Report: Profiles of Guantanamo Refugees

Introduction

There are approximately 50 detainees at Guantánamo from "high-risk" countries where there is a very real danger of persecution or torture should they be forcibly returned, or who are unable to return to their home countries because they are stateless. In 2008, none have been charged or tried after six years of imprisonment, and virtually all remain in solitary confinement at a "supermaximum" security prison intended to be outside the rule of law.

Without intervention from the United States or safe third countries, each of these men faces an impossible choice: repatriation to torture or persecution, or continued indefinite detention in Guantánamo.

The refugees at Guantánamo in need of humanitarian protection are from diverse countries with recognized records of abuse of minorities, political prisoners, accused (rightly or wrongly) security detainees and other "undesirables." Many countries - including the United States - regularly welcome refugees from these countries because of their poor human rights records. All the individuals at risk if forcibly returned have been detained for years without charge or trial and, absent the intervention of international actors, face an even bleaker future.

What follows are short profiles of refugees who remain at Guantánamo today. Detainees who fear return include men from Algeria, China, Jordan, Libya, the Palestinean Occupied Territories, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan. Click on a photograph or a name to download a two-page summary of each man's story, or download ten of these profiles in one report at the bottom of this page.

Profiles

Abdul Ra'ouf Al Qassim, a Libyan refugee who had deserted the Libyan Army when he was young and fled Libya for fear of religious persecution. He was living with his wife and infant daughter in Pakistan, having fled the bombing in Kabul, when he was picked up by Pakistani police and turned over to military authorities, likely for a sizable bounty. The United States has twice tried to transfer Abdul Ra'ouf to Libya despite an undisputed fear that he would be tortured upon transfer.

Adel Noori is a Chinese Uyghur, a Muslim minority from East Turkestan, the Uyghur homeland in far western China. Adel Noori had been well-connected to the literary and progressive political movements in East Turkestan, his friends suffered arrest and imprisonment in China because of their intellectual pursuits, and Adel is wanted in China for "political crimes" because of his involvement in a political demonstration. He was living in a house in Kabul when forced to flee the war only to fall into the arms of bounty-hunters.

Ali Mohammed is a Chinese Uyghur, a Muslim minority from East Turkestan, the Uyghur homeland in far western China. Ali and other Uyghurs fled for safety from a Uyghur village in Afghanistan after the bombing campaign began, and were turned over to the United States by bounty-hunters. Five among them were classified as non-enemy combatants and, years later, released to Albania; seventeen remain in Guantanamo today. Ali himself was classified as a non-enemy combatant before being ordered to undergo a second Combatant Status Review Tribunal in an effort to secure “consistency” in outcomes.

Maher Refaat Al-Khawary (Maher El-Falesteny), a stateless Palestinean without identification papers or official status in any country. Maher left Jordan to seek refugee papers to allow him to travel freely with his family, but he was captured by villagers in Afghanistan, and transferred to the Northern Alliance soldiers who beat him brutally and then likely sold him to the U.S. forces seeking a bounty.

Abdul Sabour fled China seeking a better life. He was living in a Uyghur village in Afghanistan when he and seventeen others were forced to flee for safety after the U.S. bombing campaign began in Afghanistan. All eighteen were turned over to the United States by bounty-hunters. Five among them were classified as non-enemy combatants and, years later, released to Albania. Though his circumstances are virtually identical to those classified as non-enemy combatants, Abdul was classified in his CSRT as an enemy combatant. Though he has long ago been cleared for release, he remains in Guantanamo today.

Abdul Nassar is a Uyghur refugee from China. Abdul left his home to secure an education in Pakistan, where he studied for three years at a technical school. After hearing about Uyghurs living in a village near the Pakistani border in Afghanistan, Abdul traveled there to join his countrymen. When the village was bombed in October of 2001, Abdul and others from the village fled to the mountains. With the same misfortune of the 17 other Uyghurs from his village, Abdul was sold by the local Pakistani villagers to the U.S. military for a substantial bounty, and subsequently sent to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo. Because of the unsubstantiated accusations leveled against him by the United States, and the well-documented and brutal repression of the Chinese government against the Uyghur minority, Abdul is at risk for torture, abuse and persecution if returned to the custody of the Chinese government. Abdul has explicitly asked not to be returned to China or to a country subject to Chinese control or influence because of this very legitimate fear.

Oybek Jamoldinivich Jabbarov is an Uzbek refugee who had been living with his pregnant wife, infant son and elderly mother in northern Afghanistan when fighting broke out. He separated from his family to seek a safe place for them all. However, when he accepted a ride from Northern Alliance solidiers, he was driven to Bagram Air Base and transferred to U.S. forces, likely for a sizable bounty. In Guantanamo, Oybek was subjected to interrogations by Uzbek interrogators even though Uzbekistan is one of the most notorious countries in the world for its use of torture against prisoners.

Abdulghappar Abdulrahman is an ethnic Uighur who has been cleared for release from Guantanamo. He is thirty-five years old. Abdulghappar was arrested in Pakistan, after fleeing, under bombardment, from a Uighur village in Afghanistan, and subsequently sold by Pakistani bounty hunters to the United States for approximately $5,000. Five of the Uighurs with whom Abdulghappar fled Afghanistan and was captured in Pakistan were later determined to be non-combatants and released to Albania in 2006. But after more than six years of indefinite imprisonment, the many broken promises of freedom that he has received from personnel at Guantanamo, and daily humiliation and abuse, Abdulghappar is losing hope that he will ever be released.

Bahityar Mahnut is a Chinese Uyghur, a Muslim minority from East Turkestan, the Uyghur homeland in far western China. Bahityar and other Uyghurs fled for safety from a Uyghur village in Afghanistan after the bombing campaign began, and were turned over to the United States by bounty-hunters. Five among them were classified as non-enemy combatants and, years later, released to Albania; seventeen remain in Guantanamo today.

Abdul Aziz Naji describes his situation as “dancing between fires.” If he were returned to Algeria, he would face threats to his life and safety from both the Algerian government and from fundamentalist insurgents. He was brought to Guantánamo as the victim of a Pakistani house raid in the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Yet, he remains in Guantánamo because no country will advocate for his release.

Ravil Mingazov left Russia because of religious intolerance and persecution by the Russian intelligence and military services. He fled in search of a new home that would be tolerant of his faith and hospitable to his family. Instead, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and has since endured years of abuse at the hands of the U.S. government. After more than six years of unjust imprisonment, Ravil still desires the one thing that led him to leave Russia in the first place: a new home state that will be tolerant of his religion and where he can safely live with his family.

Houzaifa Parhat fled China seeking a better life. He was living in a Uyghur village in Afghanistan when he and seventeen others were forced to flee for safety after the U.S. bombing campaign began in Afghanistan. All eighteen were turned over to the United States by bounty-hunters. Five among them were classified as non-enemy combatants and, years later, released to Albania. Though his circumstances are virtually identical to those classified as non-enemy combatants, Huzaifa was classified in his CSRT as an enemy combatant. Though he has long ago been cleared for release, he remains in Guantánamo today.

Jalal Jalaldin has been cleared for release from Guantanamo. He remains in Guantanamo because he is a Uyghur refugee - a member of a highly persecuted Muslim minority in China. Like the other Uyghurs, he was interrogated and threatened by Chinese officials while imprisoned in Guantanamo, and he knows that he would likely be tortured or killed if he were returned to China. He remains in Guantanamo because no country has been willing to take him.

Photo credits, from top: Center for Constitutional Rights and the Afghan Human Rights Organization; shapeshift@flickr.com; Department of Defense; gak@flickr.com; Roman Milert@Fotolia; Clemson@flickr.com; couterclockwise@flickr.com; verymissberry@flickr.com; dwrawlinson@flickr.com; rutty@flickr.com