Nahir Shah

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Nahir Shah (also transliterated Zahir Shah) is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 1010. Intelligence analysts estimated he was born in 1973, in Kaplsa, Afghanistan.

[edit] Identity

The US Department of Defense was forced, by court order, to release the names of the captives taken in the "war on terror" who were held in Guantanamo. On April 20, 2006 they released a list of 558 names, nationalities and ID numbers, of all the captives whose status as "enemy combatants" had been reviewed by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2] Twenty-five days later they released a list of 759 names, nationalities, ID numbers, dates of birth, and places of birth, of all captives who had been held in military custody in Guantanamo.^[1]

• Captive 1010 was listed as Nahir Shah on the two official lists released on April 20, 2006 and May 15, 2006.^[2][1]
• Captive 1010 was called Zahir Shah in the transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, prepared in December 2005.^[3]

[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.^[4][5] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[6]

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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 Tribunals. 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.

Shah chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[3]

According to the BBC Shah is accused of being a member of Hizb-i-Islamia.^[7]

[edit] Witness requests

Nahir Shah requested three witnesses.

His Tribunal's President ruled that two of those witnesses were relevant. His Tribunal's President told Nahir Shah that the procedure Tribunals followed to get the testimony of off-Island witnesses failed, so his two remaining witnesses were ruled not reasonably available.

Nahir Shah was told that if the witnesses did become available his Tribunal would consider reopening his case.

Main article: witnesses requested by Guantanamo captives

[edit] Allegations

During his Tribunal Nahir Shah faced the following allegations^[3]:

a. -- The general summary of the allegations that establish an association with terrorism were missing from the transcript. --

1. The Detainee is a citizen of Afghanistan and identified as a Hizb-I Islamic ^[sic] (HIG) ^[sic] member, possible as a Deputy Commander.
2. The Detainee admits to keeping a Kalashnikov type weapon in his home.
3. The Detainee was captured in his home in Afghanistan by United States forces conducting Weapons Cache Recovery Operations.
4. Weapons including AK-47s, RPGs, and al 07mm recoilless rifle were discovered in Detainee's home by the United States forces.
5. The Detainee had keys to all the buildings in the compound.

[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.

Shah chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[8]

[edit] Enemy Combatant election form

The notes from Nahir Shah's Assisting Military Officer's Enemy Combatant election form state that they met for 30 minutes on November 15, 2005. He described Nahir Shah as "very polite".

[edit] The following primary factors favorcontinued detention

a. Connections/Associations

1. Due to a financial dispute with an enemy of the family, the detainee claims the individual made false accusations ot military authorities claiming that he was in possession of weapons at his home.
2. The detainee was identified as a Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin ^[sic] member who possibly held the rank of Deputy Commander. There were a large number of weapons in the compound in which he was captured.
3. The detainee became angry when accused of having a connection with someone who was in the Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin ^[sic] or someone who was considered a terrorist.

b. Other Relevant Data

1. The detainee's route of egress from Afghanistan is as follows: The detainee traveled from Tagab to Kabul to Kandahar, and then to Quetta, Pakistan. From Quetta, the detainee traveled to the Taftan area of the Iranian-Pakistani border region.^[9]
2. Joint Military personnel entered the Detainee's home and began a search for contraband items. The detainee was told that weapons had been found in his house but he countered that they were actually found at his brother's home.
3. After the detainee was seized, he recanted his original story regarding ownership of the weapons found at his house. The detainee admitted that only two of the weapons were found at his house. One weapon was a Kalashnikov and the other was a British weapon.
4. During this later recant, the detainee stated that the two weapons were used for bird hunting and went on to say that any additional weapons may be the property of his brother and that if there were any weapons, there ^[sic] were acquired from a [[Mujahadeen that was associated with his brother.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer

a.	The detainee insisted that he had been wrongly accused and implicated with the weapons.
b.	The detainee has denied ever being associated with the Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin [sic] or knowing somebody who was.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b} list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006
3. ^ ^{a b c} Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Nahir Shah'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 27-35
4. ^ Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirror
5. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ Pentagon reveals Guantanamo names, BBC, March 4, 2006
8. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Nahir Shah's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 266-275 - November 2005
9. ^ Iran and Pakistan are on the West and East of Afghanistan. Afghanistan's borders with these two countries are on separate sides of the country.