governor.
  • Sada Jan clarified that he had never accused all the officials in Konar were members of the Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin. He acknowledged telling interrogators that he believed the Chielf of Police was a Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin member. And he had heard that the Administrative Chief may also have been a member. He expressed his frustration that he had informed his interrogators "in order to help them find the bad guys", and the information had been distorted and turned against him. Further, he denied being part of the meeting, as a member of Jan Dad's bodyguard he waited outside.
  • Sada Jan acknowledged being a member of the bodyguard of Haji Jan Dad Khan, the first Governor Hamid Karzai appointed in Konar.
  • Sada Jan acknowledged being appointed the District Manager, or Administrative Chief, of Pashat. He said his total armory consisted of one machine gun, one rocket launcher, and four AK-47s, and one radio. He said that when he returned from a trip to Kabul the Chief of Police told him that American forces had taken the machine gun, and he had taken the rest of the weapons under his control.
  • Sada Jan said that he had seen the letter referred to in the allegation. He said the letter dated back to at least fifteen years earlier, because it was written when an organization called Jamiat Dawa was active. This letter was written long before he was appointed the District Manager, and has nothing to do with him.
  • Sada Jan denied transporting missiles, and denied any knowledge of an attack on the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
  • Sada Jan stated he had never heard of the Asadabad Mission Support Site.
  • Sada Jan denied taking rockets into the house of a Taliban Commander. He pointed out that all the Taliban had fled, and he denied possessing any rockets.
  • Sada Jan described the claim that Taliban documents were found in his home as a lie. He acknowledged having documents to distribute on behalf of Hamid Karzai's government.
  • Sada Jan denied having any Jamiat-e-Dawa passports, or other documents. And he pointed out that, even if he had them, that organization had collapsed fifteen years earlier, so these alleged passports would be useless.
  • Sada Jan denied the existence of documents listing him as a "camp commander". He pointed out that there were no camps in his village.
  • Sada Jan said that any letter promoting him to Colonel must have dated back to the time when his brother was a member of the anti-Soviet resistance. As a reward his brother was given these commissions, which would have taken effect when the Jamiat Dawa came into power. But the Jamiat Dawa didn't come into power. When his brother took his commission to Kabul, when Rabbani's coalition came to power, he was told that it was worthless.
  • There was considerable discussion of Sada Jan's answers to the allegation that he sent 28 fighters to Jan Dad Khan.
    • Sada Jan pointed out that Jan Dad Khan was his boss, not vice versa.
    • If he had sent fighters, it must have been over fifteen years ago, during the time of the Soviet occupation, when all the resistance groups were receiving support from the CIA. He said it was too long ago for him to remember.
    • A Board member suggested that the authority to transfer 28 men suggested he held some kind of rank, to which Sada Jan responded that none of the resistance groups used formal ranks.
    • Sada Jan said that he didn't remember the transfer, and suggested that the letter may have been written to his brother.
  • Sada Jan denied the allegation that his home contained a list of 36 fighters who answered to him.
  • Sada Jan denied signing a document stating he had 120 Khalis fighters, and their weapons, at his disposal. He suggested, again, that it dated back to the time of the Soviet occupation.
  • Sada Jan repeated his denial of having a cache of weapons at his home, and that the armory attached to his office was confiscated during his time in Kabul.
  • Sada Jan again repeated that Jamiat-Dawa had not existed for fifteen years. He acknowledged that his Tribal leader Jan Dad had been a member of that organization, but that had been fifteen years ago, before the time of the Taliban, and he was now a trusted member of Karzai's government.
  • Sada Jan denied knowing the Hizb-I-Islami [sic] chain of command, and stated that, in his opinion, Gulbuddin Hekhmaytr was "...a killer, ruthless and a criminal. I hate him the same way I hate the Russians and I don't have anything to do with him and I will never have anything to do with him.
  • Sada Jan denied knowing anything about opium smuggling.
  • Sada Jan denied knowing how to fire an RPG. He denied ever firing one.
  • Sada Jan confirmed his loyalty to Jan Dad had played a role in his appointment, and he expressed regret that he had accepted the responsibility, because it made him a visible target to whoever falsely denounced him

[edit] Response to Board questions

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.[10][11] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 19 December 2005.

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 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. ^ OARDEC (5 November 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Jan, Sada page 31. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  6. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summarized Statement pages 1-13. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  7. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Sada Jan's account of abuse page 2. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  8. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Taj Mohammed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 49-58
  9. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Sada Jan's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 22
  10. ^ OARDEC (19 December 2005). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 1035 pages 31-32. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ OARDEC (23 November 2005). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 1035 pages 33-41. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.