| Swar Khan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 (age 41–42) Khost |
| Released | 2006-10-11 Afghanistan |
| Citizenship | Afghanistan |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| Alternate name | Swatkhan Bahar |
| ISN | 933 |
| Status | Repatriated |
Swar Khan also known as Swatkhan Bahar (born c. 1970) is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1]
Khan was a security official for the Hamid Karzai government prior to his capture.[2] His boss told reporters that his capture was due to false denunciations from a jealous rival, whose sons worked as interpreters for the Americans, and that he had tried to tell the Americans he should be set free—without success.
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Khan had a writ of habeas corpus, Swat Khan v. Bush, filed on his behalf in 2005.[3] He was represented by James Wyda and Martin Bahl, Federal Public Defenders in Maryland.
Khan was transferred to Afghanistan on Oct. 11, 2006.[4]
On June 15, 2008 the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo detainees. McClatchy reporters interviewed Khan. [2]
Tom Lasseter, the lead McClatchy reporter, wrote that while his Tribunal President ruled that even though he had offered their phone numbers the witnesses he requested were not reasonably available but McClatchy reporters "had little trouble" phoning his boss at the Interior Ministry, Mohammed Mustafa. Mustafa confirmed he had been falsely denounced by a rival in the Afghan security services.
"There was no proof against him, nothing indicating he was involved with these sorts of activities," Mustafa said. "I went to the Americans' base and asked them to release him, but they wouldn't."
Khan told about being beaten in Bagram, and being hung from the ceiling by his wrists in an isolation cell.[2]
Khan described making two suicide attempts in Guantanamo.[2] Following his repatriation the Governor of his Province offered him another position as a Police officer, but he declined.