Tariq Khan (Guantanamo detainee)
Encyclopedia
Tariq Khan is a citizen of Pakistan
who was held in extrajudicial detention
in the United States
's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
.
He arrived in Guantanamo on June 16, 2002.
He was repatriated on 16 July 2003.
Tariq Khan
was one of thee former captives who had an article profiling him.
At the time of his interview Tariq Khan was working as a real estate agent in Pakistan.
His McClatchy interviewer described his account of his travel to Afghanistan as far-fetched.
He said that in November 2001 he had traveled to Quetta
, a city in Pakistan near the Afghan's southern border, to buy a quantity of cigarettes to sell. His visit coincided with Ramadam. And, at the mosque he went to pray at in Quetta he agreed to accompany some religious pilgrims—not realizing that they planned to cross the Afghan border. Tariq Khan told his interviewer:
Tariq Khan described his group of pilgrims being captured near Mazari Sharif, nine days later.
Mazari Sharif is across the mountains in the north of Afghanistan. Tariq Khan described being crammed into crowded shipping containers by troops under the command of General Dostum, where many of his fellow captives died.
He said Dostum's troops fired into the containers, while they were crammed with men.
He described spending several months crammed into a small cell in Dostum's prison at Sherberghan.
He said the cell was so crowded the men had to take turns sitting down, because there wasn't enough room for them all to sit down at the same time. He then spent another six months in US custody in the Kandahar detention facility.
Tariq Khan's interviewer described him losing confidence as he spoke, and declining to answer questions about seeing Koran desecration, or to answer questions about conditions at Guantanamo.
He said that he had to check in with Pakistani security officials every day, and he was afraid he would be punished for talking to a western reporter.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
who was held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
He arrived in Guantanamo on June 16, 2002.
He was repatriated on 16 July 2003.
McClatchy News Service interview
On June 15 2008 the McClatchy News Service published a series of articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives.Tariq Khan
was one of thee former captives who had an article profiling him.
At the time of his interview Tariq Khan was working as a real estate agent in Pakistan.
His McClatchy interviewer described his account of his travel to Afghanistan as far-fetched.
He said that in November 2001 he had traveled to Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
, a city in Pakistan near the Afghan's southern border, to buy a quantity of cigarettes to sell. His visit coincided with Ramadam. And, at the mosque he went to pray at in Quetta he agreed to accompany some religious pilgrims—not realizing that they planned to cross the Afghan border. Tariq Khan told his interviewer:
Tariq Khan described his group of pilgrims being captured near Mazari Sharif, nine days later.
Mazari Sharif is across the mountains in the north of Afghanistan. Tariq Khan described being crammed into crowded shipping containers by troops under the command of General Dostum, where many of his fellow captives died.
He said Dostum's troops fired into the containers, while they were crammed with men.
He described spending several months crammed into a small cell in Dostum's prison at Sherberghan.
He said the cell was so crowded the men had to take turns sitting down, because there wasn't enough room for them all to sit down at the same time. He then spent another six months in US custody in the Kandahar detention facility.
Tariq Khan's interviewer described him losing confidence as he spoke, and declining to answer questions about seeing Koran desecration, or to answer questions about conditions at Guantanamo.
He said that he had to check in with Pakistani security officials every day, and he was afraid he would be punished for talking to a western reporter.