US embassy cable - 04AMMAN5893

UNCLAS AMMAN 005893 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN RELEASED FROM GITMO INTERVIEWED BY 
ISLAMIC WEEKLY AL-SABIL, CITES ABUSE 
 
REF: FBIS GNP20040707000102 
 
1.  Jordan Islamist weekly Al-Sabil published July 6 a 
lengthy interview with, they report, the first Jordanian 
released from the Guantanamo detention camp in Cuba.  The 
former prisoner described his alleged experiences at 
detention camps in Afghanistan and Cuba from January 2002 
until April 2004 as being worse than the reported abuse at 
Abu Ghreib.  The full text of the article can be found in 
FBIS reftel.  We report this in the interest of any ongoing 
investigation. 
 
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HANDED OVER IN TEHRAN TO US FORCES 
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2.  Wisam Abd-al-Rahman, known as Abu-Ubaydah, described to 
Al-Sabil his alleged experiences as a prisoner in detention 
camps in Afghanistan and Guantanamo. He said Iranian police 
arrested him in Zahedan on his return from a trip to 
Pakistan.  He said that after his interrogation by Iranian 
police he was told that he would be released.  However, he 
was instead taken to the airport in Tehran and allegedly 
handed over to a U.S. plane with Afghan men on board. 
 
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DETENTION IN AFGHANISTAN, CUBA; RETURN TO JORDAN 
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3.  Abd-al-Rahman described his reported period of detention 
in Afghanistan from January 2002 until April 2003 as moving 
from "one American prison to another", staying in cold, dark, 
and crowded rooms.  He said he stayed, without charges or 
interrogation, with nine other persons in a 25 square foot 
room without sunlight and fed only bread and rice for a 
period of about 77 days.  He said that sanitary and hygiene 
conditions were terrible, and that he did not receive medical 
care nor see the sun during the period of detention in 
Afghanistan.  He also reported sleep deprivation, undressing 
in front of female soldiers, desecration of the Koran by a 
dog, beatings, and threats of harm from barking dogs while 
blindfolded. 
 
4.  Abd-al-Rahman said that after being told of his innocence 
by an interrogator, he was flown to the Guantanamo detention 
camp in Cuba at the end of April 2003.  More alleged abuse, 
poor conditions, and scarce food followed.  Upon his release 
in 2004, he was flown by a U.S. military plane into Amman and 
held by Jordanian security officials for 56 days, followed by 
release under house arrest. 
 
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RED CROSS FAILED TO DELIVER LETTERS 
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5.  According to Abd-al-Rahman, the International Red Cross 
(ICRC) did not deliver any of the letters that he wrote to 
his family while detained.  He said that an ICRC rep came to 
his house after his release, handed him the letters, and 
apologized for not delivering them to his family. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  Given the revelations of abuses of prisoners in Abu 
Ghreib prison, Abd-al-Rahman's allegations of abuse in U.S. 
custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo will be widely believed 
here. 
 
7.  Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
HALE