External links
- WikiLeaks and the 22 Children of Guantánamo Andy Worthington
- U.S. Has Detained 2,500 Juveniles as Enemy Combatants
- Guantánamo: pain and distress for thousands of children
Juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp numbered fifteen, according to a 2011 study by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California Davis. [1] The U.S. State Department had publicly acknowledged twelve. [2] The US Department of Defense defined minors at Guantanamo as those below the age of 16, whereas they are defined as below the age of 18 in international law. Three juveniles aged below 16 were held in Camp Iguana, but others between 16 and 18 were put into the general population and treated as adults. These included Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was 15 when captured and one of the youngest detainees, 16 when transported to Guantanamo.
On May 15, 2008 the American Civil Liberties Union published a report that the Bush Presidency had submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. [3] The report stated that the USA had apprehended 2500 juveniles—2400 of them in Iraq. It said that a total of ten juveniles had been held in the Bagram Theater Detention Facility in Afghanistan and that eight juveniles had been held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Department of Defense documents acknowledge that at least fifteen children were at one time imprisoned at Guantanamo: [2]
| Name | ISN | Date of birth | Transferred to Guantanamo | Age in years at transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Ismail | 930 | -- -- 88 | 07 Feb 02 | 13 - 14 |
| Assad Ullah | 912 | -- -- 88 | -- Dec 02 | 13 - 14 |
| Naqib Ullah | 913 | -- -- 88 | -- Jan 03 | 14 - 15 |
| Mohammed el Gharani | 269 | -- -- 86 | 09 Feb 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Mohammed Omar | 540 | -- -- 86 | 11 Jun 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Shams Ullah | 783 | -- -- 86 | 27 Oct 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Omar Ahmed Khadr | 766 | 19 Sep 86 | 27 Oct 02 | 16 |
| Yussef Mohammed Mubarak al Shihri | 114 | 08 Sep 85 | 16 Jan 02 | 16 |
| Abdul Samad | 911 | -- -- 86 | 06 Feb 03 | 16 - 17 |
| Abdul Qudus | 929 | -- -- 86 | 07 Feb 03 | 16 - 17 |
| Ibrahim Umar al Umar | 585 | -- -- 85 | 15 Jun 02 | 16 - 17 |
| Abdul Salam Ghetan (al Shehri) | 132 | 14 Dec 84 | 20 Jan 02 | 17 |
| Yasser Talal Al Zahrani | 093 | 22 Sep 84 | 20 Jan 02 | 17 |
| Khalil Rahman Hafez (Hafez K. Rahman) | 301 | 20 Feb 84 | 07 Feb 02 | 17 |
| 'Abd al Razaq (Abdullah Razzaq) | 067 | 18 Jan 84 | 17 Jan 02 | 17 |
In addition, the UC Davis report lists six detainees who might have been 17 at the time of transfer to Guantanamo: [2]
| Name | ISN | Date of birth | Transferred to Guantanamo | Age in years at transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Jawad | 900 | -- -- 85 | 06 Feb 03 | 17 - 18 |
| Qari Esmhatulla | 591 | -- -- 84 | 10 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Sajin Urayman | 545 | -- -- 84 | 13 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Faris Muslim al Ansari | 253 | -- -- 84 | 17 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Peta Muhammed | 908 | -- -- 84 | 05 Aug 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Mahbub Rahman | 1052 | -- -- 85 | 21 Nov 03 | 17 - 18 |
Camp Iguana is a small compound in the detention camp complex on the US Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Camp Iguana originally held three child detainees, who camp spokesmen then claimed were the only detainees under age 16. It was closed in the winter of 2004 when the three were sent back to their native countries.
Abdulla Majid Al Naimi is a Bahraini, formerly held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.
Sabir Mahfouz Lahmar is a Bosnian citizen, who won his habeas corpus petition in United States federal court after being held for eight years and eight months in the military Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
Muhibullah or Moheb Ullah Borekzai is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 546. American intelligence analysts estimate that Muhibullah was born in 1982, in Shah Wali Koot, Afghanistan.
Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, in the context of the early twenty-first century War on Terrorism, refers to foreign nationals the United States detains outside of the legal process required within United States legal jurisdiction. In this context, the U.S. government is maintaining torture centers, called black sites, operated by both known and secret intelligence agencies. Such black sites were later confirmed by reports from journalists, investigations, and from men who had been imprisoned and tortured there, and later released after being tortured until the CIA was comfortable they had done nothing wrong, and had nothing to hide.
Hassan Muhammad Salih bin Attash is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, held by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate that bin Attash was born in 1985, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a United States military prison within the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Gitmo, on the coast of Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. As of March 2022, of the 780 people detained there since January 2002 when the military prison first opened after the September 11 attacks, 741 had been transferred elsewhere, 30 remained there, and 9 had died while in custody.
Abd al Razaq Abdallah Hamid Ibrahim al Sharikh is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
Ali Abdul Motalib Awayd Hassan Al Tayeea is a citizen of Iraq who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 111. The Department of Defense reports that Al Tayeea was born in Baghdad, Iraq. The Department of Defense provided a birthday, or an estimated year of birth, for all but 22 of the 759 detainees. Al Tayeea is one of those 22. He was repatriated on January 17, 2009, after more than seven years without ever been charged.
Mohammed Fenaitel Mohamed Al Daihani is a citizen of Kuwait who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba. Al Daihani's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 229. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that Al Daihani was born on November 4, 1965, in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Al Dehani was repatriated without charges on November 2, 2005.
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 estimate he was born in 1962, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He has since been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the American wing of the Pol-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul, Afghanistan. On November 18, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated him for supporting activities of the ISIS branch in Afghanistan.
Mawlawi Mohammad Nabi Omari is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held for nearly twelve years in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 832. American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1968, in Khowst, Afghanistan. He arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on October 28, 2002.
Mohamed Jawad, was accused of attempted murder before a Guantanamo military commission on charges that he threw a grenade at a passing American convoy on December 17, 2002. Jawad's family says that he was 12 years old at the time of his detention in 2002. The United States Department of Defense maintains that a bone scan showed he was about 17 when taken into custody.
Abd al-Salam al-Hilah is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani is a citizen of Pakistan who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
The Parwan Detention Facility 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 the George W. Bush administration. The Parwan Detention Facility, which housed foreign and local combatants, was maintained by the Afghan National Army.
On January 16, 2010, the United States Department of Defense complied with a court order and made public a heavily redacted list of the detainees held in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. Detainees were initially held in primitive, temporary quarters, in what was originally called the Bagram Collection Point, from late 2001. Detainees were later moved to an indoor detention center until late 2009, when newly constructed facilities were opened.
