Unknown Tajiki captive in Guantanamo

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On March 3, 2006 the United States Department of Defense was forced, by court order, to release the names of all the Guantanamo captives. The court order also oblighted the DoD to release the transcripts from the Captive's Combatant Status Review Tribunals.

However, one Tajiki captive attended his Tribunal, but his name was missing from his transcripts. He testified that he was about 23 years old when he was captured.

[edit] Identity

The DoD acknowledges holding twelve Tajikis in Guantanamo.

Further information: Tajik captives held in Guantanamo

The Tajik captives were all all listed on the list of 759 captives made public on May 15, 2006.[1] Six of the Tajik captives were released prior to the initiation of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals in August 2004, so they were not listed on the list of 558 captives whose status was considered by a Tribunal, made public on April 20, 2006.[2]

[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.[3][4] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.[5]
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.

The transcript from the unknown Tajiki captive is eight page long.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
  3. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
  4. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from the Unknown Tajiki captive in Guantanamo's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 71-78