Abdumuqit Vohidov

Abdumuqit Vohidov
Citizenship	Tajikistan
Detained at	Guantanamo
ISN	90
Charge(s)	Extrajudicial detention
Status	Released to Tajikistan

Abdumuqit Vohidov is a citizen of Tajikistan who was held in extrajudicial detention, for five years, in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 90. Vohidov was returned to his native Tajikistan on 28 February 2007.[1]

Imprisoned by the Taliban

Vohidov was one of nine former Taliban prisoners the Associated Press pointed out had gone from Taliban custody to American custody.[2]

The Taliban had accused Vohidov of spying for Russia, and imprisoned him for nearly three years. At Kandahar Airfield, he complained to Cpt. Danner that he had been housed in a more humane prison by the Taliban, where he had been given a radio, fresh fruit and proper toilet facilities.[3]

Trial in Tajikistan

Vohidov and Rukniddin Sharipov were to stand trial in Tajikistan.[4] They were charged with

• illegally crossing the Tajik border into Afghanistan in early 2001;
• joining fighters of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Vohidov and Sharopov received sentences of 17 years on 18 August 2007.[5] The two men were convicted of serving as mercenaries.^[citation needed]

Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald on 7 July 2009, reported that Umar Abdulayev, the sole remaining Tajikistani, reported that a delegation of Tajikistani security officials threatened to retaliate against him Sharipov and Vohidov, unless they agreed to pretend to be militant jihadists, and report on real militant jihadists, following their repatriations.[6]

McClatchy interview

On 15 June 2008, the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Airat Vakhitov by telephone.[7] Vohidov told his interviewers he was suffering ongoing mental problems, and that he was worried that if interviewers visited him in person he would be punished by Russian security officials.^[citation needed]

Vohidov had been an imam in Tatarstan, who was imprisoned following a general round-up when Russian officials were cracking down on Chechens.[7] He was temporarily freed, and fled Russia when he learned that security officials were looking for him. He said he was kidnapped by the forces of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and eventually transported to Afghanistan, against his will.^[citation needed]

2012 elections

Bridget McCormack, a candidate for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, helped defend Vohitov, and in 2012, the Judicial Crisis Network broadcast an advertisement which criticized her for "freeing a terrorist."[8] Andrew Rosenthal, of The New York Times criticized the Judicial Crisis Network ad, which contained footage of Teri Johnson, the mother of Joseph Johnson, a GI who was killed in Afghanistan, who says:

“My son is a hero and fought to protect us. ... Bridget McCormack volunteered to help free a terrorist. How could you?”[8]

Rosenthal pointed out that Vohitov was freed through the non-judicial review, through the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants in 2007.[8]

Reports Vohidov volunteered in Iraq or Syria

In 2016, reports emerged that Vohidov had volunteered to fight in Iraq.[9][10]

John Kerry classes Vohidov a terrorist

On 29 June 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry, citing Executive Order 13224, classed Vohidov as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.[11]

See also

• Tajikistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay

References

1. "Sobit Valikhonovich Vakhidov". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
2. Paul Haven (30 June 2007). "From Taliban jail to Gitmo – hard-luck prisoners tell of unending ordeal". San Diego Union Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
3. Begg, Moazzam. Enemy Combatant, 2006. p. 120
4. "Activists, Lawyers Urge Tajiks To Release Ex-Guantanamo Detainees". Radio Free Europe. 7 August 2007. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2017. A Supreme Court judge said Mukit Vohidov and Ruhniddin Sharopov illegally crossed the Tajik border into Afghanistan in early 2001 and joined fighters of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
5. Bernard Hibbitts (18 August 2007). "Tajikistan high court sentences ex-Guantanamo detainees". The Jurist. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
6. Carol Rosenberg (7 July 2009). "Fearful Guantánamo captive wants to stay behind". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
7. Tom Lasseter (15 June 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Airat Vakhitov". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
8. Andrew Rosenthal (November 2012). "Everyone Deserves Legal Representation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Now, the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative Washington political group, is following the same script in a particularly revolting attack on Bridget McCormack, who is running for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court.
9. "Hundreds of Russian Islamists Fighting Assad in Syria, Expert Says". The Moscow Times. 26 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. According to Suleimanov, the combatants are led by some of the most prominent figures in the Russian radical Islamist movement, including Airat Vakhitov and Daud Khalukhayev.
10. "US Designates 2 Russians as 'Global Terrorists'". Voice of America. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017. The State Department named the two global terrorists Wednesday as Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukaev, who is also known as Amir Khamzat, and Airat Vakhitov, who has a number of aliases, including Salman Bulgarsky.
11. John F. Kerry (29 June 2016). "Executive Order 13224 Designation of Ayrat Nasimovich Vakhitov, aka Aiat Nasimovich Vahitov, aka Airat Vakhitov, aka Aryat Vakhitov, aka Airat Wakhitov, aka Taub Ayrat Vakhitov, aka Salman Bulgarsky, aka Salman Bulgarskiy, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist". Washington DC: Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. ...I hereby determine that the individual known as Ayrat Nasimovich Vakhitov, also known as Aiat Nasimovich Vahitov, also known as Airat Vakhitov, also known as Aryat Vakhitov, also known as Airat Wakhitov, also known as Taub Ayrat Vakhitov, also known as Salman Bulgarsky, also known as Salman Bulgarskiy, committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

External links

1. Kim Murphy (29 June 2004). "Russia Releases 7 Men U.S. Held at Guantanamo: American official says Washington was given no notice of the move, after earlier assurances there would be trials". Los Angeles Times. Moscow. Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2017. Seven Russians who were returned to their homeland for investigation and detention after being held by U.S. authorities at the Guantanamo Bay prison have been released, Russian prosecutors confirmed Monday.
2. Kim Murphy (28 June 2004). "Russia Releases Former Guantanamo Detainees". Los Angeles Times. Moscow. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017.
3. "Prisoner accounts". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Rustam Akhmerov, left, and Airat Vakhitov describe the experiences they shared with Rasul Kudayev as detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

• "HRW: Ex prisoners of Guantanamo have right to clemency". Trend News Agency. 10 August 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017. This letter tells about two citizens of Tajikistan, Rukhniddin Sharopov and Abdumukite Vokhidov. According to HRW, while being detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, both Sharopov and Vokhidov claimed that they were moved to Afghanistan against their will and were unable to return home since they had no documents. In 2001 Afghan field commanders sold them to US agents during the US counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan.
• Andy Worthington. "HRW: Calls for Review of Punitive Sentences for Ex-Guantánamo Tajiks". Retrieved 24 February 2017.