Abdul Haq Wasiq

Abdul Haq Wasiq is a citizen of Afghanistan currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 4. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1971, in Ghazni, Afghanistan.

Abdul Haq Wasiq arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on January 11, 2002, and has been held there for 10 years, 1 month and 15 days.[2][3][4]

Contents

Held aboard the USS Bataan

Former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef described being flown to the United States Navy's amphibious warfare vessel, the USS Bataan, for special interrogation.[5] Zaeef wrote that the cells were located six decks down, were only 1 meter by 2 meters. He wrote that the captives weren't allowed to speak with one another, but that he "eventually saw that Mullahs Fazal, Noori, Burhan, Wasseeq Sahib and Rohani were all among the other prisoners." Historian Andy Worthington, author of the The Guantanamo Files, identified Wasiq as one of the men Zaeef recognized. He identified Mullah Rohani as Gholam Ruhani, Mullah Noori as Norullah Noori and Mullah Fazal as Mohammed Fazil.

Combatant Status Review

Wasiq was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.[6] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee.

Wasiq's memo accused him of the following:[7]

a The detainee is associated with al Qaida and the Taliban.
  1. The detainee in a letter to his brother, included greetings to an al Qaida member.
  2. The detainee was the Taliban Deputy Minister of Intelligence.
  3. The detainee used a radio to communicate with the Taliban Chief of Intelligence.
b The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
  1. The detainee was involved in the operation to re-establish the front lines of Konduz, Afghanistan.

Administrative Review Board hearings

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.

First annual Administrative Review Board

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdul Haq Wasiq's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 18 July 2005.[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment
  1. The detainee served as Deputy Minister of Intelligence in the Taliban Intelligence Service.
  2. The detainee served as acting Minister of Intelligence when Qari Ahmadullah was away from Kabul performing his duties as governor of Tahar province
  3. The detainee was a participant in military operation in Konduz.
  4. Detainee used Icom radios and provided information on communications security procedures within the Taliban Intelligence Department.
b. Connections/Associations
  1. The detainee arranged to have an Egyptian al Qaida member, Hamza Zobir teach Taliban intelligence officers about intelligence work.
  2. The detainee gave a suspected Afghani arms smuggler a Codan high frequency radio set for safekeeping. The suspected arms smuggler allegedly had many weapons caches near Ghazni.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a. At the time of his capture, the detainee claims he was attempting to assist the U.S. in capturing Mullah Mohammed Omar. He claims if the Americans had not arrested him, then they might have captured Mullah Mohammed Omar and the detainee's superior, Qari Ahmadullah, head of Taliban Intelligence.
b. Detainee has very citations, primarily for non-aggressive infractions including physical training in cell, leading prayer; making excessive noise; and periodically refusing medications, food, and showers.

Press reports

An article in the Christian Science Monitor quotes Ahmadullah, who was told by Mohammed Omar to go back to Kandahar.[10] It quotes him:

"He called me twice to come to Kandahar. But I cannot go there easily, because a lot of people know me, and I am frightened they will capture me somewhere on the road.[10] So I sent my assistant Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq to Kandahar. Unfortunately he was captured by American agents in Ghazni."

References

  1. ^ OARDEC (2006-05-15). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006". United States Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  2. ^ JTF-GTMO (2007-03-16). "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba". Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/measurements/. Retrieved 2008-12-22.  mirror
  3. ^ "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)". Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhumanrights.ucdavis.edu%2Fresources%2Flibrary%2Fdocuments-and-reports%2Fgtmo_heightsweights.pdf&date=2009-12-21. 
  4. ^ Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Abdul Haq Wasiq". New York Times. http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/4-abdul-haq-wasiq. 
  5. ^ Abdul Salam Zaeef (2010). "Torture and Abuse on the USS Bataan and in Bagram and Kandahar: An Excerpt from "My Life with the Taliban" by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef". Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.andyworthington.co.uk%2F2010%2F12%2F12%2Ftorture-and-abuse-on-the-uss-bataan-and-in-bagram-and-kandahar-an-excerpt-from-my-life-with-the-taliban-by-mullah-abdul-salam-zaeef%2F&date=2010-12-16. "We were not permitted to talk to each other, but could see one another while the food was handed to us. I eventually saw that Mullahs Fazal, Noori, Burhan, Wasseeq Sahib and Rohani were all among the other prisoners, but still we could not talk to each other." 
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Haq Wasiq's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 13-24
  8. ^ Spc Timothy Book (Friday March 10, 2006). "Review process unprecedented". JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office. pp. 1. http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/wire/WirePDF/v6/TheWire-v6-i049-10MAR2006.pdf#1. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
  9. ^ OARDEC (18 July 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Wasiq, Abdul Haq". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 1–2. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000001-000098.pdf#1. Retrieved 2007-11-27. 
  10. ^ a b "Al Qaeda planning next phase". Christian Science Monitor. 2001-12-28. http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1228/p4s1-wosc.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 

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