| Polad Sabir Sirajov | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 6, 1975 |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| Alternate name | Poolad T Tsiradzho, Abd Al Zaher |
| ISN | 89 |
| Charge(s) | No charge |
| Status | Transferred to Slovakia[1] |
Polad Sabir Sirajov is a citizen of Azerbaijan formerly held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[2]
According to a complete list of the names of the remaining Guantanamo detainees published on April 20, 2006 Sirajov's name is spelled Poolad T. Tsiradzho.[3] Sirajov's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 89.
According to a second list of all the Guantanamo detainees, published on May 15, 2006, Sirajov was born on May 6, 1975.[4]
At the time of his release Poolad T Tsiradzho had been held at Guantanamo for eight years without ever been charged.[5]
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Sirajov graduated in 1992 from Turkey's Erciyes University.[2] He then worked, as a translator, for a Turkish construction company.[6]
According to his family Sirajov disappeared on February 16, 2001.[2] They are skeptical that he voluntarily joined up with a radical group because he was not particularly religious. The ICRC says he was captured at Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan.
A Summary of Evidence memo was drafted for his Administrative Review Board on March 7, 2005.
He was reported to have been released to the Netherlands.[7]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his tribunal. The memo listed the following allegations against him:[8]
- a. The detainee is a Taliban fighter:
- The detainee voluntarily traveled from Azerbaijan to Afghanistan to look for the Taliban, and admitted to fighting the Americans.
- The detainee admits to being a guard in the Taliban and being issued an AKM-7.62 rifle.
- b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
- The detainee was injured during an artillery attack by the Northern Alliance Forces.
- The detainee surrendered to Northern Alliances forces near Mazar-e-Sharif in November 2001.
Sirajov had a habeas corpus petition published on his behalf. But, although the Department of Defense published documents from the CSR Tribunals of 179 captives, they did not publish any of his habeas documents.[9]
In July 2008 the US District Court ruled that his habeas petition was moot.[10]
On December 30, 2008 United States Department of Justice official Daniel M. Barish informed the court that the DoJ had filed "factual returns" in seven habeas cases, including captive 89's.[11]
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.[12]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Poolad T. Tsiradzho's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 3 December 2004.[13]
The following primary factors favor continued detention:
- a. Commitment
- The detainee voluntarily traveled from Azerbaijan to Afghanistan to look for the Taliban, and admitted to fighting the Americans.
- The detainee admits to joining the Taliban as a guard, guarding food supplies.
- The detainee admits to being a guard in the Taliban and being issued an AKM-7.62 rifle.
- The detainee surrendered to Northern Alliance Forces near Mazar-E-Sharif in November 2001.
- b. Training
- The detainee trained at the al Farouq training camp.
- c. Connections/Associations
- Upon arriving in Herat, Afghanistan, the detainee met with a Taliban officer who sent him to Kandahar to meet a designated individual.
- The designated individual was the owner of a Taliban safe house.
- The detainee is associated with Abd Al Iraqi.
- Abd Al Iraqi is an al Qaida lieutenant and veteran Afghan fighter.
- d. Intent
- Detainee stated that he saw on television that there was a war in Afghanistan. He then went to Afghanistan to study and look for the Taliban.
- The detainee was injured during an artillery attack by Northern Alliance Forces.
- The detainee stated, "I was fighting, then I was wounded. I stopped fighting the Americans and went on vacation."
The following primary factors favor release or transfer:
- The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks in the U.S. prior to their execution on September 11th, and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the U.S. or U.S. interests.
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Poolad T. Tsiradzho's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 23 February 2006.[14] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.
Gamat Suleyman, the head of the Baku's Abu Bakr mosque, denied reports that said Polad had been recruited through the mosque.[15] Suleyman said that with thousands of worshipers he did not know all of them personally, but he denied that "Wahabism, which is followed by radicals, including the leader of the Al-Qaeda terror cell bin Laden, has never been propagandized at Abu Bakr."
Rafig Aliyev, chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations, stated that 54 people had been arrested in the Mosque in the past, and that Wahabism is still promoted there.[15] He expressed skepticism that a sole individual could contact bin Laden, without help.
The Azeri-Press Information Agency reported on May 25, 2006 that Sirajov requested that he be released to Russia, not Azerbaijan.[16]
The Azeri-Press Information Agency quotes Elchin Behbudov of the Azerbaijan Committee Against Torture, who stated on June 1, 2006, that Sirajov was receiving rehabilitation treatment in a third country.[17] Behbudov said that Sirajov was expectected to be returned to Russia, not Azeribaijan, when his treatment was complete.
Sirajov has been reported to be on his way to the Netherlands.[7][18]
The Azeri-Press Information Agency reported on March 4, 2009, that Sirajov was still in Guantanamo.[19] They reported that he was believed to be one of the 60 captives who have been cleared for release.
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