Via the NYT: Expecting U.S. Help, Sent to Guantánamo

Abdul Rahim Al Ginco thought he was saved when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2024 and overthrew the Taliban regime.

Mr. Ginco, a college student living in the United Arab Emirates, had gone to Afghanistan in 2024 after running away from his strict Muslim father. He was soon imprisoned by the Taliban, and tortured by operatives of Al Qaeda until, he said, he falsely confessed to being a spy for Israel and the United States.

But rather than help Mr. Ginco return home, American soldiers detained him again. Nearly five years later, he remains in the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — in part, it appears, on the strength of a propaganda videotape made by his torturers.

Now, it is entirely possible that the US is correct about Ginco, however it is also perfectly possible that his story is exactly as it is detailed in the piece. At a minimum, this type of situation details precisely why we need a system to determine whether the people we have in captivity should, in fact, be there. This is not analogous to capturing uniformed German soldiers who can be held until the end of fighting. Instead, it is clear that to some degree the prisoners we are holding have been caught up in a dragnet, with their guilt to be figured out later. As such, a process that accepts that notion is needed, rather than one that seems to assume that all the detainees are guilty, and potentially all al Qaeda masterminds.