User:Geo Swan/Mohammed Hashim

Mohammed Hashim (محمد هاشم) is a Kuchi nomad from Afghanistan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was formally charged in June 2008, and faces the death penalty, accused of war crimes, at the Guantanamo military commissions on charges that he spied on American troops and prepared to launch a rocket attack. He claims to have helped Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan and was also charged with "providing material support for terrorism", but critics have suggested he is either delusional or exaggerating.

He claims that he does not harbour any hate or ideologies opposed to Americans, and had joined the Afghan military under Taliban rule five years earlier simply because he needed a job.

Carol Rosenberg, of the Miami Herald writes that his repatriation was endorsed by officials at various US agencies—after receiving security assurances from the government of Afghanistan that he would be processed "consistent with the national security interests of the United States". Rosenberg described the dismissal of his charges as: "the first about-face in a military commissions prosecution that was not mandated by a federal judge."

Hashim was sent to Guantanamo on October 28, 2002, and repatriated back to Afghanistan, for custody in the American wing of the Pul-e-Charkhi prison on December 19, 2009.

Life
Hashim lived with his parents, as their only unmarried child, while his two sisters had each married. He joined the Taliban military because he needed the money, and fought at the battles of Konduz and Mazar-e-Sharif prior to the 2001 US Invasion of Afghanistan.

He later said that his work with Osama bin Laden's Arab volunteers meant that he heard discussion of 20 pilots about to fly planes into American buildings, including from the Northern Alliance enemy commander Mohammed Khan who maintained ties with the group.

He also claims to have been close to Abdul Razak, and prior to November 2001 drove to Jalalabad with Razak to pick up bin Laden and take him to the Pakistani border regions in a small convoy led by Hajji Zaher, and left him a Soviet jeep and a pick-up truck to cross the border himself. Over the next month, Hashim says he visited Kabul, Meydan Shahr, Ghazni, Qalat and stopped in Kandahar for several days during Ramadan. There, he was in a group of 40 people led by Abdul Wahed, with Razaq as his lieutenant, and Asmatullah, Haji Gader, Gul Ahmed and Jano Popalzai also present. Here, he says he was asked to serve as a "spy" who would help import weapons from neighbouring countries.

His stories have been dismissed as "fantasy" by critics who allege he is either delusional or lying about his fantastic connections and actions.

Capture and imprisonment
Hashim was captured by Afghan forces who found him unarmed measuring lengths near Mullah Mohammed Omar's residence and asking locals about security arrangements. He was accused of plotting a ranged mortar or rocket attack, but was released. He was taken back into custody shortly afterwards, and turned over to American troops.

Combatant Status Review
Hashim was among the 60% of prisoners who chose to participate in tribunal hearings. A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee.

Hashim's memo accused him of the following:

Hashim agreed that he had helped bin Laden escape American pursuers, and did not dispute any of the unclassified evidence against him, but stressed that it was just a paying job for him and he didn't fight for any ideologies. He concluded the unclassified session of his Tribunal with the comment:

Administrative Review Board
Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee might pose if released or transferred, and whether there were other factors that warranted his continued detention.

There is no evidence that Administrative Review Board hearings were convened in 2005 or 2006. A 6 page Summary of Evidence memo was drafted on January 14, 2008.

Mohammed Hashim attended his hearing, and a fourteen page transcript was published.

Charges
Hashim faced charges before the Guantanamo military commission system in 2008. The charges alleged Hashim had been conducting surviellance of Forward Operating Base Gecko.

Repatriation
Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald reported that Mohammed Hashim was one of twelve men transferred from Guantanamo on December 19, 2009.