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{{Uyghur detainee}}
{{Quote|Hozaifa Parhat is a 33-year-old Chinese citizen, who is an ethnic Uighur from the Ghulja province of China. He claims to have fled the Xinjiang province, China to train in Afghanistan and return to fight Chinese oppression of ethnic Uighurs. He was last interviewed in mid 2004. He has no reported incidents of violence in his discipline history. Parhat is suspected as being a probable member of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). He is suspected of having received training in an ETIM training camp in Afghanistan.}}


{{CSRT-Yes}}<ref name=CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceHozaifaParhat>
{{CSRT-Yes}}<ref name=CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceHozaifaParhat>

Revision as of 13:03, 18 December 2009

Hozaifa Parhat
Detained at Guantanamo
ISN320
Charge(s)No charge
StatusReleased

Hozaifa Parhat is a citizen of China who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1] His Internment Serial Number ("ISN") was 320. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report he was born in February 11, 1971, in Ghulja, China.

Parhat is one of 22 Uyghur detainees in Guantanamo.

Parhat v. Gates

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

He is the lead petitioner in Parhat v. Gates, no. 06-1397 (D.C. Cir.), a case brought by seven Uyghurs challenging their "enemy combatant" designation under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.[2]

Susan Baker Manning, one of Parhat's attorneys, commented:

If we're going to hold people, possibly for the rest of their lives, it seems eminently fair that we should look at all the evidence to see if they are or are not the people who should be at Guantánamo.[3]

Template:CSRT-Yes[4] The memo listed the following allegations against him:

The detainee is associated with al Qaida and the Taliban:

  1. The detainee departed China in May 2001 and traveled to Tora Bora, Afghanistan via Pakistan.
  2. The detainee received training on the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle and other light weapons at a Uighur training camp in Tora Bora, Afghanistan.
  3. The training camp was provided to the Uighurs by the Taliban.
  4. The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) operated facilities in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in which Uighur expatriates underwent small arms training. The camps were funded by Bin Laden and the Taliban.
  5. The detainee lived at the Uighur training camp from early June through mid-October 2001 until the United States bombinb campaign that destroyed the camp.

The detainee participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners.

  1. The detainee stated that the Uighur training camp was destroyed during the first night of the United States bombing campaign.
  2. The detainee fled along with others farther into the mountains of Tora Bora with the initiation of the United States bombing campaign.
  3. The detainee was captured in Pakistan fleeing Afghanistan with other Uighur and Arab personnel in 2001.

Transcript

Parhat chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[5] On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Judge Jed Rakoff, the Department of Defense published a ten page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[6]

Response to the allegations

  • Parhat acknowledged traveling to Afghanistan, from China, via Pakistan.
  • Parhat acknowledged being shown how to use two different weapons while in Afghanistan.
  • Parhat testified he didn't know who provided the camp.
  • Parhat disputed that the Taliban or al Qaida funded the camp.
  • Parhat acknowledged living in the camp from mid-June through mid-October.
  • Parhat acknowledged that the camp was destroyed by US aerial bombardment. He did not know whether it was bombed on the first night of the bombing campaign, or not.
  • Parhat acknowledged fleeing the bombing with the other Uyghurs.
  • Parhat acknowledged being captured, in Pakistan, together with the other Uyghurs.

Opening statement

Parhat disputed that he and the other Uyghurs were opposed to the United States.

Beige uniform

"Non-compliant" captives are issued orange uniforms. Compliant captives are usually issued white uniforms. Hofaiza Parhat wore a beige uniform to his Tribunal.

Q: We noticed that during these Tribunals that some Detainees come to us in different colors. We have orange, beige and white. You are in beige. What is the significance of you being in beige?
A: That means level one.
Q: Is that for good behavior or for some other reason?
A: Yes, I believe so. If you do not have good behavior they will not put you in level one.

Current status

Five Uyghurs, whose CSR Tribunals determined they had not been enemy combatants were transferred to detention in an Albanian refugee camp in 2006. A man who was born to Uyghur parents, in Saudi Arabia, and thus was considered a Uyghur, was nevertheless returned to Saudi Arabia. All the other Uyghurs remain in Guantanamo.

In September 2007, the Department of Defense released all the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the Administrative Review Boards convened in 2006.[7][8] There is no record that a Board reviewed his status in 2005 or 2006.

In September 2007, the Department of Defense released the recommendation memos from 133 of the Administrative Review Boards that convened in 2005 and the recommendation memos from 55 of the Administrative Review Boards that convened in 2006.[9][10] No recommendation memos were released for Hozaifa Parhat.

Federal appeal

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

On June 12, 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Boumediene v. Bush. Its ruling overturned aspects of the Detainee Treatment Act and Military Commissions Act of 2006, allowing Guantanamo captives to access the US justice system for habeas petitions.

On Monday June 23, 2008, it was announced that a three judge Federal court of appeal had overturned the determination of Parhat's Combatant Status Review Tribunal on Friday June 20, 2008.[11][12][13][14][15] Parhat's was the first case to ruled on since the Supreme Court's ruling in Boumediene v. Bush. The panel that reviewed Parhat's CSR Tribunal determination was made up of David B. Sentelle, Merrick B. Garland and Thomas B. Griffith.[16] The court initially published only a one paragraph announcement as its full ruling contained classified material. According to CNN the judges ordered the Department of Defense to either: "release or transfer Parhat, or to expeditiously hold a new [military] tribunal."[14]

According to Sabin Willett, one of his lawyers, it was not possible to tell Parhat of the ruling, because camp authorities were holding him in solitary confinement.[17]

The Los Angeles Times quoted comments on the ruling from David Cole, the author of two books on military law[17]:

Now all of these cases have been revived and this is the first case to move forward. And here is somebody that the military has been holding on to for six years and the federal court now says he shouldn't have been held in the first place. Absent this independent judicial review, he might have been sitting there for another 10 to 15 years. Now he has a chance to find freedom.

On June 19, 2008, Congressional Representatives Bill Delahunt and Dana Rohrabacher published an open letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, calling for the Uyghurs to be moved to more humane conditions within Guantanamo until a country can be found to accept them.[15]

The 39 paqe redacted, unclassified version of the ruling was published on June 30.[18] The ruling pointedly criticized the government's argument that evidence must be reliable because it appears in several documents, stating that “This comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true.” It compared this argument to the Bellman's dictum in Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark: "Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government has 'said it thrice' does not make an allegation true."[19]

Steve Chapman a legal columnist at the Chicago Tribune commented on the Bush administration's arguments[20]:

The operating assumption here is that the prisoners are terrorists who were captured while fighting a vicious war against the United States. But can the critics be sure? All they really know about the Guantanamo detainees is that they are Guantanamo detainees. To conclude that they are all bloodthirsty jihadists requires believing that the U.S. government is infallible.

Petition for release into the USA

On July 23, 2008 Susan Baker Manning filed a motion requesting Parhat be released on parole in the USA, until his habeas petition was completed.[21][22]

On August 5, 2008 the United States Department of Justice opposed Parhat being released in the USA, and to having a judgment made on his habeas petition.[23] The Government's opposition filing was 22 pages long.

The Department of Justice had initially claimed it was necessary to convene a new Combatant Status Review Tribunal, which might consider new evidence supporting a determination that Parhat was indeed an "enemy combatant".[24] On September 2, 2008 the DC Circuit Court denied the Department of Justice plea, ensuring that there would be no re-hearing for Parhat.[25]

The Bush administration still maintains no foreign country is willing to accept Parhat, and is resisting calls to offer him residency or asylum in the USA.[26]

On September 29, 2008 James Oliphant, writing in the Chicago Tribune, quoted Jason Pinney, one of the Uyghur's attorneys.[27] Oliphant characterized the USA decideing to label the Separatist group the Uyghurs were said to have been affiliated with a terrorist group, long after they were captured, in order to curry support from the Chinese for the invasion of Iraq:

  • "The Uighurs are really the poster boys for what happens when you exclude judicial review from something like Guantanamo. You get abuse."
  • "If you connect the dots, it does not look good. The government knew it did something wrong, picked up the wrong people."
  • "They want to blame the international community. They won't accept these poor Uighurs. You've brought them here and you have labeled them terrorists. The worst of the worst. Cold-blooded killers."

Oliphant also quoted Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Guantanamo spokesman, who defended the record of GI's at Guantanamo[27]:

  • "This assertion is categorically untrue. For years, we have been hard at work with the international community in resettlement options for the Uighurs at Guantanamo, as we do not repatriate detainees to countries which cannot provide credible assurances of humane treatment."

Freedom

Huzaifa Parhat and three other Uyghurs Abdul Helil Mamut, Emam Abdulahat and Jalal Jalaladin were set free in Bermuda on June 11 2009.[28]

References

  1. ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  2. ^ Erika Tillery (December 18, 2006). "Hufaiza Parhat v. Robert M Gates" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  3. ^ William Glaberson (September 12, 2007). "Officials Cite Danger in Revealing Detainee Data". New York Times. p. A18. Retrieved 2007-09-12. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ OARDEC (8 November 2004). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Parhat, Hozaifa" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 55-56. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ OARDEC (date redacted). "Summarized Statement" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 43-54. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "US releases Guantanamo files". The Age. April 4, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  7. ^ OARDEC (August 9, 2007). "Index to Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round One" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  8. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). "Index of Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round Two" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  9. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). "Index to Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  10. ^ OARDEC (August 10, 2007). Index "Index of Transfer and Release Decision for Guantanamo Detainees from ARB Round Two". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  11. ^ James Vicini (June 23, 2008). "Appeals court rules for Guantanamo prisoner". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-23. mirror
  12. ^ "In first, court rejects military's ruling in Guantanamo case". McClatchy News Service. June 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  13. ^ "US appeals court rejects classification of Chinese Muslim as an enemy combatant". International Herald Tribune. June 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  14. ^ a b Bill Mears (June 23, 2008). "Court rules in favor of Chinese Muslim held at Gitmo". CNN. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  15. ^ a b Pete Yost (2008-06-24). "Court ruling on detainee another setback for gov't". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-06-24. mirror
  16. ^ William Glaberson (2008-06-24). "Court Voids Finding on Guantánamo Detainee". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  17. ^ a b Josh Meyer (2008-06-24). "Court rules for Guantanamo inmate". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-06-24. It is a tremendous day. It is a very conservative court, but we pressed ahead and we won unanimously," said lawyer P. Sabin Willett. "But Huzaifa Parhat is now in his seventh year of imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, and he doesn't even know about this ruling because he's sitting in solitary confinement and we can't tell him about it. That's what we do to people in this country -- we put them in solitary confinement even when they are not enemy combatants. mirror
  18. ^ "Full opinion" (pdf). Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  19. ^ Matt Apuzzo (30 June 2008). "Judges cite nonsense poem in Guantanamo case". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  20. ^ Steve Chapman (2008-07-06). "Truth and the Gitmo detainees". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-30. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, after reviewing secret documents submitted by the government, found that there was no real evidence. It said the flimsy case mounted against Parhat "comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true." And it ruled that, based on the information available, he was not an enemy combatant even under the Pentagon's own definition of the term. mirror
  21. ^ "Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation: Doc 191 -- Notice of filing" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  22. ^ "Huzaifa Parhat's motion for immediate release on parole into the continental United States pending final judgment on his habeas petition" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  23. ^ Gregory G. Katsas, John C. O'Quinn (2008-08-05). "Respondent's combined opposition to Parhat's motion for immediate release into the United States and to Parhat's motion for judgment on his habeas petition" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  24. ^ Lyle Denniston (2008-08-19). "Analysis: Escalating the Parhat case". Scotusblog. Retrieved 2008-09-09. mirror
  25. ^ Lyle Denniston (2008-09-03). "No rehearing in Parhat". Scotusblog. Retrieved 2008-09-09. mirror
  26. ^ "A Home for a Detainee: The U.S. government wants to get Huzaifa Parhat out of Guantanamo Bay. Here's how it could". Washington Post. 2008-08-16. p. A14. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  27. ^ a b James Oliphant (2008-09-29). "A Chinese Muslim in Gitmo legal limbo: Though eligible for freedom, detainee labeled a foe of China is going nowhere". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-09-29. mirror
  28. ^ Andy Worthington (2009-06-11). "Who Are the Four Guantanamo Uighurs Sent to Bermuda?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-06-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huzaifa Parhat.
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