Hamidullah (Guantanamo Bay detainee 1119)

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Hamidullah Haji Combatant Status Review Tribunal on 12 November 2004.[9] The memo listed the following allegations:

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaeda: The detainee has long established ties to HIG HiG is a terrorist organization The detainee was reported absent from a HiG leadership meeting conducted after his capture. The detainee controlled a cache of weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns, RPGs and rockets. The detainee was captured in the home of an al Qaeda financier. b. The detainee supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces: The detainee reportedly led a group of 30 men who conspired to attack coalition forces in the vicinity of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Hamidullah chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[16]

Hamidullah acknowledged being a member of HIG, but fifteen years ago, during his youth; elder members of his family pushed him into it. He had served under a commander named Abdul Khadar. It was during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and everyone joined one or another of the groups resisting the Soviets. When the Taliban came to power he cut all ties with HiG.

He said he thought the Taliban would bring unity to Afghanistan, and the tribal and regional wars would disappear, and had gone to enlist with them. However, they threw him in prison, because of his earlier association with HiG.

He denied that he controlled a weapons cache. He stated that he was illiterate, and this would have barred him from such an important task.

He said he was not arrested in the home of an al-Qaeda financier. He said he was arrested in a house where he had been told to stay by Mullah Izat, a Northern Alliance commander, when he had returned to Afghanistan. After he escaped from the Taliban he and his family had been staying in Pakistan, as refugees, during the Taliban's time in power.

He said that he had some responsibilities for a group of fighters - but fifteen years ago, during the Soviet occupation. Further, he had not been that group's commander, but rather he was the one sent to the market to shop for foodstuff.

He said that when the Americans evicted the Taliban he wanted to work to help bring former king Zahir Shah back to power. He said he made contact with General Rahim Wardak. He said Defense Minister Fahim Khan and Besmil Khan, the commander of the Northern Alliance sent him a message:

...don't do this; we are mujahedin, and the King is a Western guy, and we don't need him. This won't be good for your future.

He had once attended a speech by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the founder of HiG. However, he had never met him.

When told that the Tribunal was going to go into closed session, to consider the classified evidence, he was asked if there was anything he said during any of his interrogations that he wanted to expand on, or correct. He replied that the allegations about storing weapons and about the leadership meeting were new. He had never been asked about them during his interrogations.

The Tribunal officers commented on his willingness to cooperate, and asked why he was wearing an orange uniform.

His witness was Nasrat Khan. Khan testified that he had known Hamidullah's father in the HiG and that he met Hamidullah when he joined, as a teenager. He testified that he remembered Hamidullah's desertion.

Hamidullah's Tribunal officers asked him to explain why he was wearing an orange uniform—the uniform issued to Guantanamo captives regarded as "non-compliant".

His Personal Representative met with him for 43 minutes on December 11, 2004. His Personal Representative's notes state:[18]

Detainee wants to appear to the tribunal. Detainee wants to make an oral statement. Detainee requested and TP approved 2 witnesses: 1 in-camp witness: Haji Nasrat Khan (camp 4; ISN 1009) 1 out-of-camp witness: Mullah Hazet (District of Pahgman, Kabul AF) The in-camp witness (1009) told me he did not wish to appear before the tribunal on account of his health, but would provide a statement for the tribunal (to be submitted as Exhibit D-b).

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Haji Hamidullah's first annual Administrative Review Board on 5 August 2005. [10] The two page memo listed ten "primary factors favor[ing] continued detention" and one "primary factors favor[ing] release or transfer".

a. Commitment The detainee was a member of the Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) during the jihad. He served with the HIG before the Taliban regime took over. The Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) was founded by Gulbuddin Hikmatyar as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977. It was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long-established ties with Usama Bin Laden. b. Connections/Associations The detainee was a member of the Mahaz-e Melli Tanzim. The Mahaz-e Melli Tanzim attempted to recruit and organize supporters in Kabul, Afghanistan, following the fall of the Taliban. King Zahir Shah intended to establish a post-Taliban government for the purpose of rebuilding the war torn nation. In 2003, the detainee was a HIG commander who worked directly for Abu Bakr, the alleged highest-ranking HIG commander in Kabul. The detainee controlled a large weapons cache in Kabul. The detainee was reported to be one of the heads of the Psychological Operations Wing of the HIG. The detainee was captured in August 2003, in Kabul, in one of the homes owned by Raouf. c. Detainee Actions and Statements In May 2003, the detainee was the commander of 30 men, with ties to the Taliban, who were planning an attack on an Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) unit in the vicinity of Kabul City, Afghanistan. d. Other Relevant Data As a known HIG member, the detainee was arrested by the Taliban and placed in jail. He spent 23 months in jail before escaping to Pakistan. In November 2001, while attempting to recruit and organize supporters for Shah and the Mahaz-e Melli, Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance arrested the detainee, however the detainee escaped.

a. The detainee claimed he is friendly to the United States and turned to the Islamic faith as being a reason not to kill.

Hamidullah chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.[23]

Hamidullah spoke at length about the problems that had beset Afghanistan because of the armed struggle between different groups. He decried how Afghanistan had become the world's training ground for terrorism and suicide bombers. He decried those who used suicide bombers, and expressed suspicion over their true motives.

He described how he wanted to work for a strong, unified, popular tolerant, democratic government. He welcomed the intercession of the United Nations and the United States. He said: "With this new conditions under the United States and United Nations, whoever were a true patriot...whoever was [a] supporter of humanity and human rights and he wanted to rebuild Afghanistan. He [would] supported the new government..."

He said that after the United States intervention some of their nominal allies worked, under the table, to hurt the new regime and cause chaos. He believed Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and Mohammed Fahim, were among those who did not have the best interests of the new regime at heart. He expressed his suspicions that the Russians were backing the chaos-sowers.

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Haji Hamidullah's second annual Administrative Review Board on 26 March 2006.[24]

The two page memo listed eight "primary factors favor[ing] continued detention" and two "primary factors favor[ing] release or transfer".

a. Commitment The detainee was a member of the Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin for 10 years. In November 2001, the detainee attempted to recruit and organize supporters for the Shah and the Mahaz-e Melli in Kabul. The Northern Alliance arrested the detainee because of these efforts; however, the detainee escaped. The detainee was arrested by the Taliban and placed in jail due to his affiliation with the Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin. He spent 23 months in jail before escaping to Pakistan. The detainee secretly recruited and organized members of the Mahaz-e Melli group. Consequently, rumors were spread throughout Kabul accusing the detainee of being involved with the Taliban and al Qaeda. b. Connections/Associations The Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin was founded by Gulbuddin Hikmatyar as a faction of the Heab-I Islami party in 1977. It was one of the major Mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets and has long-established ties with Usama bin Laden. The detainee was captured in August 2003, in Kabul, in a home owned by an al Qaida financier. The detainee was identified as an Iranian intelligence officer. The reliability of the source is not determined. c. Intent A source named the detainee as the commander of 30 men, with ties to the Taliban, planning an attack on an Afghan National Directorate of Security unit near Kabul.

a.	The detainee states that the only reason he worked for the Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin was that they would provide food and money for the member and their families.
b.	The detainee claimed he is friendly to the United States and turned to the Islamic faith as being a reason not to kill.

In September 2007 the Department of Defense published a sixteen-page summarized transcript from the unclassified session of his second Administrative Review Board hearing.[25]

Hamidullah's Assisting Military Officer reported on the notes from the Enemy Combatant election form completed on 4 April 2006. They met for sixty minutes for a pre-hearing interview. His Assisting Military Officer described him as "very cooperative and attentive" during the interview.

Hamidullah explained that for refugees in Pakistan to receive food aid they needed to have an ID card. Militia groups, like the HIG, issued ID cards. Possessing one of these cards did not imply membership in the militia. He estimated that more than two million refugees had been issued HIG ID cards.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.[26]

On 12 June 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant".[27]

On 15 July 2008 Kristine A. Huskey filed a "NOTICE OF PETITIONERS' REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER" on behalf of several dozen captives including Hamidullah.[28]