A proven enemy of Taliban dies in Guantanamo without trial

For the first time ever, a Guantanamo detainee has passed away due to natural causes. In the case of Abdul Razzaq Hekmati, it was cancer. And if it were anybody else, I would not be writing this article today.

The New York Times reported on the death of Mr. Hekmati, along with the story of his 5-year detainment as an "enemy combatant." According to the article, Hekmati was an Afghani war hero, having fought directly AGAINST the Taliban and even masterminded a prison break of three prisoners in a Taliban prison in 1999.

Transcripts show that at his many tribunals, Hekmati denied all of the charges against him, save one that said he worked for the Taliban as a truck driver for three months in the 1990s, which was required by all able-bodied Afghani men during the Taliban rule. Having openly accepted that accusation, and plainly explained it, the tribunal still seemed uninterested in believing any of his other statements.

Hekmati asked the tribunals to call witnesses on his behalf: "Ismail Khan, now the minister of energy; and Hajji Zaher, a general in the Border Guards." (New York Times). These were two of the prisoners that Hekmati had helped to escape from the Taliban prison in 1999. Both men, when asked by the New York Times, stated that they had never been contacted by the Tribunal council and had tried many times to attest to Hekmati's loyalty against the Taliban and against Al Qaida, but were always unable to get anybody to listen.

The Tribunal claims that they attempted to contact these two men, but that they were "not reasonably available." (New York Times). Even a former intelligence member and tribunal council member has since stood out to say that in his experience, it was the American military's practice to never try to contact any person who was listed as a potential witness for a detainee's defense, even though the military maintains that this is a right they will afford any detainee.

Hekmati refuted the claims against him many times, was never allowed to see or hear any of the evidence against him, and claimed he was falsely accused by two of his enemies in the Taliban, one who had killed a number of his family members before he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2003. As far as any records have shown, the only evidence that Mr. Hekmati was given the time of day was in that he did in fact sit before the Tribunal on more than one occasion, yet it seems that their only goal was to keep him locked up indefinitely, without a chance to clear his name.

People, I am sickened by this. I have heard time and time again of the injustice that is said to take place in Guantanamo, but until now, I haven't heard such damning proof as this. Yet the Pentagon maintains that they did everything to assist Mr. Hekmati in his defense. That's a lie so obvious they might as well have been smiling when they said it. If this doesn't change, and very, very soon, then being an American won't be something to be proud of for much longer.

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