Muhammad Ismail Agha

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Muhammad Ismail Agha
File:Young Ismail Agha, ten days after repatriation from Guantanamo.jpg
Ismail Agha in 2004, ten days after repatriation from Guantanamo
Born Nawzad, Afghanistan
Detained at Guantanamo
ISN 930

Muhammad Ismail Agha is an Afghan national who was among some 15-21 juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. Believed to be age 12-13 (estimated) when arrested by Afghan militia soldiers, he was said to be the youngest detainee held at the camps.[1][2][3][4] The Afghans traded him to U.S. forces in December 2002 for $10 US dollars.[1] Detained without charge, he was released on January 29, 2004 and returned home.

He was among 200 detainees released in early 2004, before the United States Supreme Court ruled in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) that detainees were entitled to challenge their detention and classification as enemy combatants before an impartial tribunal.

Early life and education

Agha was born in Nawzad, Afghanistan. He helped his father in the village and farm. In 2002, he was captured by Afghan militia and sold to US forces for $10USD.

Detention in 2002

After being arrested in late 2002, Agha was detained by the United States at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, then transferred in 2002 to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During this time he was held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation and stress position.[5]

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"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."

After a couple of weeks at Guantanamo Bay, he was put with two other juveniles in Camp Iguana. They shared a common dormitory. They were given daily classes in Pashto (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 National Review, Agha and his family said that he was well-treated by the American troops and attended school during his incarceration.[6]

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"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."

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.[7]

Fox News 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 [sic- three] teenagers released from Camp Iguana four months previously.[8] This report was not confirmed by other sources.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  7. ↑ "I had a good time at Guantanamo, says inmate", Prisoner Testimonials, Human Rights, UC Davis
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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