Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim

Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim is a citizen of Iraq, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. [http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006] Al Karim's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 653.

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 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.

Al Karim chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_30_2048-2144.pdf#1 Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 1-15]

Allegations

The allegations against Al Karim in the "Summary of Evidence" presented to his Tribunal were:
#"The detainee traveled to Kabul sometime in later 2001.
#"The detainee was identified as an Iraqi national affiliated with al Qaida.
#"The detainee resided at a guesthouse near Kabul, Afghanistan, frequented by people training at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
#"Al Farouq is best known as a basic training facility for jihadists. Training at this facility was conducted in four phases: small arms firing; physical conditioning, map reading, topography, and explosive devices.
#"The detainee received military training in the Iraqi army.
#"The detainee trained with the following weapons: AK 47 rifle, 7.62 mm PK machine gun and mortars - 82mm, 120mm, and 160mm.
#"The detainee acknowledges that in 1999 he fought on the front lines against the Northern Alliance with the Taliban near Mir Bachel Kawt.
#"The detainee was imprisoned by Northern Alliance and subsequently transferred to United States authority.

Testimony

Al Karim said he deserted from the Iraqi Army in 1994. He had fled first to Kurdistan for a year, and then moved to Iran, where he had to work without official papers. He had worked in a shoe factory. But had left that area when the factory was raided by Iranian immigration officials. He had fled to a city that was near the Afghan border. When immigration officials captured him and a group of Afghan refugees he felt it was safer to represent himself as another Afghan, rather than as an Iraqi. Thus he was deported to Afghanistan in 1999.

Al Karim said he was arrested by Arabs associated with the Taliban on February 15 2000, because they believed he was an American spy. He said that he was denounced by an associate named
Abdul Rahim Jenko who owed him money for a loan to buy shoes. Al Karim was in a Taliban prison from February 15 2000 until the prison was taken over by coalition forces, and he was transferred to US custody. Al Karim said that Jenko, too, had been transferred to American custody when the Taliban prison was captured, and had also been transferred to Guantanamo.

Witnesses

Al Karim called two witnesses: Abdul Zahir and Jenko. Both witnesses testified that they had known Al Karim in Kabul, and that he had been arrested by the Taliban because they suspected he was an American spy.

Zahir testified that he and Al Karim had stayed at
Abdul Habib Iraqi's guesthouse.

Jenko testified that Al Karim was the only person who had been kind to him when he came to Kabul, as a refugee, and that Al Karim had bought him a pair of shoes. When asked why the Taliban tortured him into denouncing Al Karin he said he didn't really know why, except that they were suspicious of anything different.

Newspaper articles

Al Karim's Personal Representative submitted three newspaper articles he had found on the internet, that supported Al Karim's story that he was imprisoned as an American spy. Those articles were entitled:
*"“Arabs Arrested in Afghanistan Claim That They Are Working for the United States”
*"“Arabs Spy Unfolds US-Israel Intelligence Plan”
*"“Taliban tying US citizen on spying charges”

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.

Al Karim chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/ARB_Transcript_Set_8_20751-21016.pdf#1 Summarized transcript (.pdf)] , from Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim's "Administrative Review Board hearing" - page 1]

Factors for and against Al Karim's continued detention

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for every captive for whom an Administrative Review Board hearing was convened, summarizing the "factors" for and against their continued detention. Those factors were always broken down under two headings: "The following primary factors favor continued detention"; and "The following primary factors favor release or transfer".The factors favoring continued detention were further subdivided under sub-headings like: "Training"; "Intent"; "Commitment"; "Associations". And the factors under those sub-headings were sequentionally numbered.

Te Summary of Evidence memo was always read out, in its entirety, at the beginning of the hearing. Most captives were offered an opportunity to hear the factors read out, one at a time, so they would have an opportunity to respond to each in turn.

Some captive's transcript recorded the factors, and the captive's responses, but did not record the headings, sub-headings or sequential numbering.

Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim's transcript did not contain the headings or sequence numbers.

*"The detainee stayed at the “Arabic House” in Kabul with to 35 other fighters. He was given a Kalashnikov rifle and performed guard duties. He took orders from Abdel Aziz and Abut Hamza, who received their orders from Abdul al Hadi al Iraqi.
*"Abdul Hadi al Iraqi was a member of al Qaida and part of Usama Bin Laden’s inner circle. He commanded 200 Arab and Taliban fighters in Kabul, and was also responsible for sending Arab fighters to Chechnya.
*"In 1999, the detainee fought on the front line north of Kabul with an Arab unit for approximately three and a half months. The Taliban supported this unit with food, drinks, ammunition, and a truck. Al Qaida supported the fighters by providing logistical support and access to the Walam Bacha safe house in Kabul for rest and relaxation.
*"The detainee was a weapons engineer on the front lines, repairing small arms for the Taliban.
*"The detainee was in charge of Usama Bin Laden’s weapon depots in Kandahar and Kabul form 1999 to 2000.
*"The detainee was responsible for the storage of cash, weapons, and ammunition for Usama Bin Laden.
*"The detainee had control of the keys to the weapons storage container at Gulam Bacha guesthouse in Kabul. The detainee was also a trainer of soldiers in the tactics of entering a structure and arresting or detaining persons in the given structure.
*"The detainee claimed he was an al Qaida member who worked for Usama Bin Laden for 13 years conducting weapons maintenance.
*"The detainee claimed he was an expert in the areas of poisons, explosives, martial arts, and weapons. The detainee claimed to have carried out an operation in Kuwait in which he blew up a building he believed was being used by the Israelis. He also boasted of kidnapping a Kuwaiti Intelligence Office to gain the release of one of his comrades being held in a Kuwaiti prison. The detainee claimed to have taken up jihad in the Philippines, Chechnya and Bosnia.
*"The detainee claimed he was a mechanical engineer for weapons with al Qaida. He claimed he went to London for al Qaida.
*"The detainee claimed he was an al Qaida member who ate frequently with Usama Bin Laden. He also stated he had specific knowledge of the al Qaida organization and the attacks on the World Trade Center. He claimed he traveled to England, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. The detainee claimed he was a third-degree black belt in Tai Kwon Do, which he learned while in Malaysia.
*"While in the Iraqi Army, the detainee received training on the following weapons: AK-47, 7.62mm PK machine gun, and 82mm, 120mm and 160mm mortars.
*"The detainee received specialized training in poisons at the al Farouq Camp.
*"After fleeing the Iraqi Army and being held by the Kurds, the detainee said he provided a fake last name of Al Hashimi.
*"The detainee’s kunya nickname was Islam.
*"Islam Abdul Rahman Al Hashimi is a known al Qaida member and chemical specialist. On of al Hashimi’s associates is Abu Bassam, an Iraqi businessman who supported Al Hashimi financially.
*"The detainee had a close relationship with an Iraqi Kurd known as Abu Bassam.
*"Abu Bassam was a member of Usama Bin Laden’s inner circle. He met frequently with al Qaida members and Bin Laden, and knew about the 11 September 2001 attack on the United States prior to its occurrence.
*"An al Qaida member identified the detainee as an al Qaida contact in Kabul.
*"The detainee claimed to be an understudy of Sheik Abdullah Azzam.
*"Abdullah Azzam led a successful campaign to recruit rich young Saudis using a three-tape series he released in 1987. He called individuals to follow Usama Bin Laden by imitating his devotion to Islamic jihad, both physically and financially.
*"Abdul Rahim Janko was tortured by al Qaida and eventually told them he and the detainee were spies for the United States. The detainee was also tortured by al Qaida, but never admitted to being a spy.
*"The Taliban imprisoned the detainee for two years at Sarpoosa prison. During Ramadan when the Taliban fell, the detainee was transferred to Kabul and was imprisoned for three months.
*"The Northern Alliance turned the detainee over ot the Americans on 8 June 2002.
*"The detainee claimed he was not a member of al-Qaida, never swore bayat to Usama Bin Laden, received no training or fought for al Qaida, and he was not an expert on poisons.
*"The detainee believes his enemies have wrongly accused him of being an al Qaida member.

Responses to the factors

Al Karim and other former Taliban prisoners

Al Karim was one of nine former Taliban prisoners the "Associated Press" pointed out had gone from Taliban custody to American custody.cite news
url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070630-0908-guantanamo-alwaysaprisoner.html
title=From Taliban jail to Gitmo – hard-luck prisoners tell of unending ordeal
author=Paul Haven
publisher=San Diego Union Tribune
date=June 30, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-01]

References