GUANTANAMO: MOHAMMAD SAGHEER vs. GOVERNMENT OF USA
Suit for Recovery of Damages and Compensation of US $10.4 Million
By Leuren Moret leurenmoret@yahoo.com
Mohammad Sagheer is the only Pakistani prisoner to return home from Camp Delta (formerly Camp X-ray), the U.S. concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, and one of the few direct witnesses to talk about this dark time in U.S. history. He was invited to testify in December 2003 about his detention and mistreatment at an International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan1 (ICTA) convened in Tokyo, Japan. Because his request for a passport was delayed in Pakistan, he was prevented from getting the required visa in time to attend the Tribunal. His attorney, Mr. Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry2, attended and presented testimony about his case3 at the Tribunal held December 13-14, 2003, attended by 1700 people. Based on 8 investigative trips to Afghanistan and testimony by many witnesses and experts, the ICTA has held 16 public hearings in Japan and the Philippines and three Tribunals in Tokyo in 20031. The purpose of the Tribunal has been, not only to try President Bush for war crimes in Afghanistan, but to be a public voice for, and to publish a truthful history of this period, documenting the experiences and suffering of the Afghan people. It has also been a process to inform citizens, not only in Japan, but other countries about the U.S. military aggression against Afghanistan in 2001 which the U.S. justified as retaliation for 9/11.
Magic Carpet Ride: Afghanistan to Guantanamo to Pakistan
In November 2001, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, a contingent of ten missionary members from Pakistan made a Tableegy Dora, routine preaching visit to the Northern Afghanistan Province of Kunduz. Among them was Mr. Sagheer, 54, a religious man from Phattan, a town in Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan, who had traveled as a preacher on other Tableegh (preaching missions). During this visit he was swept up and arrested with thousands of others by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, the area Northern Alliance commander, “on the instructions and orders of the U.S. Government/Army… in a hunt against Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin-Laden, the Taliban and [Taliban leader] Mullah Umer” 3.
Mr. Sagheer was transported from Kunduz by truck with other prisoners in containers where many died, some who were injured were buried alive, others held in jails in Afghanistan, and finally he was transported by the U.S. military to Guantanamo Bay4. There he was held like other prisoners in small cages, subjected to torture, humiliation, violation of religious prohibitions, denied legal rights, beaten, and interrogated at Camp Delta. After ten months, he was told by a senior U.S. military officer at Camp Delta that he was found to be innocent and would be released. He was transported from Guantanamo back to Pakistan on a U.S. military plane and released with compensation of $100 from the U.S. Government for his ordeal of nearly one year.
Northern Alliance Sweep for Al-Qaeda/Taliban
Mr. Chaudhry testified that at the time his client, Mr. Sagheer, was arrested by the Northern Alliance, more than 30,000 detainees were also swept up in an indiscriminate arrest of civilians, but many died in Kunduz due to ground fire or bombardment by the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Sagheer witnessed wounded and injured men buried alive with the dead. He was in a group of 250 who were blindfolded, handcuffed, chained and put into trucks and taken to Mazar-e-Sharif by the Dostum Forces. At Mazar-e-Sharif they were held as prisoners and guarded for nearly six weeks by fifteen to twenty armed U.S. military assisted by local Northern Alliance commanders.
Later at Mazar-e-Sharif, they were crowded into airtight containers by U.S. Forces and local soldiers for transport to the Shabargan Jail 75 miles west of Mazar-e-Sharif. He was one of about 250 crowded into one airtight container which had a capacity of 50-60 people. Mr. Sagheer said that more than 50 died in the container he was in from suffocation, lack of food, water and medical aid. In other containers people died or were wounded when soldiers were ordered by U.S. commanders to shoot holes for air into containers full of prisoners5. Thousands more died in containers and were dumped in the desert by Afghan drivers under U.S. military forces5. Massacre in Mazar, a disturbing documentary film by Irish director Jamie Doran, documents the torture and mass killings of POWs6 and civilians in Mazar-I-Sharif by U.S. forces5.
During detainment at Mazar-e-Sharif and the Shabargan Jail, the Red Cross visited with food, medicine and other items for the prisoners. The prisoners received almost nothing because Dostum and the Northern Alliance kept the Red Cross donations for themselves. While in jail, more than 70 people shared as little as six loaves of bread and a few glasses of water per day. One prisoner died of starvation and many were sick and had no medical care. They were herded like cattle, mistreated, and forced to drink urine.
At Shabargan Jail in Kandahar where they were detained two weeks, there were more than 3000 prisoners including Mr. Sagheer, accused of being Taliban. The FBI, with the U.S. military, participated in the torture of prisoners there7. Prisoners were thrashed, deprived of water, made to lie down on the dirt at midnight and not allowed to sleep for long periods of time, considered to be a form of torture. Hair, mustaches and beards were shaved off of all prisoners in violation of religious practices. Prisoners were not allowed to pray despite the religious need for Moslems to pray five times a day. Prisoners were forced to stand outside in the cold where they were interrogated for long periods of time about Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Osama Bin-Laden. Mr. Sagheer was interrogated about his purpose for visiting Afghanistan. He reported his feelings of being horribly frightened during his time in jail, and the constant fear that he would die at any time. He described it as a terrifying experience, a feeling that other prisoners shared.
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Suit for Recovery of Damages and Compensation of US $10.4 Million
By Leuren Moret leurenmoret@yahoo.com
Mohammad Sagheer is the only Pakistani prisoner to return home from Camp Delta (formerly Camp X-ray), the U.S. concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, and one of the few direct witnesses to talk about this dark time in U.S. history. He was invited to testify in December 2003 about his detention and mistreatment at an International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan1 (ICTA) convened in Tokyo, Japan. Because his request for a passport was delayed in Pakistan, he was prevented from getting the required visa in time to attend the Tribunal. His attorney, Mr. Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry2, attended and presented testimony about his case3 at the Tribunal held December 13-14, 2003, attended by 1700 people. Based on 8 investigative trips to Afghanistan and testimony by many witnesses and experts, the ICTA has held 16 public hearings in Japan and the Philippines and three Tribunals in Tokyo in 20031. The purpose of the Tribunal has been, not only to try President Bush for war crimes in Afghanistan, but to be a public voice for, and to publish a truthful history of this period, documenting the experiences and suffering of the Afghan people. It has also been a process to inform citizens, not only in Japan, but other countries about the U.S. military aggression against Afghanistan in 2001 which the U.S. justified as retaliation for 9/11.
Magic Carpet Ride: Afghanistan to Guantanamo to Pakistan
In November 2001, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, a contingent of ten missionary members from Pakistan made a Tableegy Dora, routine preaching visit to the Northern Afghanistan Province of Kunduz. Among them was Mr. Sagheer, 54, a religious man from Phattan, a town in Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan, who had traveled as a preacher on other Tableegh (preaching missions). During this visit he was swept up and arrested with thousands of others by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, the area Northern Alliance commander, “on the instructions and orders of the U.S. Government/Army… in a hunt against Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin-Laden, the Taliban and [Taliban leader] Mullah Umer” 3.
Mr. Sagheer was transported from Kunduz by truck with other prisoners in containers where many died, some who were injured were buried alive, others held in jails in Afghanistan, and finally he was transported by the U.S. military to Guantanamo Bay4. There he was held like other prisoners in small cages, subjected to torture, humiliation, violation of religious prohibitions, denied legal rights, beaten, and interrogated at Camp Delta. After ten months, he was told by a senior U.S. military officer at Camp Delta that he was found to be innocent and would be released. He was transported from Guantanamo back to Pakistan on a U.S. military plane and released with compensation of $100 from the U.S. Government for his ordeal of nearly one year.
Northern Alliance Sweep for Al-Qaeda/Taliban
Mr. Chaudhry testified that at the time his client, Mr. Sagheer, was arrested by the Northern Alliance, more than 30,000 detainees were also swept up in an indiscriminate arrest of civilians, but many died in Kunduz due to ground fire or bombardment by the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Sagheer witnessed wounded and injured men buried alive with the dead. He was in a group of 250 who were blindfolded, handcuffed, chained and put into trucks and taken to Mazar-e-Sharif by the Dostum Forces. At Mazar-e-Sharif they were held as prisoners and guarded for nearly six weeks by fifteen to twenty armed U.S. military assisted by local Northern Alliance commanders.
Later at Mazar-e-Sharif, they were crowded into airtight containers by U.S. Forces and local soldiers for transport to the Shabargan Jail 75 miles west of Mazar-e-Sharif. He was one of about 250 crowded into one airtight container which had a capacity of 50-60 people. Mr. Sagheer said that more than 50 died in the container he was in from suffocation, lack of food, water and medical aid. In other containers people died or were wounded when soldiers were ordered by U.S. commanders to shoot holes for air into containers full of prisoners5. Thousands more died in containers and were dumped in the desert by Afghan drivers under U.S. military forces5. Massacre in Mazar, a disturbing documentary film by Irish director Jamie Doran, documents the torture and mass killings of POWs6 and civilians in Mazar-I-Sharif by U.S. forces5.
During detainment at Mazar-e-Sharif and the Shabargan Jail, the Red Cross visited with food, medicine and other items for the prisoners. The prisoners received almost nothing because Dostum and the Northern Alliance kept the Red Cross donations for themselves. While in jail, more than 70 people shared as little as six loaves of bread and a few glasses of water per day. One prisoner died of starvation and many were sick and had no medical care. They were herded like cattle, mistreated, and forced to drink urine.
At Shabargan Jail in Kandahar where they were detained two weeks, there were more than 3000 prisoners including Mr. Sagheer, accused of being Taliban. The FBI, with the U.S. military, participated in the torture of prisoners there7. Prisoners were thrashed, deprived of water, made to lie down on the dirt at midnight and not allowed to sleep for long periods of time, considered to be a form of torture. Hair, mustaches and beards were shaved off of all prisoners in violation of religious practices. Prisoners were not allowed to pray despite the religious need for Moslems to pray five times a day. Prisoners were forced to stand outside in the cold where they were interrogated for long periods of time about Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Osama Bin-Laden. Mr. Sagheer was interrogated about his purpose for visiting Afghanistan. He reported his feelings of being horribly frightened during his time in jail, and the constant fear that he would die at any time. He described it as a terrifying experience, a feeling that other prisoners shared.
(Please continue ...)