On May 15, 2006, the United States Department of Defense acknowledged that there have been 12 Tajik detainees held in Guantanamo.list of prisoners (.pdf) , US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006 The Guantanamo Bay detainment camps were opened on January 11, 2002, at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.
Press reports In 2006, the magazine Mother Jones published a feature article titled "The Man Who Has Been to America: One Guantanamo detainee's story".The Man Who Has Been to America: One Guantanamo detainee's story, Mother Jones, September/October 2006 issue The article was based on an interview with Muhibullo Abdulkarim Umarov, a Tajik from a village named Alisurkhon. Umarov said that he and a neighbor from his village were captured while visiting a third neighbor at his university in Pakistan. Umarov named his two neighbors, Mazharudin and Abdughaffor. He said they too had been sent to Guantanamo. Mazharudin is named on the official list, but Abdughaffor is not. Umarov told Mother Jones that Mazharudin and Abdughaffor were released on March 31, 2004, at the same time he was.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) acknowledged holding twelve Tajiks in Guantanamo. The DoD acknowledged convening Combatant Status Review Tribunals for six of the Tajiks,list of prisoners (.pdf) , US Department of Defense, April 20, 2006 a process followed for every detainee who was still in Guantanamo in 2005.
On March 1, 2007, a press release announced that the DoD had returned three Tajiks back to Tajikistan.
On August 7, 2007, Radio Free Europe reported that a former Tajik detainee, Mukit Vohidov, had been repatriated from Guantanamo to Tajikistani custody, in March 2007, and was about to stand trial. The report also stated that another former Tajik detainee, Ibrohim Nasriddinov, had recently stood trial, been convicted, and received a 23-year sentence.
List of Tajiks held in Guantanamo ISN Name Date of birth Arrival date Departure date Notes 00076 Rukniddin Sharipov 1973-03-15 2002-01-15 2007-02-28 Repatriated in March 2007. Put on trial on August 7, 2007. Convicted of being a mercenary on August 18, 2007, and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that Umar Abdulayev had said that he, Sharipov, and one other Tajik were threatened by Tajikistani security officials, who told them they would be punished if they did not agree to pretend to be militant jihadists, and spy on real Tajikistani militant jihadists. 00077 Mehrabanb Fazrollah 1962-10-18 2002-02-09 2007-02-28 00083 Yusef Nabied 1963-08-05 2002-02-08 2004-07-17 Repatriated on July 17, 2004, two weeks before the first Combatant Status Review Tribunal were convened. 00090 Abdumukite Vokhidov 1969-11-13 2002-01-15 2007-02-28 00208 Maroof Saleemovich Salehove 1978-03-03 2002-01-20 2005-08-19 Repatriated on August 19, 2005. His Combatant Status Review Tribunal determined he was not an enemy combatant. 00257 Omar Hamzayavich Abdulayev 1978-10-11 2002-02-09 2016-07-10 In November 2009 Abdulayev was the last Tajikistani in Guantanamo. Abdulayev reported that visiting Tajikistani security officials threatened him and two other captives with retribution if they did not agree to pretend to be militant jihadists in order to spy on real militant jihadists, once they were repatriated. 00641 Abdul Karim Irgashive 1965-05-07 2002-06-08 2004-07-17 Repatriated on July 17, 2004, two weeks before the first Combatant Status Review Tribunal were convened. 00665 Sadee Eideov 1953 2002-06-14 2004-03-31 Repatriated on March 31, 2004, approximately four months before the first Combatant Status Review Tribunal were convened. 00729 Muhibullo Abdulkarim Umarov 1980-10-06 2002-08-05 2004-03-31 00731 Mazharudin 1979-12-01 2002-08-05 2004-03-31 00732 Shirinov Ghafar Homarovich 1974-01-09 2002-08-05 2004-03-31 01095 Zainulabidin Merozhev 1978 unknownHis date of arrival in Guantanamo was not published. 2008-10-31
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