Mahbub Rahman

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Mahbub Rahman 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 1052. According to the Department of Defense Rahman was born in 1985 in Khowst, Afghanistan.

Main article: minors detained in the global war on terror

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2 Administrative Review Board hearing
3 References

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

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 a 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.

Rahman chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

According to the BBC Rahman was accused of spying on U.S. forces.^[3]

[edit] 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.

Rahman chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[4]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention:

The detainee was captured on 1 June 2003, along with four others, one of whom was a Saudi [sic] whose mission was to photograph Chapman and Balerno Bases for possible future attacks.
In late March 2003, Abu Layth al-Libi, an al Qaida facilitator, planned and coordinated a foiled reconnaissance mission to film the Salerno forward operating base and the villages surrounding the city of Khowst, Afghanistan.
Al-Libi is the al Qaida southern Afghanistan regional commander. He is responsible for operations in the areas of Khowst, Paktia andh Ghanzni Provinces, to include Miran Shah, Pakistan [sic]. Al-Livi is a Libyan who specializes in explosive devices and guerilla warfare.
The detainee had been provided with a Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition, and a military cargo belt.
On the evening of 28 May 2003, al-Libi's group met with Abdul Rakhman and a student recruited from the Nazamia Madrassa at a house in the mountains near Naurak, Pakistan. The plan was for Rakhman to take the members of the team to Khowst, Afghanistan, so that they could film the airfield.
Abdul Rakhman is a known Arab al Qaida member who has been reported to operate in the Shahi Kowt area.
The Nazamia Madrassa has been previously reported on for its affiliations with Afghanistan Ant-Coalition Militia. In March of 2003, this Madrassa was reported as being used by al Qaida, Taliban, and HIG personnel for training. It was cited as having been frequently visited by [[Jalaluddin Haqqanni] in 2002. Reports also indicate personnel from Nazamia Madrassa were, in the past, sent across the Afghan-Pakistan boarder [sic] to collect intelligence on United States and coalition forces in Khowst Province.
Gulbuddin Hikmatyar founded HIG as a faction of the Hizb-Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major Mujahadin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long established ties with Usama Bin Laden. HIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force United States troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan government, and establish a fundamentalist state.
Jalaluddin Haqqani is the former Taliban Minister of Tribal Affairs and personal friend of Usama Bin Laden.
On the afternoon of 1 June 2003, three men, not including the detainee, were asking people in the village of Kondee, which is east of Salerno, where Salerno is located. One of the men they asked was an Afghan Militia Force soldier. He did not answer them, but made his way to Salerno to inform his superiors.
When he arrived at the burial ground near Salerno, Rakhman took the camera to being filming. Shortly thereafter, shots rang out.
When the AMF moved towards Kondee to investigate the three men asking questions about Salerno, the three men began firing on the AMF with AK-47s. All three were apprehended after a short firefight.
The three men were brought to Salerno for questioning. They had one AK-47, one pistol, one ICOM radio turned to the Salerno security frequency, one set of binoculars, eight hand grenades, one small video camera. The men stated that there was another man neat the Lakan Madrassa.
The AMF arrested two more men at the Madrassa with two AK-47s, bayonets, one set of binoculars, and a spare videocasette for the video camera. The detainee was one of the two men captured at the compound. The detainee was identified as someone who shot an AMF soldier in March.

[edit] The following primary factors favor release or transfer:

The detainee stated he supports the new Afghani governmnet and fully believes America's presence with Afghanistan [sic] is important to achieving peace within his country.
The detainee claims he is not presently, nor has he ever been affiliated with al Qaida.