| Sadik Ahmad Turkistani | |
|---|---|
| Born | Saudi Arabia |
| Arrested | 2001 |
| Released | 2006-06-24 |
| Citizenship | China |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| ISN | 491 |
| Charge(s) | no charge, extrajudicial detention |
| Status | determined not have been an "enemy combatant" |
Sadik Ahmad Turkistani is an ethnic Uyghur born and raised in Saudi Arabia and an opponent of the Taliban. A prisoner of the Taliban, he was briefly freed when the they were overthrown, but was then promptly captured by the Americans and shipped to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[1] He war repatriated to Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2006.[2]
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Turkistani was imprisoned by the Taliban for four and a half years, because he was alleged to have been involved in a plot to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Turkistani admits being opposed to the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but he denies that he was involved in any plots.[1]
During a debate on Senator Lindsey Graham's motion to prevent detainees having access to the US courts Senator Jeff Bingeman had several Washington Post articles on the plight of the Uyghur detainees read into the Senate Record.[3] One of the articles focused on Turkistani's plight.[1]
The Washington Post reports that Turkistani was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[4] They report that Turkistani is one of several still not released.
On May 10, 2006 Radio Free Asia quoted from an interview with Abu Bakker Qassim, one of the five Uighurs who had been transported to Albania on May 5, 2006.[5] Qassim said he left four innocent detainees behind at Camp Iguana: a Russian, an Algerian, a Libyan, and a man who had been born in Saudi Arabia to Uighur exiles.
Turkistani is reported to have told his lawyer, Sabin Willett, that he and fellow prisoners had planted a garden with seeds saved from their rations.[6] [7] Turkistani and the other men in Camp Iguana had to cultivate their clandestine garden with plastic spoons.
On June 25, 2006 14 men were transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia.[8] While some press reports described these men as 14 Saudis, others described them as 13 Saudis, and a Turkistani who had been resident in Saudi Arabia.[9]
Turkistani was one of nine former Taliban prisoners the Associated Press pointed out had gone from Taliban custody to American custody.[10]
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