Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman

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image_size =
image_caption =
date_of_birth = Birth date|1973|03|15
place_of_birth = Kucha, Xinjiang Province, China
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 281
group =
alias = Abd Al Ghatar Abd Al Rahman,
Abdulghappar Turkistani
charge = no charge, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
status =
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman is a citizen of China, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf
title=List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=May 15 2006
accessdate=2007-09-29] His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 281.The Department of Defense reports that Rahman was born on March 15 1973, in Kucha, Xingiang Province, China.

Rahman is one of approximately two dozen detainees from the Uighur ethnic group. [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FK04Ad02.html China's Uighurs trapped at Guantanamo] , "Asia Times", November 4 2004]

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

] Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed.cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902
title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=March 6 date=December 2007

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 Ghappar Abdul Rahman was one of those 169 detainees. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_mar05.pdf#271 Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf)] prepared for Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - October 29 2004 - page 271]

Allegations

:"'a. The detainee is associated with the Taliban and supported hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners::#The detainee traveled to Afghanistan because he heard Uigher people could receive military training there.:#The detainee arrived in Afghanistan from China via Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan in June 2001.:#The detainee stayed at a Uighur guesthouse in Pakistan.:#The detainee attended a Uighur training camp in Afghanistan.:#The detainee received training in the use of the Kalishnikov "sic" rifle and a type of pistol.:#The detainee decided to travel to Afghanistan and join the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.:#Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a terrorist organization.:#The detainee was captured in Pakistan after crossing the border from Afghanistan.

:"'b. The detainee supported military operations against the coalition.:#The detainee was injured during U.S. air strikes.:#The detainee worked construction sic and improvement of the ###### training camp while in Afghanistan.:#The detainee was in the Tora Bora mountains during the U.S. air campaign.

Transcript

Rahman chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_43_2811-2921.pdf#34 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman's"Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 34-45]

testimony

:

The information paper also identified him as "Abd Al Ghatar Abd Al Rahman".

Administrative Review Board hearings

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.

In September 2007 the Department of Defense published all the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the Administrative Review Boards convened in 2005 or 2006.cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_ARB_Round_1_Detention_Transfer_Factors.pdf
title=Index to Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round One
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=August 9 2007
accessdate=2007-09-29] cite web
url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_ARB_Round_2_Detention_Transfer_Factors.pdf
title=Index of Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round Two
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
date=July 17 2007
accessdate=2007-09-29] There is no record that an Administrative Review Board convened in 2005 or 2006 to review his detention.

Letter from Guantanamo

On March 20 2008 the Department of Defense released for publication a rare letter from Guantanamo, drafted in December, from a Uyghur named "Abdulghappar Turkistani".cite news
url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23714346/
title=Chinese Muslims issue plea for freedom as Guantanamo release stalls
publisher=MSNBC
date=Wednesday, 19 March 2008
author=Ben Fox
accessdate=2008-03-24
quote=The prisoner, from a vast province on China's Central Asian border, complains in a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press that he and the other Uighurs were told in 2004 and 2005 that they would be let go, yet they languish in windowless, cramped cells.] cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7306087.stm
title=Uighur inmate in Guantanamo plea
publisher=BBC
date=Thursday, 20 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-24
quote=Abdulghappar Turkistani, 35, is one of a group of 17 Chinese Muslims who have been held at the US camp for six years.] cite news
url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C9A311CD-305A-4A90-B1B7-C4C6D5548CE6.htm
title='Free' Uighurs stuck in Guantanamo
publisher=Al Jazeera
date=Thursday, 20 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-24
quote=In a rare direct appeal from inside Guantanamo Bay, a Chinese Muslim has said he is continuing to be held in harsh conditions at the US detention centre, despite being told years ago that he was innocent and would be released.] According to the "Associated Press" "Abdulghappar Turkistani" is a 35 year old Uyghur.The letter said that all 17 remaining Uyghurs were being held in isolation, in solitary confinement, in the high security Camp 6, even though they were told the authorities recognized they were innocent in 2004.The letter said the writer had developed Rheumatism.The letter said that another Uyghur was participating in the on-going hunger strike, and was being force-fed twice a day.:

The "Associated Press" reported that Commander Rick Haupt, a spokesman for the detention center, said the captives were being held in "safe and humane" conditions.Haupt described Camp 6 as "a state-of-the-market detention facility modeled after stateside facilities."

Camp 6 was designed to have common areas where the captives could interact with one another. But since the camp was opened in December 2006 the common areas have remained off-limits. The "Associated Press" reported:

References