Habir Russol

Habir Russol is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.cite news
url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/custom/attack/bal-te.gitmo22jul22,0,7997960.story?coll=bal-attack-headlines
title=U.S. military says 52 detainees at Guantanamo are on hunger strike
date=July 22 2005
accessdate=2007-01-22
publisher=Baltimore Sun] Russol was released from Guantanamo on July 18 2005.cite news
url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-07/21/content_462095.htm
title=Two men claim hunger strike at Guantanamo
publisher=China Daily
date=July 21 2005
accessdate=2007-01-22]

Identity

Russol's release from Guantanamo was widely covered by the Press. However he was not named on the full official list of all the men who had been held, in military custody, in Guantanamo. [http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006]

Press reports

Reporters interviewed Russol, and Moheb Ullah Borekzai, another Afghani who was released at the same time, on
July 20 2005, the day they arrived home.cite news
url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/07/22/Guantanamo-Bay-protest-050722.html
title=Hunger strike confirmed at Guantanamo Bay
publisher=CBC,
date=July 22 2005
accessdate=2007-01-22] In this interview they revealed that Camp Delta was in the midst of a widespread hunger strike.

Borekzai and Russol estimated that over 180 detainees were participating in the hunder strike, and that it had been going on for over two weeks.

Initially DoD spokesman Flex Plexico denied any knowledge of a hunger strike.cite news
url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/07/22/2003264520
title=Afghans tell of hunger strike at Guantanamo
publisher=Taipei Times
date=July 22 2005
accessdate=2007-01-22] On July 21 2005, three days after their departure, Plexico claimed that only a small number of detainees had been refusing food, and that they had only been doing so for three days.

The lawyers of Guantanamo details later corroborated the details of the Afghans claims, saying that they had been aware of the hunger strike as early as June 23 2005, but had not been able to say anything because of a DoD gag place on them.

Borekzai told the Associated Press the detaineesa are protesting because "some of these people say they were mistreated during interrogation. Some say they are innocent."The two Afghans said they had been accused of being members of the former Taliban regime, but both said they were innocent.

References