Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
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 ...
, for five years, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
s, in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. His Guantanamo
Internment Serial Number An Internment Serial Number (ISN) is an identification number assigned to captives who come under control of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) during armed conflicts.
History
On March 3, 2006, in compliance with a court order from D ...
was 90. Vohidov was returned to his native Tajikistan on 28 February 2007.
Imprisoned by the Taliban
Vohidov was one of nine former Taliban prisoners the ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' pointed out had gone from Taliban custody to American custody.
The Taliban had accused Vohidov of spying for Russia, and imprisoned him for nearly three years. At Kandahar Airfield, he complained to Cpt. Danner that he had been housed in a more humane prison by the Taliban, where he had been given a radio, fresh fruit and proper toilet facilities.Begg, Moazzam. ''Enemy Combatant'', 2006. p. 120
Trial in Tajikistan
Vohidov and
Rukniddin Sharipov
On May 15, 2006, the United States Department of Defense acknowledged that there have been 12 Tajik detainees held in Guantanamo.Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Vohidov and Sharopov received sentences of 17 years on 18 August 2007. The two men were convicted of serving as
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
.
Carol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist at ''The New York Times.'' Long a military-affairs reporter at the ''Miami Herald'', from January 2002 into 2019 she reported on the operation of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, at its nav ...
, writing in the ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'' on 7 July 2009, reported that Umar Abdulayev, the sole remaining Tajikistani, reported that a delegation of Tajikistani security officials threatened to retaliate against him Sharipov and Vohidov, unless they agreed to pretend to be militant jihadists, and report on real militant jihadists, following their repatriations.
McClatchy interview
On 15 June 2008, the
McClatchy News Service
The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...
published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Airat Vakhitov by telephone. Vohidov told his interviewers he was suffering ongoing mental problems, and that he was worried that if interviewers visited him in person he would be punished by Russian security officials.
Vohidov had been an imam in Tatarstan, who was imprisoned following a general round-up when Russian officials were cracking down on Chechens. He was temporarily freed, and fled Russia when he learned that security officials were looking for him. He said he was kidnapped by the forces of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and eventually transported to Afghanistan, against his will.
2012 elections
Bridget McCormack
Bridget Mary McCormack (born July 23, 1966) is an American lawyer, professor, and judge. She served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2013 to 2022, first as an associate justice, and as chief justice from 2019 to 2022. Previously she was a profe ...
, a candidate for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, helped defend Vohitov, and in 2012, the
Judicial Crisis Network
The Concord Fund (formally known as the Judicial Crisis Network and, before that, as the Judicial Confirmation Network) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative advocacy organization. Its president is Carrie Campbell Severi ...
broadcast an advertisement which criticized her for "freeing a terrorist."
Andrew Rosenthal
Andrew Mark Rosenthal (born February 25, 1956) is an American journalist and former editorial page editor of ''The New York Times''. He is the son of A. M. Rosenthal, a longtime ''New York Times'' senior executive and executive editor.
While at ...
, of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' criticized the
Judicial Crisis Network
The Concord Fund (formally known as the Judicial Crisis Network and, before that, as the Judicial Confirmation Network) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative advocacy organization. Its president is Carrie Campbell Severi ...
ad, which contained footage of Teri Johnson, the mother of Joseph Johnson, a GI who was killed in Afghanistan, who says: Rosenthal pointed out that Vohitov was freed through the non-judicial review, through the
Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants
The Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants, established in 2004 by the Bush administration's Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, is a United States military body responsible for organising Combatant St ...
in 2007.
Reports Vohidov volunteered in Iraq or Syria
In 2016, reports emerged that Vohidov had volunteered to fight in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
Specially Designated Global Terrorist
A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the US Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of US Executive Order 1 ...