Abdul Ghafour (Guantanamo detainee 954)

Abdul Ghafour is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Abdul Ghafour's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 954. American intelligence analysts estimate that Abdul Ghafour was born in 1962, in Pattia Province ^[sic] , Afghanistan.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor. Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[2]

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

To comply with a Freedom of Information Act request, during the winter and spring of 2005, the Department of Defense released 507 memoranda. Those 507 memoranda each contained the allegations against a single detainee, prepared for their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The detainee's name and ID numbers were redacted from all but one of the memoranda. However 169 of the memoranda had the detainee's ID hand-written on the top right hand of the first page corner. When the Department of Defense complied with a court order, and released official lists of the detainee's names and ID numbers it was possible to identify who those 169 were written about. Abdul Ghafour was one of those 169 detainees.^[3]

[edit] Allegations

a. The detainee is a member of the Taliban.

1. The detainee is the former district officer for the Taliban in Zormat, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee ordered an individual to emplace weapons caches in the Zormat district for use against U.S. forces.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners.

1. The detainee commanded a group of troops responsible for the 20-21 July 2002 bombings against the U.S. base in Gardez, Afghanistan.
2. The detainee fired on U.S. forces when they attempted to enter his property.

[edit] Testimony

Ghafour chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[4]

[edit] Response to the allegations

• In response to the allegation that he was a member of the Taliban, Abdul Ghafour had dictated a statement to his Personal Representative, where he said:

  "I came fiom Pakistan to Afghanistan to run a private school ten years before my capture and ran that school for ten years."

• In response to the allegation that he was the former district officer of the Taliban Abdul Ghafour explained that he was never the Taliban's district officer. That he had never been the district officer. Rather, he explained, that when the Rabbini government that preceded the Taliban was collapsing, Rabbini's District Officer fled. The long-standing tradition in his area was that the local elders resolved disputes. In the absence of the District Officer, the elders stepped in, and resolved disputes. As the most senior elder he had taken a lead role, until the Taliban arrived and appointed their own, new District Manager. He had never been the District Manager, and had never been part of the Taliban.
• Abdul Ghafour disputed the allegation that he ordered the emplacement of weapons caches. He couldn't imagine how the allegation arose. He stated he didn't own any weapons.
• Abdul Ghafour denied any knowledge of, or responsibility for, the attack on Gardez of July 20, 2002. He disputed ever leading any troops. He pointed out that the Police Chief of Gardez was also in captivity in Guantanamo, and he requested he be asked to appear, and testify whether he had ever been charged with any crimes in Gardez.
• Abdul Ghafour acknowledged firing when he was woken in the middle of the night, and heard disturbing noises outside. He testified there were a lot of thieves in Afghanistan, and he thought his household compound was being robbed. So he fired his weapon into the air, so the thieves would know he was armed.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

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.

Ghafour chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[5]

[edit] The following factors favor continued detention:

a. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee was the former district officer for the Taliban in Zormat, and was part of the leadership for the Zormat district Taliban network under Saifaullah Rahman Mansur
2. Saifur Rahman was the deputy commander of the Kargha garrison west of Kabul during the Taliban rule. He returned to his native Zurmat ^[sic] district in Paktia after the Taliban defeat.

b. Detainee Actions and Statements

1. The detainee was the commander of a group of 50 former Taliban in Neka, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. The group was part of Saifullah Rahman Mansour’s troops.
2. In late July 2002, Mansour’s group attacked locatoins in Gardez and Zormat including the United States’ compound in Gardez.
3. On 07 Feb 03, when United States and Afghan Military Forces attempted to search the Detainee’s home, the Detainee went to the roof and fired shots from his AK-47. United States and Afghan Military Forces returned fire.
4. The detainee’s neighbor fired upon the forces and United States and Afghan Military Forces returned fire to both locations.
5. After a firefight, United States forces negotiated with the detainee to surrender.

c. Other Relevant Data: The detainee denied having any position as a district officer in Zormat, though he was a leader at a time when the area was technically not a district.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

The detainee stated the occupation by United States forces was very good because he felt safer with United States forces providing security.

[edit] Press reports

On July 12, 2006 the magazine Mother Jones provided excerpts from the transcripts of a selection of the Guantanamo detainees.^[6] Ghafour was one of the detainees profiled. According to the article his transcript contained the following comment:

"I have a mother, my wife, kids, sister, and myself in my house. If I fired at Americans it meant suicide for my family. That means destroying and killing your own family…. I was not that crazy and not that stupid to shoot at Americans from my own roof. That’d mean I killed my own kids and family…. If I had known they were people from the government or they were Americans, this would have never happened. I was still thinking they were thieves and they came to rob us…. I don’t get it. Why am I in Cuba?"

[edit] References

1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. United States Department of Defense (March 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
3. ^ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Abdul Ghafour's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 4, 2004 page 198
4. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Ghafour'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 91-99
5. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Abdul Ghafour's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 9
6. ^ "Why Am I in Cuba?", Mother Jones (magazine), July 12, 2006