Moheb Ullah Borekzai

Muhibullah
Born	1982 Shah Wali Koot, Afghanistan
Other names	Moheb Ullah Borekzai, Mohib Ullah, FNU Muhibullah
Known for	Former detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Muhibullah, also known as Moheb Ullah Borekzai, is an Afghan national who was detained without formal charges at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility located in Cuba. His identification number at Guantanamo was 546. According to US intelligence assessments, he was born in 1982 in Shah Wali Koot, Afghanistan.

Apprehended in Afghanistan in November 2001, Muhibullah was subsequently transferred to Guantanamo on May 5, 2002, and later returned to Afghanistan on July 19, 2005. Post-release, US officials alleged that he resumed involvement in terrorist or militant activities.

Following his repatriation, Borekzai, alongside fellow Afghan detainee Habir Russol, was among the first to disclose the existence of a large-scale hunger strike at Guantanamo. This protest involved more than 180 Afghan detainees objecting to harsh treatment and extended detention periods. Borekzai also reported instances where guards had desecrated the Quran, actions that reportedly ceased after official directives forbade such conduct.

Discrepancies Regarding His Name

At Guantanamo, there were at least two detainees with closely resembling names. The individual identified as Guantanamo captive 974 appeared under the name Mohe Bullar in official documents from April and May 2006.

• His Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment dated November 15, 2003, recorded his name as Mohib Ullah.
• The Summary of Evidence documents for his 2004 and 2005 OARDEC hearings, along with the official lists from 2006, referred to him as FNU Muhibullah.

Conversely, an Associated Press interview conducted upon his return to Afghanistan identified him as Moheb Ullah Borezkai.

Reviews of Official Detention Status

Initially, the Bush administration maintained that detainees captured during the war on terror were not entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions. However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Rasul v. Bush (2004) that detainees must be informed of the reasons for their detention and be given the opportunity to contest those charges.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

In response to the Rasul decision, the Department of Defense created the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants to carry out annual evaluations of detainees’ status. Borekzai participated in both of his scheduled reviews during 2004.

Author Andy Worthington, known for his work The Guantanamo Files, described Borekzai as a Taliban conscript who was captured by forces opposing the Taliban and subsequently handed over by militia leader Ismael Khan to US authorities. Worthington expressed doubt regarding assertions that the then 19-year-old Borekzai served as "acting governor of Sheberghan", emphasizing that as a teenager conscripted around age 15 or 16, his involvement was likely influenced by family or external pressures rather than personal authority.

Muhibullah took part in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

Allegations

Muhibullah faced the following accusations during his Tribunal:

Response to the allegations

• Muhibullah acknowledged his role as a guard under Syed Sha Agha but contested the length of service, asserting he was twice compelled to serve for merely two or three months each time.
• He consistently indicated confusion regarding the European method of dating.
• His responsibilities encompassed guard duties along with kitchen and household tasks.
• While he confirmed attending a dinner event attended by Commandant Kamal, Muhibullah stated he neither knew Kamal nor had been invited by him; his presence was strictly due to guard duty.
• He denied any acquaintance with an individual named Abdul Ghafar.

Administrative Review Board hearing

Individuals designated as "enemy combatants" underwent yearly Administrative Review Board sessions to determine whether their detention should continue, or if they should be released or repatriated. These hearings did not reconsider prisoner of war status or the enemy combatant designation.

On March 3, 2006, the Department of Defense published 121 factors relevant to Muhibullah’s case.

Transcript

Muhibullah took part in his Administrative Review Board hearing.

Repatriation

According to a Department of Defense list released in November 2008, Mohibullah was repatriated from Guantanamo on July 19, 2005.

Journalists interviewed Borekzai and Habir Russol—two Afghans freed at the same time—on July 20, 2005. They disclosed that Camp Delta was undergoing a substantial hunger strike involving over 180 detainees lasting more than two weeks. Initially, DoD spokesperson Flex Plexico denied knowledge of this protest.

Barbara Olshansky, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, credited Borekzai and Russol with being the first to publicly reveal the hunger strike in her book Democracy Detained: Secret Unconstitutional Practices in the U.S. War on Terror. She pointed out that although DoD officials initially rejected the existence of the strike, they later acknowledged it was ongoing.

On July 21, Plexico minimized the strike's extent, claiming only a small number of detainees had refused food for three days. Guantanamo defense attorneys later confirmed they had been aware of the strike since June 23 but were prohibited from disclosing it.

Borekzai told the Associated Press that detainees were protesting abusive interrogation techniques and maintained their innocence. Both men denied any connections to the Taliban.

He also mentioned that camp authorities had announced over the public address system that disrespect towards the Quran by guards had ceased, and he was unaware of any recent incidents.

Pentagon claim he had "returned to the fight"

On May 20, 2009, citing an unreleased Pentagon document, the New York Times reported that officials from the United States Department of Defense identified Mohibullah as one of 74 former Guantanamo detainees who were alleged to be involved in terrorism or militant activities. Subsequently, on May 27, 2009, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a "fact sheet" naming Guantanamo detainees who had purportedly "re-engaged in terrorism," listing Mohibullah as suspected of "association with the Taliban".