Hamidullah (born 1967) is a citizen of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

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 ...

Bagram Theater Internment Facility The Parwan Detention Facility (also called Detention Facility in Parwan or Bagram prison) is Afghanistan's main military prison. Situated next to the Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, the prison was built by the U.S. during ...

. He was interviewed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in November 2007, and gave an account of his detention, first in " the black prison" and then in Bagram. On November 28, 2009, Allisa J. Rubin published an article in ''

'' which reported on Hamidullah's description of his detention. Rubin reported that Hamidullah was a car parts dealer. He said he was captured in June 2009, and held until October 2009, and that he spent his first six weeks in the "

black jail The black jail was a U.S. military detention camp established in 2002 inside Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, it is no longer in operation. Distinct from the main prison of the Bagram Internm ...

", a secret annex to the main Bagram facility, where interrogation techniques like

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...

, prohibited under the

Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (DTA) is an Act of the United States Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 30, 2005. Offered as an amendment to a supplemental defense spending bill, it contains provisions ...

, were still practiced. Rubin reported that Hamidullah described being subjected to sleep deprivation, but that while he could hear other detainees being beaten, and screaming while they were being beaten, he was not beaten himself. He said that detainees had no access to natural light, were made to wear opaque googles, earmuffs and shackles, when being moved around, and weren't allowed to know what time it was, so they didn't know when to pray. Hamidullah described being apprehended when his house was raided at 11:30 pm, one night in June 2009. He and a guest were both taken away. The Americans came in three helicopters, but only one landed. He spent 37 days in " the black prison", a prison where detainees were disoriented and sleep deprived, by loud noises, and the lack of any natural light. He couldn't bring himself to eat the American food served there. He said that while he wasn't beaten there, other detainees were: Hamidullah said the black prison was also called "Tor Jail". Hamidullah said his interrogators believed he was Faida Mohammed, because they both shared the nickname "Haji Lala". He didn't know Faida Mohammed personally, only by reputation. He knew he had been a

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

official, prior to the Taliban's collapse, but he knew nothing about his subsequent activities. Hamidullah told ''The New York Times'' he was only interrogated twice after his transfer to Bagram.

Release

He was released in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamidullah Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees Living people 1967 births Afghan prisoners and detainees