| Abd al-Rahim Abdul Rassak al-Janko | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47)[1] Turkey |
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| Other name(s) | Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco |
| ISN | 489 |
| Charge(s) | No charge |
| Status | Released to Belgium |
Abd al-Rahim Abdul Rassak al-Janko (عبدالرحیم عبدالرزاق الجنکو; born 1977), a Syrian-Kurd, is a former student in the United Arab Emirates who traveled to Afghanistan in 2000, where he was captured by the Taliban who announced that he had confessed to plotting to murder Osama bin Laden, as well as spying against the Taliban on behalf of Israel and the United States.[citation needed] He was also denounced for "his sexual indiscretions with other young men" and accused of homosexuality.
Following the Invasion of Afghanistan, al-Janko begged a British journalist to alert the Americans that he had been held prisoner by the Taliban for two years; however, he was taken from the Taliban prison by American forces, and sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camps where he spent seven years in detention.[2][3]
When a videotape of al-Janko's 2000 interrogation on charges of sodomy and espionage against the Taliban[4] was discovered by American forces in the rubble of Mohammed Atef's house; the Bush administration released the video, which showed al-Janko breaking down in tears, but stripped the tape of its audiotrack and falsely declared that it was a "martyrdom video", claiming that al-Janko spoke of dying as a martyr following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Although U.S. officials internally acknowledged the video to be his filmed interrogation by the Taliban, the American government publicly continued labelling it as a "martyrdom" recording, and added al-Janko to the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list.[2] Amnesty International condemned the use of a video showing al-Janko being interrogated by militants as proof of his association with them as "kafkaesque".[5]
While held at Guantanamo, his captors noted that "as a result of his [Taliban] imprisonment, [he] could not have participated in hostilities against US and Coalition forces", and noted that "it is unlikely [he] would ever be trusted by an Islamic militant group", but tribunals nevertheless repeated classified him as an "enemy combatant". Medical staff also wrote that he suffered from depression, had attempted suicide, and was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder; the United States thus assessed him as a "high threat from a detention perspective" and noted that he had 112 discipline infractions on his file for throwing food, failing to follow instructions, exposing his sexual organs and possession of food contraband.[citation needed] Al-Janko maintains that the BPD diagnosis was intended to mask his posttraumatic stress disorder arising from his mistreatment and captivity by the Taliban and the United States.[6]
On 20 June 2008, he became the first Guantanamo detainee to demand in a U.S. federal court that the military show evidence that justified his detention.[7] The judge ruled that the American argument in favour of holding al-Janko in continued captivity "defies common sense".[8]
He was quietly released by the United States in 2009, after seven years' captivity, and is currently living in Antwerpen, Belgium.[9]
Mr. Ginco, a college student living in the United Arab Emirates, had gone to Afghanistan in 2000 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.
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