| Gholam Ruhani | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 36–37) Ghazni, Afghanistan |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| ISN | 3 |
| Charge(s) | No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) |
| Status | Repatriated |
Gholam Ruhani is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 3.
A widely distributed Associated Press story said that Ruhani was a clerk for the Taliban intelligence service.[2] AP quoted from Ruhani's testimony before his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.
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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.[3] 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 Ruhani as one of the men Zaeef recognized. He identified Mullah Wasseeq as Abdul-Haq Wasiq, Mullah Noori as Norullah Noori and Mullah Fazal as Mohammed Fazil.
Ruhani was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.[5] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo for his hearing lists the following allegations:[6]
- a. Detainee is a member of the Taliban.
- Detainee admitted being a member of the Taliban. A supervisor of Taliban Civilian Intelligence recruited the detainee into the Taliban.
- Detaiene served as the driver for a Taliban Intelligence Service member and performed clerical work for the Intelligence Service in Kabul, AF, from 1999 or 2000 until his capture by U.S. forces in December 2001. The detainee was required to carry a pistol in this job.
- Detainee was captured with a senior Taliban intelligence member, Abdul Haq Wasiq, by U.S. forces on 9 Dec 2001. Detainee was in possession of 7.62MM rounds when captured.
Ruhani's Personal Representative read a statement prepared by Ruhani.[7] Summarized transcripts (.pdf)], from Gholam Ruhani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 7–12</ref>
Unlike most of the other transcripts from captive's Combatant Status Review Tribunal Ruhani's transcript did not record the allegations against him.
Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.[8]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Gholam Ruhani's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 2 May 2005.[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Commitment
- Detainee admitted being a member of the Taliban. A supervisor of Taliban Civilian Intelligence recruited the detainee into the Taliban.
- Detainee served as the driver for a Taliban Intelligence Service member and performed clerical work for the Intelligence Service in Kabul, AF, from 1999 or 2000 until his capture by U.S. forces in December 2001. The detainee was required to carry a pistol in this job.
- Detainee was captured with a senior Taliban intelligence member, Abdul Haq Wasiq, by U.S. forces on 9 December 2001. The detainee was in possession of 7.62MM rounds when captured.
- During confinement the detainee has made death threates to guards.
- b. Connections / Associations
- For years the detainee worked for the Taliban in the Operations Department of the Ministry of Intelligence in Kabul. The detainee supervised several associates.
- The detainee and his 13-14 associated were members of a quasi-police organization affiliated with Taliban Internal Affairs. The detainee and others in the unit were armed.
- The detainee's sister is married to a Taliban Intelligence Officer.
- The Taliban Chief of Intelligence led a group of 600 to 700 armed Taliban fighters in an Afghan province.
- The detainee couriered a letter between the Taliban Chief of Intelligence and a Taliban military commander.
- The Taliban military commander is associated with Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Terrorist Organization Reference Guide, states that HIG has long established ties with Usama Bin Laden and has staged attacks in attempts to force United States troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- c. Intent
- After the fall of Kabul the detainee and his associated fled the city in a pick-up truck armed with two RPG-7's, twenty AK-47's and two PK machine guns.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a. The detainee claims his involvement with the Taliban should not be viewed as synonymous to the Taliban's ideology. The detainee claims he joined the Taliban because it was a matter of political and survival necessity.
- b. The detainee denied having knowledge of the attacks in the United States prior to their execution on September 11 and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or its interests.
Ruhani chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[10]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Gholam Ruhani's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 22 March 2006.[11] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
The following primary factors favor continued detention
- a. Commitment
- When the Taliban captured Kabul, Afghanistan, they conscripted many people. The detainee did not want to go to war so he took a job with the ministry of intelligence in Kabul.
- b. Connections/Associations
- A senior member of civilian intelligence offered the detainee a job because he needed the assistance.
- A source identified a director of the Taliban Intelligence Service and the detainee as his deputy. They were responsible for counter-terrorism operations and terrorism believed to be connected to organized crime.
- The detainee stated he was the officer in charge of the operations department in the ministry of intelligence. The detainee noted that the operations department had 15 associates.
- The detainee's sister is married to a Taliban Intelligence Officer.
- The detainee stated that he is very close with a senior leader in the Taliban Intelligence Service.
- The detainee stated that a director in the ministry of intelligence quickly promoted him. The detainee did not receive any formal training for his new position.
- The detainee spent the last four years before his capture working in the operations department of the ministry of intelligence in Kabul for the Taliban. The detainee was in charge of crime scenes and small case investigations.
- The detainee left Kabul on the last day that the Taliban still had control. The detainee was able to get a ride from a person who worked for the minister of interior criminal division. This person was traveling in a Toyota pick up truck with 14 associates who were armed with two rocket-propelled grenades (RPG-7s), 20 Kalashnikov rifles and two PK machine guns.
- The detainee couriered a letter between the Taliban Chief of Intelligence and a Taliban military commander.
- The detainee attended a meeting with a military commander, a senior Taliban intelligence member, a couple of Americans, and the Americans' translator. Shortly after the meeting, the Taliban intelligence member and the detainee were arrested.
- c. Other Relevant Data
- There was no specialized training given to civilian intelligence officers. It was assumed that officers already knew how to use pistols.
- The detainee worked with 13 to 14 men. The detainee did not have an official title, wore ordinary civilian clothes, and carried a Russian made pistol.
- The detainee was issued a concealed weapons permit and had the permit on his person at the time of his capture.
- The detainee believed he was arrested because he had a pistol on his hip.
The following primary factors favor release or transfer
- a. The detainee denies any prior knowledge of the attacks on 11 September 2001 and claims to have no personal knowledge of al Qaida or its operatives.
- b. The detainee had never heard of al Qaida until the Americans started bombing in Afghanistan. The detainee thinks Usama bin Laden brought war to Afghanistan.
- c. The detainee claims to be no more than a simple shopkeeper who helped Americans.
- d. The detainee stated that his only wish was to return to Afghanistan and assist his ailing father with operating the family appliance store in Kabul.
- e. The detainee explained that when he identified the head of Taliban Intelligence as his brother-in-law that it was a lie to shut up the interrogator.
- f. The detainee explained that his work in the security office was simply to perform manual labor and drive different people in the office to their destinations.
- g. The detainee denied any intelligence collecting activities during his work with the Taliban.
- h. The detainee stated that he worked for the people, not the Taliban.
- i. The detainee claims his involvement with the Taliban should not be viewed as synonymous to the Taliban's ideology. The detainee claims he joined the Taliban because it was a matter of political and survival necessity.
A captive named "Ghulam Ruhani" was transferred to Afghan custody in "a U.S-sponsored lockup near Kabul.[4] An American sponsored wing of the Pul-e-charkhi prison was opened near Kabul, in mid 2007. This 316 cell prison was built at a cost of $30 million, to enable captives to be transferred from Guantanamo and the Bagram Theater internment facility.
According to an article by Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, Ghulam Ruhani had initially been held with David Hicks and John Walker Lindh, aboard a USN warship.[4] Ruhani was one of the first twenty captives transferred to Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, whose images were captured in a widely republished picture of kneeling captives.
On November 25, 2008 the Department of Defense published a list of when Guantanamo captives were repatriated.[12] According to that list he was repatriated on December 12, 2007.
The Center for Constitutional Rights reports that all of the Afghans repatriated to Afghanistan from April 2007 were sent to Afghan custody in the American built and supervised wing of the Pul-e-Charkhi prison near Kabul.[13]
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