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Abdul Bagi
Born	1972 (age 36–37)
Detained at	Guantanamo
Internment Serial Number	963
Charge(s)	No charge, held in extrajudicial detention
Occupation	farmer

Abdul Bagi is a citizen of Afghanistan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.^[1] Bagi's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 963. American intelligence analysts estimate Bagi was born in 1972, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

[edit] Combatant Status Review

[edit] Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdul Bagi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[5]

a. The detainee is a member of the Taliban and participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners: The detainee is a member of the Taliban. The detainee admitted that he was supposed to participate in an ambush against U.S. forces. The detainee admitted that he threw his weapon down a well and hid in a hole. The detainee was captured on the afternoon of 10 February 2003 along with his uncle, by U.S. personnel.

[edit] Bagi’s response to the allegations

Bagi denied being a member of the Taliban.^[6] He denied admitting participating in an ambush on February 10, 2003, or in any hostilities whatsoever. He denied owning a weapon, or throwing one down a well, or hiding when an American convoy drove by.

Bagi’s account of his capture was that he and his uncle were driving his uncle’s tractor to the bazaar to buy oil and filters. They heard an American vehicles approaching them, so they pulled off the road so they wouldn’t be in the way. They got off the tractor to wait for the Americans to go by. But the Americans stopped, and took them into custody.

The Americans took him over to a newly dug well, and asked what it was for. He explained it was a well, for irrigating crops.

The Americans took his uncle and himself to where they had secured the other men in the village. Most of the other men were released. But he and several other men were taken to Bagram. It was only in Bagram, seven days later, when he was interrogated did he learn that his dossier contained the claim that he had hidden in a hole and thrown a weapon down a well. According to Bagi the well only had about a foot of water in it, and anyone could have seen if an object even as small as a pen had been thrown in it.

[edit] Witnesses

Bagi asked three other men from his village, who were captured the same day he was, to testify on his behalf. The transcript from his CSRT does not identify them by name. It is clear from the context that one of the witnesses is his uncle. When Bagi attended his Administrative Review Board hearing the identity of his other two witnesses was contained in the summary of his CSRT. They were Alif Mohammed and Baridad.

Bagi asked all three witnesses whether he owned a weapon and whether he was a member of the Taliban. All of the witnesses testified that he didn't own a weapon, was just a simple farmer, and had no contact with the Taliban.

[edit] Administrative Review Board

Captives whose CSRT labelled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to judge whether the captive still posed a threat if repatriated to their home country.^[7] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdul Bagi first annual Administrative Review Board on August 6, 2004.^[8]

Bagi chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.^[9]

[edit] The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment The detainee admitted to being part of the attacks (ambush) on United States Forces in the vicinity of Lejay, Afghanistan. b. Connections/Associations A known Taliban member identified the detainee as Taliban. As U.S. elements approached the village of Lejay (Abdul Rais Wahid [sic] stronghold) on the morning of 10 February 2003, they were viciously [sic] ambushed from the high ground on both sides of the road. The enemy fired from well-prepared ambush positions, and employed a high volume of RPK, PKM, AK, and RPG fire in an effort to kill as many U.S. personnel as possible. Haji Raes Abdul Wahed, is the Supreme Commander of a forty-man guerilla unit. He was identified as teaching hand grenade techniques, plastic explosives with detonator cord, and how to blow up cars. Detainee was captured on 10 February 2003 in a dugout hole 100 meters from the compound. The detainee was apprehended wearing an Olive Drab (OD) green jacket consistent with the eyewitness accounts of the individual responsible for the attacks. OD jackets were worn by several men captured, [sic] on the same day as the detainee, at a checkpoint on the north side of town in a taxi and on motorcycles. The men all suffered from hearing loss assessed to be from firing activity. During the Combatant Status Review Tribunal, [sic] the detainee called two witnesses other than his uncle, Alif Mohammed and Baridad, that testified for him. Alik [sic] Mohammed is assessed as a security/military commander of Lejay/Wahid compound and it is believed he orchestrated the attack on American Forces. Baridad was captured on the same day as the detainee. He suffered from hearing loss assessed due to firing activity.

[edit] The following factors favor release or transfer

a.	The detainee does not know any Taliban members.
b.	Detainee believes the Americans have come to bring peace and stability to the people. He feels it is good, the Americans help rebuild roads and water systems and help establish education for the people, he is happy with that.
c.	Detainee denied any knowledge/involvement in the attacks on United States Forces.
d.	Detainee claims to never having [sic] owned or fired any kind of weapon.
e.	The detainee admitted growing poppies, however, agreed it was a good thing the American forces and Afghanistan government was stopping farmers from growing poppies.

[edit] Response to the factors

• Bagi denied being involved in the attack. He denied being aware of the attack. He denied that he ever admitted any knowledge or involvement in the attack.
• Bagi denied being a member of the Taliban. He said he was an orphan, and as the oldest sibling he had the responsibility to raise his younger siblings. This responsibility would not have allowed him to join the Taliban.
• Bagi acknowledged hearing weapons fire. Some time after the firing ceased he and his uncle mounted his uncle's tractor and headed to the bazaar to buy oil and oil filters.
• Bagi acknowledged that he had heard that Bagi was now working for the Taliban, but he knew nothing about Wahed's men, or Wahed's action. Bagi denied that Wahed was from his village. He was from a nearby neighboring village.
• Bagi acknowledged that he owned a green jacket. He said that it was a common color of jacket in his area. The jackets were commonly available in local shops.
• Bagi said he was captured in front of his house. He had just emerged from his house. He was not riding a motorcycle, or a passenger in a taxi. Bagi pointed out that his house was on the main road, and thousands of vehicles went by every day. Bagi expressed skepticism that the ambushers would have made the mistake of using the main road, which was sure to have roadblocks on it, to escape from the scene.
• Bagi acknowledge calling his uncle, Baridad and Alif Mohammed to testify on his behalf.
• Bagi challenged the idea that Alif Mohammed was a military commander. He said Alif Mohammed could not support his own family, and had to beg for food. He said Alif Mohammed was a drug addict. His drug addiction had brought the wrath of the Taliban down on him, and they had beaten him so badly they came close to killing him.
• Bagi disputed the allegation that his neighbor Baridad suffered hearing loss from weapons fire. Baridad had been hard of hearing since childhood.

[edit] Response to Board questions

[edit] Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.^[10][11] The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on December 23, 2005.

The Board asserted that Abdul Bagi continued to be a threat.

Paragraphs that were not redacted stated:

[edit] Guantanamo Medical records

On 16 March 2007 the Department of Defense published medical records for the captives.^[12] Abdul Bagi's records indicate he was weighed every month, from January 2004 through December 2005. But unlike every other captive's records, his weights are missing. Three other fields recorded for almost every other captive—his "inprocess date", his height, and his "inprocess weight" -- are also missing.

[edit] Repatriation

On November 25, 2009, the Department of Defense published a list of the dates captives were transferred from Guantanamo.^[13] According to that list Abdul Bagi was transferred on February 8, 2006.

[edit] See also

• Rahmatullah
• Alif Mohammed
• Baridad

[edit] References