Rasul Kudayev

Rasul Kudayev
Born	(1984-01-23) January 23, 1984 Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
Other names	Abdullah Kafkas
Occupation(s)	Wrestler, former detainee
Known for	Detention at Guantanamo Bay, alleged involvement in Nalchik raid

Rasul Kudayev (born January 23, 1984) is a Russian national who was subjected to extrajudicial detention at the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp located in Cuba.

Early life

Kudayev was born in 1984 in the Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria. As a teenager in 1995, he achieved a wrestling championship title. Subsequently, he adopted the name Abdullah Kafkas and traveled to Central Asia to further pursue his wrestling ambitions.

Guantánamo detention

In November 2001, Kudayev arrived in Kunduz, Afghanistan, where he reportedly worked at an Arab-run medical clinic serving foreign combatants, according to documents from Guantánamo released by WikiLeaks in 2011. After being detained in Afghanistan, he was initially held in Mazar-i-Sharif before being transferred to Guantánamo around February 12, 2002. Military interrogations quickly established that he had no connections to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, and his intelligence significance was considered minimal. A report signed by prison commander Geoffrey Miller on March 28, 2002, corroborated this assessment. Despite these findings, his transfer back to Russia did not occur until February 27, 2004.

Release

Kudayev was repatriated alongside six other Russian detainees from Guantánamo, including Ruslan Odizhev. Upon return to Russia, they faced charges such as illegal border crossing, affiliation with a criminal organization, and mercenary involvement in armed conflict; however, they were released shortly thereafter without trial.

In 2005, Kudayev was apprehended in Nalchik on allegations of participating in the planning and execution of the 2005 Nalchik raid, specifically accused of attacking a police checkpoint in the Khasanya district.

On December 2, 2008, reports indicated that he was gravely ill. According to Human Rights Watch, Kudayev developed severe liver disease during his Guantanamo detention, which Russian authorities declined to treat. At the time of the Nalchik incident, he was reportedly undergoing medical care for this illness. Human Rights Watch also contended that his confession was extracted under duress involving physical abuse and harsh interrogation techniques.

Detention in Russia

Following the October 2005 assault on government installations in Nalchik, Kudayev was detained and accused of leading a group responsible for the death of a police officer during the attack. His legal representatives and family maintain that he was subjected to torture to compel a confession. He was held at FBU IZ-7/1, a pretrial detention facility in Kabardino-Balkaria. Russian officials have kept him under extrajudicial detention without formal charges.

On March 11, 2011, Amnesty International reported that Kudayev’s health had worsened significantly, exhibiting symptoms such as high fever, persistent cough, and breathing difficulties. Medical personnel attending him experienced intense pressure and scrutiny that discouraged further treatment efforts.

As of December 2014, legal proceedings related to the Nalchik raid remained unresolved.

Alleged recidivism

A report published by the New York Times on May 20, 2009—citing an unreleased Pentagon document—indicated that Department of Defense officials identified Kudayev among 74 former Guantanamo detainees involved in terrorism or militant activities.

According to a 2014 study by the New America Foundation, Kudayev was categorized among 54 former detainees either confirmed or suspected of engaging in militant acts against U.S. or other targets, classified within Category 4: Suspected of Militant Activities Against Non-U.S. Targets.

See also

• Youth detainees in the War on Terror

External links

• The Pentagon Cannot Account for 22 Juveniles Detained at Guantánamo Andy Worthington