U.S. reveals names of hundreds of detainees

updated 8:05 p.m. ET March 4, 2006

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - After four years of secrecy, the Pentagon handed over documents Friday that contain the names of detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The Bush administration had hidden the identities, home countries and other information about the men, who were accused of having links to the Taliban or al-Qaida. But a federal judge rejected administration arguments that releasing the identities would violate the detainees' privacy and could endanger them and their families.

The names were scattered throughout more than 5,000 pages of transcripts of hearings at Guantanamo Bay released Friday, but no complete list was given and it was unclear how many names the documents contained. In most of the transcripts, the person speaking is identified only as "detainee." Names appear only when court officials or detainees refer to people by name.

In some cases, even having the name did not clarify the identity. In one document, the tribunal president asks a detainee if his name is Jumma Jan. The detainee responds that no, his name instead is Zain Ul Abedin.

Many captured during 2001 war
The men were mostly captured during the 2001 U.S.-led war that drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and sent Osama bin Laden deeper into hiding, and the newly released documents shed light on some of the detainees' explanations.

Why was information in the documents on detainees at Guantanamo redacted in the first place? When the Associated Press filed the Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Defense released the documents in accordance with normal procedures, which includes redacting the names and personal information of the detainees and U.S. service-persons involved. Why not include personal information?  Three main reasons: — Some detainees have made statements that incriminate fellow detainees and terrorists who are still on the loose. Some detainees have also made statements of disloyalty and cooperated with U.S. forces. Those detainees might be targets both in and outside of prison, and their families could become targets of retaliation, too. — Releasing the names could compromise future intelligence. Interrogation subjects may hold out even more if they knew that their names could be released. — Letting the terrorists on the loose know whom the United States has also lets them know the possible intelligence that the United States could have obtained in interrogations. Any U.S. service personnel involved will still not be identified, for their own security. — Courtney Kube, NBC News producer, Pentagon

In one unedited transcript, Zahir Shah, an Afghan accused of belonging to an Islamic militant group and of having a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and other weapons in his house, admits having rifles. He says they were for protection -- he had a running feud with a cousin -- and insists he did not fight U.S. troops.

The only time he shot anything, he says, was when he hunted with a BB gun.

"What are we going to do with RPGs?" he asks, adding: "The only thing I did in Afghanistan was farming. ... We grew wheat, corn, vegetables and watermelons."

In another document, a detainee identified as Abdul Hakim Bukhary denies he is member of al-Qaida but acknowledges he traveled from his native Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces, and says he met Osama bin Laden about 15 years ago while fighting in Russia. He praises his captors for running a good prison.

"Prisoners here are in paradise," he says. "American people are very good. Really. They give us three meals. Fruit juice and everything!" Still, he says, he wants to return to his family.

It was not clear whether Shah and Bukhary are still being held.

Not all named
The documents do not name all current and former Guantanamo Bay detainees. And even when detainees are named, the documents do not make clear whether they have since been released.

The documents do contain the names of some known former prisoners, like Moazzam Begg and Feroz Ali Abbasi, both British citizens. A handwritten note shows Abbasi pleading for prisoner-of-war status.

Most of the Guantanamo Bay hearings were held to determine whether the detainees were "enemy combatants." That classification, Bush administration lawyers say, deprives the detainees of Geneva Convention prisoner-of-war protections and allows them to be held indefinitely without charges.

Documents released last year -- also because of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the AP -- included transcripts of 317 hearings, but had the detainees' names and nationalities blacked out. The current documents are the same ones -- this time, uncensored.

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