Asadullah Jan is a citizen of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
who was held in
extrajudicial detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
's
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
s, in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
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His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 47.
Joint Task Force -- Guantanamo analysts estimated he was born in 1981. However, he has stated that he was only sixteen when he was captured in 2001.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts asserted that he was a citizen of Pakistan. He said that although he was born in Pakistan, he was a child of Afghan refugees.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts assert his name was "Asad Ullah". However, in interviews with reporters with the ''
McClatchy News Service
McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it b ...
'' in 2008, he said his name was "Asadullah Jan".
He was repatriated July 16, 2003.
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McClatchy News Service interview
On June 15, 2008, the
McClatchy News Service
McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it b ...
published a series of articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives.
mirror
Asadullah Jan
was one of three former captives who had an article profiling him.
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Asadullah Jan explained that he was returning from a visit to relatives in
Zormat
Zurmat () is the main town of Zurmat District in Paktia Province, Afghanistan. Zurmat is the largest city of Paktia Province, while Zurmat District, with a population of 109,805, is also the most populous district of the province.Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
in 2001 when he was stopped at a checkpoint in
Kohat, Pakistan
Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population of ...
and apprehended.
[Ramadan coincided with November in 2001.]
He was held in Pakistan for approximately a month before his first interrogation by Americans. His first interview was by a woman and two men, in civilian clothes, at the Pakistani jail.CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
, although they did not identify themselves. He told his McClatchy interviewer their questions surprised him—apparently Pakistani security officials had told them he was a son of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
. The CIA officials had him transferred to US custody in the Kandahar detention facility
Kandahar Central Jail, also known as Sarpuza Prison, is a minimum-security prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is located next to the Kandahar-Herat Highway in the Sarpuza neighborhood, which is between the neighborhoods of Mirwais Mena and Shahr ...
. Guards beat him brutally upon his arrival, and routinely beat him and other captives, while he was detained there. His interrogators however never beat him. He described the conditions in the camp as primitive:
Asadullah Jan told his interviewer he personally saw a guard drop a Koran into a latrine.[
Asadullah Jan told his interviewer he was plagued by memories of Guantanamo, and that mention of the USA would bring back troubling recollections.][
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See also
*Minors detained in the War on Terror
Juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp numbered fifteen, according to a 2011 study by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California Davis. The U.S. State Department had publicly acknowledged ...
References
External links
The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (3) – “Osama’s Bodyguards”
Andy Worthington
McClatchy News Service - video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jan, Asadullah
Guantanamo detainees known to have been released
Living people
1985 births
Pakistani extrajudicial prisoners of the United States