Nadali, Afghanistan
| Abdul Qudus | |
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| Born: | 1988 (age 20–21) Nadali, Afghanistan |
| Detained at: | Guantanamo |
| ID number: | 929 |
| Charge(s): | no charge, held in extrajudicial detention |
| Status | Determined not to have been an enemy combatant after all. |
Abdul Qudus is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] His detainee ID number is 929.
American intelligence officials estimate that he was born in 1988, in Nadali, Afghanistan.[1]
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Initially the Bush administration asserted they could withhold the protections of the Geneva Conventions from captives in the "War on Terror", while critics argued the Conventions obligated the United States to conduct competent tribunals to determine the status of prisoners. Subsequently, the US Department of Defense instituted Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "enemy combatant".
From July 2004 through March 2005, a CSRT was convened to make a determination whether each captive had been correctly classified as an "enemy combatant". Abdul Qudus was among the two-thirds of prisoners who chose to participate in their tribunals.[2]
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. His memo accused him of the following: [3]
On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a six page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[5]
Qudus said he was an orphan, who was traveling from a stay at the home of one uncle to go stay at the home of another uncle. He described seeking out a campfire, during his travel, when he was cold and hungry. The campfire belonged to men he told the tribunal were soldiers. When asked how he knew they were soldiers, he said because they were all carrying guns. But, when asked if they were wearing uniforms he said they were wearing civilian clothes.
He said that while they sat around the campfire the men told him they wanted him to take a weapon, so he could fight against the Americans, but he refused. He said they told him again he should join them in fighting the Americans, and he declined again. Then, when he woke the next day, and was going to say farewell, the men told him he was not free to leave. They "wrote a paper", and took him to "another place", where he met another prisoner, who said his name was Abujahn. Both he and Abujahn were then handed over to the Americans.
He acknowledged that he was handed over to the Americans in Ghereshk.
Qudus's Personal Representative asked him one final question -- did he know anyone named Agga Khan. Qudus answered "no".
Abdul Qudus was one of the 38 captives the Bush Presidency determined had not been enemy combatants after all.[6] The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants.
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