Rohullah (Bagram Detainee)
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Haji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...
Rohullah (born c. 1967) is a citizen of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
held 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 ...
'
Bagram Theater detention 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 t ...
, in Afghanistan. Rohullah worked as a driver before being seized at his farm in
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
in August 2006.


Identity

A captive was held in the United States'
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 ...
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 ...
, named
Sahib Rohullah Wakil Hajji Sahib Rohullah Wakil is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 798. American intelligence analysts esti ...
, a member of Afghanistan's legislature, who is also known as "Haji Rohullah". On January 16, 2010, the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...
was forced to publish the names of the 645 captives held in the
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 t ...
. Three of the individuals on the list were named Rohullah. The list distinguished between them solely by a sequence number: 003417, 003830, and 003841.


Capture and detention

When Rohullah's writ of
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
was first filed, in 2006, it stated he had been captured in his home a year earlier. Eleven other men were captured at the same time, but they were all released.


Ruzatullah v. Gates

Rohullah is one of the first
enemy combatant Enemy combatant is a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict. Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. In the case ...
s held by the USA in a detention facility in Afghanistan who has been held able to mount a challenge to his detention through the US court system. Rohullah, and another Afghan, Ruzatullah, had a writ of
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
submitted on their behalf in November 2006. On August 10, 2007 Rohullah's lawyers submitted a motion requiring the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
give thirty days' advance notice if they planned to transfer him from US custody to Afghan custody. They informed the court that Ruzatullah was quietly transferred out of US jurisdiction, without any notice, in June 2007. The arguments in the motion were: #Petitioner Rohullah Will Suffer Irreparable Harm if He is Transferred Without Notice or an Opportunity to be Heard ## Petitioner Ruzatullah Faces the Threat of Irreparable Harm Based on the Potential Loss of his Habeas Claims ## Petitioner Rohoullah Faces the Substantial Threat of Torture #Petitioner Rohullah Has a Substantial Likelihood of Success on the Merits #The Requested Relief Will Not Harm Respondents #Public Policy Unequivocally Favors the Granting of Petitioner's Request Rohullah and Ruzatullah are represented by A. Katherine Toomey, Eric L. Lewis and Dwight P. Bostwick of Baach, Robinson & Lewis and Tina Foster of the International Justice Network. Jean Lin, a
Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
attorney, had characterized the motion as ab "extraordinary and drastic remedy." Lin had argued the motion would: "... interfere directly with the executive's conduct of war-making and foreign policy." On October 4, 2007
U.S. district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
judge
Gladys Kessler Gladys Kessler (born January 22, 1938) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University ...
ruled in Rohullah's favor that the DoD had to give his lawyer's thirty days advance notice of plans to transfer him from US custody. On December 2, 2008
Sandra Hodgkinson Sandra Hodgkinson is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Navy Reserve. She currently serves as senior vice president for strategic planning and chief of staff at DRS Technologies and Leonardo North America, headquartered in Arlingt ...
, who was then the
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs (DASD-DA) is a political appointment created by United States President George W. Bush. The appointee has responsibility for captives apprehended during the "war on terror". ''The New Yo ...
, had a letter to the editor published in ''American Law'', responding to Daphne Eviatar's article on Bagram captivity.


References


External links


Text of the ruling in favor of Rohullah
* *Human Rights First
Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009 (2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohullah Afghan extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees Living people Year of birth uncertain Bagram captives' habeas corpus petitions Year of birth missing (living people)