Sharbat (Guantanamo detainee 1051)

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Sharbat
Born:	1973 (age 34–35) Khairo Village, Afghanistan
Detained at:	Guantanamo
ID number:	1051
Conviction(s):	no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Status	Cleared for release on October 7, 2005

Sharbat is an Afghani held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 1051. American Counter-terrorism analysts estimated he was born in 1973, in Khairo Village, Afghanistan.

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a 3 x 6 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands cuffed and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.^[2] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.^[3]

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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Sharbat's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 2 November 2004.^[4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

a The detainee committed a belligerent act or supported hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners. The detainee was captured in the Khowst Province, Afghanistan. The detainee was arrested within 500 meters of the site of and [sic] Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on a patrol. The detainee is a known Anti-Coalition Militant who took pictures of AMF soldiers and U.S. persons and turned them over to the al Qida office in Wana, Pakistan. The detainee was involved in the shooting of a former AMF soldier. The detainee is a member of Hezb-E Islami, Gulbuddin (HIG). The HIG is listed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Terrorist Organization Reference Guide as having long-established ties with Usama Bin Laden. The detainee held a meeting of Senior HIG officials at his residence on 10 December 2003, to discuss a planned rocket attack on the Loya Jirga. The detainee was actively seeking new recruits and former HIG members to join the organization in the Kabul, Afghanistan are in September 2003.

[edit] Transcript

Sharbat chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[5] On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a five page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[6]

[edit] Clarification of the meaning of "AMF"

Prior to the Tribunal getting into considering Sharbat's status the Tribunal President wanted to clarify what the acronym AMF used in the allegation really meant. "For the record AMF is considered a coalition partner of the US."

[edit] Responses to the allegations

• Sharbat confirmed that he and his brother were goatherds, who were captured when they were searching for a lost herd of goats.
• Sharbat testified that he was unaware of any IED attacks. He never heard it. He never saw it.
• Sharbat denied being against America. He denied any affiliation with the USA's enemies. He denied taking any pictures. He denied having a camera.
• Sharbat denied any involvement in the shooting of a former AMF soldier.
• Sharbat denied membership in the Hezb-E Islami Gulbuddin. After prompting from his Personal Representative, he repeated something he had told his Personal Representative -- that there was no Hezb-E Islami Gulbuddin presence in his area.
• Sharbat denied the allegation that Hezb-E Islami officials ever met at his residence. He was a Kuchi, from a nomadic ethnic group, who lived in tents.
• Sharbat denied recruiting for the Hezb-E Islami in Kabul in September 2003. He testified that he had only ever traveled to Kabul once, long ago, when his mother was hospitalized there.

[edit] Opening statement

When asked if he had any more opening comments Sharbat replied:

"Yes I [sic] will do. I would like to find out (inaudible). Please let me go home. I have never been an enemy of America and never will be. Please help me to go home, they release [sic] my brother from the (inaudible) and they brought me here. I have nothing to do with this. It is all just wrongful allegations. They brought me here to Cuba. I tell you I have nothing to do with this. I am worried for you guys [sic] , nothing else in my life is more important than taking care of the animals. Of course there were a lot of things going on, a lot of people maybe telling you a lot of things but that is wrong. Please, I ask for my release. I'm not upset with you, I'm not made with you. Please release me to my kids, to my home to do my duties again. I never harmed anyone in my life. I never (inaudible) people. I just worked hard to support my family. We were happy when America came to Afghanistan, we [sic] hoping to repair our country to find a decent life and daily work to support our family. I have no dispute with anyone in my entire life. I don't have any enemy here or back home. I don't have a problem with anybody in my life. I am also a very poor guy. You guys are always welcome; you always have the right to ask about me and the place I live, who I am, what I did in my life, what my duty life [sic] . You guys always have the right to ask. I never asked for any government. I never worked for anybody. My life was always working taking care of the animals from one place to another."

[edit] Response to Tribunal questions

• When asked if he had a weapon Sharbat confirmed his family had one very old gun for home protection.
• Sharbat confirmed that their tent was his family's only home.
• Sharbat said that when they traveled from place to place they used a camel.
• Sharbat confirmed he was captured by Afghan military.
• Sharbat testified he was unarmed when he was captured.
• When asked if he owned a camera, or had access to someone who owned a camera, Sharbat testified he didn't know what a camera was.
• Sharbat said that when the Kuchi tribes moves, they move in groups of one to three families.
• Sharbat confirmed that his three witnesses traveled with him, and he would be seeing them all the time.
• Sharbat testified that they did not see any soldiers in their travels.
• Sharbat testified he had never been conscripted by the Taliban. He testified that his tribe had no contact with outsiders.

[edit] Witnesses

Sharbat was invited to tell his Tribunal what his three witnesses would have testified to, if he had been able to call upon their testimony.

[edit] Administrative Review Board hearing

Hearing room where Guantanamo captive's annual Administrative Review Board hearings convened for captives whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal had already determined they were an "enemy combatant".^[7]

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.^[8] 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.

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Sharbat's Administrative Review Board, on 9 August 2005.^[9] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Comittment On 27 May 2003, in Khairo Village, Khost, at 11:00 local time, the detainee was arrested within 500 meters of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on Coalition Forces, on the backside of a hill where his brother Qader was found running from Afghani Military Forces. b. When questioned about whether he knew Qader the subject denied that he knew Qader or any [sic] knowledge of the blast. The detainee stated he didn't hear the explosion or see the dust plume. He only later admitted knowing Qader after his brother identified the detainee. c. During Questioning in December or 2003, the detainee stated he never heard an explosion, but later changed his story stating the explosion was far away. d. The detainee has provided varying stories about his circumstances of capture. He stated he was watching his goats through binoculars when he was detained. Alternatively, his brother was looking through the binoculars when they were detained. Finally he stated he witnessed his brother being arrested and ran over to inquite about his brother and was arrested as well.

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

a.	The detainee stated he had always told interrogators his brother was a good man. The detainee stated he never denied being related to his brother, or even knowing him when they were first detained.
b.	He stated he always told interrogators he knew Qader and that they were both detained because of lies.
c.	The detainee said he did not have any dealing with the government and did not understand if the new Karzai government made any changes.
d.	The detainee's name and photograph were shown to several detained al Qaida members, none of whom recognized the detainee.

[edit] Transcript

Sharbat chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[10] In the Spring of 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a seven page ummarized transcript from his Administrative Review Board.^[6]

[edit] Enemy Combatant Election Form

Sharbat's Enemy Combatant Election Form, read out by his Assisting Military Officer, described him as "polite and attentive" during the two initial interviews he had with him. The two interviews were held on September 16, 2005 and September 19, 2005, and lasted for 64 minutes and 15 minutes.

His Assisting Military Officer said that when Sharbat was offered the option of keeping a copy of his Summary of Evidence memo, that had been translated into Pashto, he mentioned that he had asked to be enrolled in the Pashto literacy classess. Sharbat also told his Assisting Military Officer that he "had filed a habeas petition".

Sharbat submitted a letter from his brother, who was captured during the same incident he was, but who was detained in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, not Guantanamo, and has since then been released.

[edit] Response to the factors

• Sharbat's description of their capture was:

  "This explosion happened and my brother was sitting on the top of the hill watching his goats. Then, the soldiers took him and I ran after him. He had five goats missing and he was looking for them. They came and took him and I went after him and they [covered] my eyes and that was it.'

• Sharbat denied that he had ever denied knowing his brother.
• Sharbat denied that he had ever changed his account.

[edit] Letters from home

Sharbat submitted two letters from home. They were read into evidence. But they were not included in Sharbat's transcript. His transcript contains no indication who the letters were from or what they said.

[edit] Return to the Enemy Combatant Election Form

Sharbat's Assisting Military Officer offered the account Sharbat offered during their interview:

• Sharbat had told him he didn't hear the bomb go off.
• Sharbat had told him he was near the main road through the village, with vehicles going back and forth, so he may not have heard and ^[sic] explosion on the other side of the hill over the noise of the vehicles.
• Sharbat had told him he thought interrogators made up the story that he had denied knowing his brother.
• Sharbat had told him he had not voted in the last election, and did not seem to know there were any elections.
• Sharbat said that the interrogations were frustrating for him, as he could not answer anything except about goats and grass.

[edit] Response to Board questions

• Sharbat repeated that his brother had been looking through their binoculars for their five missing goats.
• Sharbat repeated that he could not see the explosion from where he had been standing.
• When asked if there was a hill in the way, He testified there was a mountain in the way.
• Sharbat confirmed he was mystified as to why he was arrested.
• When asked if there were American soldiers in his area Sharbat stated he didn't know as his Afghan captors covered his eyes.
• Sharbat confirmed that he had been held in Bagram. Both he and his brother had been held in Bagram, but in different sections.
• Sharbat testified he didn't know why his brother was set free, while he was continued to be detained.
• Sharbat was asked whether he had initially misled interrogators over whether he knew his brother because he was afraid. He repeated he never denied knowing his brother.
• When asked how far away he had been from the explosion, Sharbat said:

"I can't lie; I did not see any explosion."

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.^[11][12] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his release on 7 October 2005.

Very few of the captives who left Guantanamo on the recommendation of a Review Board had their outright release recommended. Almost all of the Boards recommended tranfer to the custody of their home country or another country. Sharbat is one of the few captives whose Board recommended an unconditional release..

One of the unredacted paragraphs in the decision memos stated^[12]:

Behavior. The EC's behavior during interrogation and detention indicates that he is capable of posing a possible threat.

[edit] References

1. ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
2. ^ Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ OARDEC (2 November 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Sharbat, First Name Unkown page 42. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
5. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). Summarized Statement pages 36-40. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
6. ^ ^{a b} "US releases Guantanamo files", The Age, April 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 
7. ^ Spc Timothy Book. "Review process unprecedented", JTF-GTMO Public Affairs Office, Friday March 10, 2006, pp. pg 1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
8. ^ Army Sgt. Sarah Stannard. "OARDEC provides recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense", JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs, October 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
9. ^ OARDEC (9 August 2005). Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Sharbat, FNU pages 65-66. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
10. ^ OARDEC (21 September 2005). Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 1051 pages 83-89. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
11. ^ OARDEC (7 October 2005). Administrative Review Board assessment and recommendation ICO ISN 1051 page 42. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
12. ^ ^{a b} OARDEC (21 September 2005). Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation for ISN 1051 pages 43-48. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.