Misplaced Pages

Muhammad Ismail Agha: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 13:34, 24 June 2017 editHullaballoo Wolfowitz (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers96,059 edits nonfree lede image in BLP← Previous edit Latest revision as of 20:09, 28 December 2024 edit undoSmasongarrison (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers728,653 edits added Category:Afghan extrajudicial prisoners of the United States using HotCat 
(59 intermediate revisions by 31 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Afghan national|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox War on Terror detainee {{Infobox War on Terror detainee
| name = Muhammad Ismail Agha | name = Muhammad Ismail Agha
Line 6: Line 7:
| birth_date = <!-- {{Birth-date and age| birth date }} --> | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth-date and age| birth date }} -->
| birth_place = ] | birth_place = ]
| date_of_arrest = | date_of_arrest = December 2002
| place_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest = ]
| arresting_authority = | arresting_authority = Afghan soldiers
| date_of_release = | date_of_release = January 29, 2004
| place_of_release = | place_of_release = ]
| death_date = <!-- {{Death-date and age| death date | birth date }} --> | death_date = <!-- {{Death-date and age| death date | birth date }} -->
| death_place = | death_place =
| detained_at = ]; ]; ]
| citizenship =
| detained_at = ]
| id_number = 930 | id_number = 930
| group = | group =
Line 20: Line 20:
| charge = | charge =
| penalty = | penalty =
| status = | status = Released, then recaptured
| csrt_summary = | csrt_summary =
| csrt_transcript = | csrt_transcript =
| occupation = | occupation =
| spouse = | spouse =
| parents = | parents = Hayatullah (father)
| children = | children =
}} }}
'''Muhammad Ismail Agha''' is an ] national who was among some 15-21 ]s. Believed to be age 12-13 (estimated) when arrested by Afghan ] soldiers, he was said to be the youngest detainee held at the camps.<ref name=TheGuardian20040306> '''Muhammad Ismail Agha''' (born 1988 or 1989) is an ] national who was among some 15-21 ]s. He is believed to be 13 or 14 years old when arrested by Afghan soldiers. Detained without charge, he was released on January 29, 2004, and returned home.
{{cite news
| url=https://www.theguardian.com/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1163435,00.html
| title=Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp
| author=]
| date= March 6, 2004
| publisher=]
| accessdate=2007-07-28
| location=London
}}</ref><ref name=BangorDaily2004-02-10>
{{cite news
|url=http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=vR40AAAAIBAJ&sjid=HOEIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1327,3405693&dq=hayatullah+taliban+afghan+%7C+afghanistan&hl=en
|title=Boy freed from Guantanamo details captivity
|publisher=]
|date=2004-02-10
|author=Pamela Constable
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230000000/http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=vR40AAAAIBAJ&sjid=HOEIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1327%2C3405693&dq=hayatullah%20taliban%20afghan%20%7C%20afghanistan&hl=en
|archivedate=2016-12-30
|dead-url=no
|quote=
|df=
}}</ref><ref name=Boston2004-02-12>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/02/12/freed_afghan_youth_tells_of_guantanamo/
| title=Freed Afghan youth tells of Guantanamo
| publisher=]
| date=2004-02-12
| author=Noor Khan
| archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boston.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Farticles%2F2004%2F02%2F12%2Ffreed_afghan_youth_tells_of_guantanamo%2F&date=2010-02-04
| archivedate=2010-02-04
| quote=A 15-year-old youth released after spending a year at the US prison for terror suspects in Cuba said he was detained after Afghan militiamen falsely accused him of being a Taliban sympathizer. Mohammed Ismail Agha was reunited last week with his family in a remote southern Afghan village after a year as one of the youngest inmates in Guantanamo Bay, a high-security prison holding about 650 suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters detained since the US-led war in Afghanistan began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
}}</ref><ref name=Msnbc2004>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4245208/
| title=An Afghan boy’s life in U.S. custody: After Bagram's harsh regime, Cuban camp a welcome change
| publisher=]
| date=2004-01-12
| author=Pamela Constable
| archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.msnbc.msn.com%2Fid%2F4245208%2F&date=2010-02-04
| archivedate=2010-02-04
| quote=Ismail Agha was a slight, illiterate village boy of 13 when his family last saw him 14 months ago. When he reappeared last week, he was three inches taller, his voice had deepened, his chin had sprouted a black beard and he had learned to read, write and do basic math.
}}</ref> The Afghans traded him to ] forces in December 2002 for $10 US dollars.<ref name=TheGuardian20040306/> Detained without charge, he was released on January 29, 2004 and returned home.


He was recaptured in May 2004 during an engagement with US forces near ].
He was among 200 detainees released in early 2004, before the ] ruled in '']'' (2004) that detainees were entitled to challenge their detention and classification as ] before an impartial tribunal.


==Early life and education== ==Early life==
<!-- Deleted image removed: ] -->
Agha was born in ]. He helped his father in the village and farm. In 2002, he was captured by Afghan militia and sold to US forces for $10USD.
Agha was born in Durabin (also written as Doorbini),<ref name=trarec /><ref name=wasboy /> a poor farming village near ].<ref name=wasboy /> There is some confusion about his date of birth: U.S. Department of Defense records indicate he was born in 1988,<ref name=trarec /> while first-hand reports suggest it was 1989.</sup>]]

He helped his father, Hayatullah,<ref name=wasboy /> as a builder, before leaving his village to look for construction work in December 2002.<ref name=trarec />


==Detention in 2002== ==Detention in 2002==
After being arrested in late 2002, Agha was detained by the United States at ] in Afghanistan, then transferred in 2002 to ] at ], ]. During this time he was held in solitary confinement and subjected to ] and ].<ref name=NYTimes2005-06-30> Shortly after leaving home to look for work in December 2002, Agha was detained by Afghan soldiers in ] for attempting to join the ] to fight against Americans, a charge he denied.<ref name=trarec /> At the time, he would have been aged between 13 and 14 years old.</sup>]] He was then transferred to the ] at ] in Afghanistan.<ref name=trarec /> During this time, he says he was held in solitary confinement and subjected to ] and ], both ] used at the time by the ].<ref name=ainot />
{{cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29iht-edchild.html
| title=Children, too, are abused in U.S. prisons
| work=]
| date=2005-06-30
| author=Arlie Hochschild
| archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2005%2F06%2F29%2Fopinion%2F29iht-edchild.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dprint&date=2010-02-04
| archivedate=2010-02-04
| quote=According to ], Muhammad Ismail Agha, 13, was arrested in Afghanistan in late 2002 and detained without charge or trial for over a year, first at Bagram and then at Guantánamo. He was held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation. 'Whenever I started to fall asleep, they would kick at my door and yell at me to wake up,' he told an Amnesty researcher. 'They made me stand partway, with my knees bent, for one or two hours.'
}}</ref>
{{quote|
"Whenever I started to fall asleep, they would kick at my door and yell at me to wake up," he told an Amnesty researcher. "They made me stand partway, with my knees bent, for one or two hours."}}


He was then transferred on February 7, 2003, to ], ].</sup>]] He was put with two other teenagers, ] and ], in ], the section of Guantanamo built for juveniles.<ref name=wasboy /> Unlike other detainees, those in Camp Iguana were not shackled and hooded, and did not wear orange boiler suits.<ref name=bbcpra />
After a couple of weeks at Guantanamo Bay, he was put with two other juveniles in ]. They shared a common dormitory. They were given daily classes in ] (their own language), English, Arabic, math, science, art and, for two months, Islam. They learned to read and write.


Their camp had a recreation yard, where the boys played football every day with their guards, and sometimes basketball and volleyball. In an interview in '']'', Agha and his family said that he was well-treated by the American troops and attended school during his incarceration.<ref name=NationalReview20040308> They were given classes in ] (their native language), ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name=guagre /> While there, they learned to read and write.<ref name=wasboy /> Their camp had a recreation yard, where the boys played ] every day with their guards, and sometimes basketball and ].<ref name=guagre /> Agha and his family said that he was treated well by the American troops and attended school during his incarceration at ],<ref name=wasboy /><ref name=bgyou /><ref name=telgoo /> although he criticized the US for not contacting his parents for 10 months, and failing to let them know that he was still alive during that time.<ref name=telgoo />
{{cite news
| url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_4_56/ai_n13619739
| title=Muhammad Ismail Agha, aged 15, is back with his family in Afghanistan after two months' imprisonment at Bagram airbase north of Kabul, followed by a year in the U.S. holding facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
| publisher=]
| date=March 8, 2004
| accessdate=2007-07-28
}} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref>
{{quote|
"At first I was unhappy with the U.S. forces. They stole 14 months of my life, But later the Americans were so nice with me. They were giving me good food with fruit and water for ablutions before prayer."}}


He was transported to Bagram along with the other two juvenile detainees and released on January 29, 2004; a ] plane took him from there to ].<ref name=wasboy />
Agha criticized US authorities for not contacting his parents for 10 months, and failing to let them know that he was still alive during that time.<ref>, Prisoner Testimonials, Human Rights, UC Davis</ref>


==Subsequent recapture==
] reported in June 2005 that some former detainees had been captured fighting against US forces. They claimed that one was named Mohammed Ismail, and said he was one of two teenagers released from Camp Iguana four months previously.<ref name=Fox050621>
Agha was recaptured in May 2004, while participating in an attack on US forces near Kandahar, and was carrying documentation linking him to the Taliban.<ref name=wstren /> In June 2005, Representative ], chairman of the ], said that the Guantanamo release policy was too liberal, pointing to the capture of Agha four months after his release.<ref name=foxtoo /> This was repeated by Senator ] in the ] a year later, adding that the attack occurred near Kandahar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWZaPbgTsu4C&q=%22Mohammed+Ismail%22&pg=PA160 |title=Congressional Record, V. 152, Pt. 9, June 16, 2006 to June 27 2006|date=2010|isbn=978-0-16-086460-5|publisher=]}}</ref> The US military released a list confirming his recapture in May 2007.<ref name=reurel />
{{cite news
| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160036,00.html
| title=Pol: Too Many Inmates Freed
| publisher=]
| date=June 21, 2005
| accessdate=2007-07-28
}}</ref> This report was not confirmed by other sources.


==See also== ==Notes==
:a. <small>Agha was interviewed by reporters on 11 February 2004. They variously reported him as being aged 13 when detained,<ref name=wasboy /><ref name=ainot /> which occurred early in December 2002.<ref name=trarec /> That indicates he was born before December 1989.</small>
*]
:b. <small>The U.S. DoD record his birthyear as 1988.<ref name=trarec /> As noted in (a) above, he has been reported as being 13 when captured on capture in December 2002. Together, that gives an age range of 13-14 years old.</small>
*]
:c. <small>The U.S. DoD Transfer Recommendation misstates the year as 2002.<ref name=trarec /> Agha was transferred in February 2003.<ref name=bgyou /><ref name=weight /></small>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<references/>
<ref name=wasboy>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4245208 |title=An Afghan Boy's Life in U.S. Custody |newspaper=] |via=] |date=12 February 2004 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603174710/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4245208/ |archive-date=3 June 2004 }}</ref>

<ref name=trarec>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/guantanamo/detainees/930-mohammed-ismail |title=(S) Transfer Recommendation for Guantanamo Detainee, Mohammed Ismail, ISN: US9AF-00930DP |work=] |via=] |date=23 July 2003}}</ref>
==External links==
<ref name=ainot>{{cite web |url=http://www.afsc.org/pwork/0406/040606.htm |title=Am I Human or Not? Guantánamo Detention Undermines Human Rights Worldwide |work=] |date=June 2004 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118085757/http://www.afsc.org/pwork/0406/040606.htm |archivedate=2007-11-18 }}</ref>
*, Andy Worthington
<ref name=bbcpra>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3488175.stm |title=Boy praises Guantanamo jailers |work=] |date=14 February 2004}}</ref>
*, '']'', February 8, 2004
<ref name=guagre>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/06/guantanamo.usa |title=Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp |work=] |date=6 March 2004}}</ref>
*{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, reprint from the '']'', March 8, 2004
<ref name=bgyou>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/02/12/freed_afghan_youth_tells_of_guantanamo/ |title=Freed Afghan youth tells of Guantanamo |work=] |date=12 February 2004|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055205/http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/02/12/freed_afghan_youth_tells_of_guantanamo/ |archivedate=4 March 2016 }}</ref>
*, reprint from '']'' report, June, 2004
<ref name=weight>{{cite web |url=http://humanrights.ucdavis.edu/reports/heights-and-weights-files/ISN_839-ISN_1011.pdf#page=42 |title=Heights, weights, and in-processing dates |work=U.S. Department of Defense |via=Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas |date=16 March 2007}}</ref>
*{{cite news
<ref name=telgoo>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/1453782/I-had-a-good-time-at-Guantanamo-says-inmate.html |title=I had a good time at Guantanamo, says inmate |work=] |date=8 February 2004}}</ref>
| url=http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=7880
<ref name=foxtoo>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/pol-too-many-inmates-freed |title=Pol: Too Many Inmates Freed |work=] |date=21 June 2005}}</ref>
| title=Kids of Guantanamo
<ref name=reurel>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-guantanamo-detainees-factbox-idUSN1433833520070514 |title=FACTBOX: Pentagon releases data on former Gitmo detainees |work=] |date=15 May 2007}}</ref>
| date=2005-06-15
<ref name=wstren>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikisource.org/Fact_sheet:_Former_GTMO_Detainee_Terrorism_Trends |title=Fact sheet: Former GTMO Detainee Terrorism Trends |work=] |via=] |date=13 June 2008}}</ref>
| author=]
| publisher=] via ]
| archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cageprisoners.com%2Farticles.php%3Fid%3D7880&date=2009-08-06
| archivedate=2009-08-06
| accessdate=2009-08-06
}} }}

{{WoTPrisoners|state=collapsed}} {{WoTPrisoners|state=collapsed}}


Line 145: Line 78:
] ]
] ]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 20:09, 28 December 2024

Afghan national
Muhammad Ismail Agha
BornNawzad, Afghanistan
ArrestedDecember 2002
Girishk
Afghan soldiers
ReleasedJanuary 29, 2004
Bagram
Detained at Girishk; Bagram; Guantanamo Bay detention camp
ISN930
StatusReleased, then recaptured
ParentsHayatullah (father)

Muhammad Ismail Agha (born 1988 or 1989) is an Afghan national who was among some 15-21 juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. He is believed to be 13 or 14 years old when arrested by Afghan soldiers. Detained without charge, he was released on January 29, 2004, and returned home.

He was recaptured in May 2004 during an engagement with US forces near Kandahar.

Early life

Agha was born in Durabin (also written as Doorbini), a poor farming village near Nawzad, Afghanistan. There is some confusion about his date of birth: U.S. Department of Defense records indicate he was born in 1988, while first-hand reports suggest it was 1989.

He helped his father, Hayatullah, as a builder, before leaving his village to look for construction work in December 2002.

Detention in 2002

Shortly after leaving home to look for work in December 2002, Agha was detained by Afghan soldiers in Girishk for attempting to join the Taliban to fight against Americans, a charge he denied. At the time, he would have been aged between 13 and 14 years old. He was then transferred to the United States at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. During this time, he says he was held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation and stress position, both enhanced interrogation techniques used at the time by the U.S. Armed Forces.

He was then transferred on February 7, 2003, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was put with two other teenagers, Naqibullah and Asadullah, in Camp Iguana, the section of Guantanamo built for juveniles. Unlike other detainees, those in Camp Iguana were not shackled and hooded, and did not wear orange boiler suits.

They were given classes in Pashto (their native language), English, Arabic, Islam, mathematics, science, and art. While there, they learned to read and write. Their camp had a recreation yard, where the boys played football every day with their guards, and sometimes basketball and volleyball. Agha and his family said that he was treated well by the American troops and attended school during his incarceration at Guantanamo, although he criticized the US for not contacting his parents for 10 months, and failing to let them know that he was still alive during that time.

He was transported to Bagram along with the other two juvenile detainees and released on January 29, 2004; a Red Cross plane took him from there to Kandahar.

Subsequent recapture

Agha was recaptured in May 2004, while participating in an attack on US forces near Kandahar, and was carrying documentation linking him to the Taliban. In June 2005, Representative Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the Guantanamo release policy was too liberal, pointing to the capture of Agha four months after his release. This was repeated by Senator Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate a year later, adding that the attack occurred near Kandahar. The US military released a list confirming his recapture in May 2007.

Notes

a. Agha was interviewed by reporters on 11 February 2004. They variously reported him as being aged 13 when detained, which occurred early in December 2002. That indicates he was born before December 1989.
b. The U.S. DoD record his birthyear as 1988. As noted in (a) above, he has been reported as being 13 when captured on capture in December 2002. Together, that gives an age range of 13-14 years old.
c. The U.S. DoD Transfer Recommendation misstates the year as 2002. Agha was transferred in February 2003.

References

  1. ^ "(S) Transfer Recommendation for Guantanamo Detainee, Mohammed Ismail, ISN: US9AF-00930DP". U.S. Department of Defense. 23 July 2003 – via New York Times.
  2. ^ "An Afghan Boy's Life in U.S. Custody". The Washington Post. 12 February 2004. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004 – via MSNBC.
  3. ^ "Am I Human or Not? Guantánamo Detention Undermines Human Rights Worldwide". Amnesty International. June 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-11-18.
  4. "Boy praises Guantanamo jailers". BBC News. 14 February 2004.
  5. ^ "Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp". The Guardian. 6 March 2004.
  6. ^ "Freed Afghan youth tells of Guantanamo". Boston Globe. 12 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  7. ^ "I had a good time at Guantanamo, says inmate". The Telegraph. 8 February 2004.
  8. "Fact sheet: Former GTMO Detainee Terrorism Trends". Defense Intelligence Agency. 13 June 2008 – via Wikisource.
  9. "Pol: Too Many Inmates Freed". Fox News. 21 June 2005.
  10. Congressional Record, V. 152, Pt. 9, June 16, 2006 to June 27 2006. United States Government Printing Office. 2010. ISBN 978-0-16-086460-5.
  11. "FACTBOX: Pentagon releases data on former Gitmo detainees". Reuters. 15 May 2007.
  12. "Heights, weights, and in-processing dates" (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. 16 March 2007 – via Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas.
Controversies surrounding people captured during the War on Terror
Guantanamo Bay
detention camp
CIA black site operations
Prison and detainee abuse
Prison uprisings
and escapes
Deaths in custody
Tortured
Forced disappearances
Reports and legal developments
Related media
Categories: