Skipped Internment Serial Numbers

The United States Department of Defense has admitted that 779 individuals have been detained, at some time or another, in Guantánamo. It has moreover released the Interment Serial Numbers (ISNs) for 773 of them. These ISNs were drawn from two groups:

• Group I:  1 - 1463.
• Group II: 10001 - 10029.

Group I includes 752 of the 773 acknowledged ISNs; Group II includes the remaining 21. Yet, Groups I and II contain 719 other numbers. They are:

1, 180, 212, 241, 359, 373-432, 445-451, 462-488, 544, 548, 583, 592-622, 625, 697-698, 723-725, 733-742, 745-752, 754-756, 759, 763-765, 767, 769-781, 784-797, 799-800, 802-811, 813-816, 819, 821, 823-825, 827-829, 833, 844, 846-847, 851-855, 857-873, 875-885, 887, 889, 891, 895, 901, 903-904, 915-918, 920-922, 924-927, 932, 935-938, 946-947, 957, 959, 962, 973, 978-985, 988-989, 991-995, 997, 999-1000, 1020, 1022-1029, 1031, 1033-1034, 1038-1040, 1042, 1044, 1046-1049, 1053-1055, 1057-1073, 1076-1093, 1096-1099, 1101-1102, 1105-1116, 1118, 1120-1153, 1155-1156, 1158-1164, 1166-1451, 1454-1455, 1459, 1462, 10008-10010, 10025-10029.

CSHRA has been able to determine that some of these numbers have been assigned, as ISNs, to the following prisoners in the Global War on Terror.

• ISN 1: Widely believed to be John Walker Lindh, an American citizen who is currently serving a 20 year sentence at the Federal Correction Institution at Terre Haute, Indiana.
  
• ISN 212: Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (or Ali Muhammad Abdul Aziz al-Fakhri) (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 213). He was renditioned to Egypt where he gave tortured evidence used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Then he was transferred to Libya, where he died in prison. Mr. al-Libi was first identified as a "ghost prisoner" at Guantanamo by Human Rights Watch. This identification was corroborated in December 2014 by the Study by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
  
• ISN 421: Dilwar, killed under torture at Bagram in December 2002 according to Moazzam Begg (see this interview and pages 183-184 of his memoir Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey to Guantanamo and Back). The story of Dilwar has been told in the film Taxi to the Dark Side.
  
• ISN 429: Muhammad Essagh Sher Muhammad Khan (or Jafar al-Tayyar Bermel) (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1460).
  
• iSN 548: Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 118, discovered by Andy Worthington).
• ISN 763: Muhammad Osman, a released Bagram detainee captured in Khowst province, Afghanistan, on July 21, 2002. Cousin of ISN 762 (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 762).
• ISN 764: Shir Ali Khan, a released Bagram detainee captured in Khowst province, Afghanistan, on July 21, 2002. Cousin of ISN 762 (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 762).
• ISN 784: Ashraf (or Ali Ashrat), detainee released from Bagram. Nephew of ISN 975 (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 975).
• ISN 785: Sardar Ali Khan, brother of ISN 975 and released from Bagram (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 975).
• ISN 793: Haji Sahib Rohullah Wakil, brother of "the JDQ leader Mullah Hayatullah" (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 720).
  
• ISN 866: Unnamed individual captured with ISN 868 and four others on November 28, 2002 "for distributing night letters (propaganda) supporting Taliban objectives" (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 890).
  
• ISN 868: Unnamed individual captured with ISN 866 and four others on November 28, 2002 "for distributing night letters (propaganda) supporting Taliban objectives" (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 890).
• ISN 1048: Salim Mohammed, from Lowgar Province, Afghanistan (Source: Wikileaked DAB for 1050).
• ISN 1053: Rahmanulla, former Bagram detainee and part of "a five-man ACM team, which carried out reconnaissance missions planned and coordinated by al-Qaida commander Abu Lauth al-Libi" (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1052).
  
• ISN 1054: Abdul Rahman (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1056).
• ISN 1055: The father of Guantánamo prisoner Said Mohammed (ISN 1056) (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1056).
• ISN 1098: Hajji Muhammad Kandahar (or Muhammad Saraf), arrested by US forces in Kandahar in June 2003 and later released (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 560).
• ISN 1159: Abdul Fatah Haqqani. Charged with weapons possession, and production/importation/possession of explosives (Source: Wikileaked cable 07KABUL1755).
• ISN 1181: Assadallah, "assessed to be a Taliban financier and weapons smuggler". He was captured in September 2003 and detained in Bagram (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1008).
• ISN 1206: Mahmud Ahmad Muhammad al-Rashid. Former al-Qaida operations director in Southeast Asia and Bagram escapee. Died before April 28, 2008 (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 10001).
• ISN 1238: Abdul Baki. Charged with weapons possession (Source: Wikileaked cable 07KABUL1755).
• ISN 1239: Amil Khan. Confessed to weapons possession (Source: Wikileaked cable 07KABUL1755).
• ISN 1284: Mangal Khan. BTIF (Bagram Theater Internment Facility) detainee considered for transfer to  ANDF (Afghan National Detention Facility) (Wikileaked cable 07KABUL2136).
• ISN 1286: Malang Zafar. HIG commander for the Kabul region (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1119).
• ISN 1288: Qalam. Identified as an HIG commander. He was captured in Kabul (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1021).
• ISN 1342: Mohammed Khan Gorbaz. Member of the Haqqani network (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 832).
• ISN 1348 (sometimes mistyped as ISN 3148?): Haroon al-Afghani (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 3148). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on June 22, 2007.
• ISN 1417: Unnamed detainee whose evidentiary file contains a murder allegation (Source: Wikileaked cable 07KABUL2136).
• ISN 1432: Ahmad Dilshad, who is to continue to be detained at the Detention Facility in Parwan in order "to mitigate the threat he poses" (Memorandum by Vice Admiral Robert Harward).
• ISN 1433: Salah Mohammad Ali, Pakistani detained in Parwan whose release is recommended (Memorandum regarding DRB 377).
• ISN 1443: "Assessed to be" Gul Mohammed, a member of the Anti-Coalition militia of Afghanistan and detained at Bagram (Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1104).
  
• ISN 1454: Abu Muaz al-Suri (or Abdallah al-Shami or Abu Abdallah al-Suri). A Syrian who rented a house for Syrians in Kabul. Held in Bagram, from which he escaped on July 10, 2005 (Source: Wikileaked DABs for ISNs 249, 309, 326, 327).
• ISN 1455: Moez Ben Ahmed Fezzani, member of "the Bologna cell" (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 168).
• ISN 1462: Muhammad Jafar Jamal al-Qahtani. He is "reported to be" a mid-level al-Qaida fighter. He was imprisoned at Bagram, from which he escaped on July 11, 2005, "resumed his ACM activities", but was recaptured on November 5, 2006 (Source: Wikieaked DOB for ISN 1052).
• ISN 10008: Jose Padilla (or Abdallah al-Muhajir) (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 1458).
  
• ISN 10025: Abdul Malik Bajabu (Source: Wkileaked DAB for ISN 10025). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on March 26, 2007.
• ISN 10026: 'Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi (or Nashwan Abd al-Razzaq Abd al-Baqi) (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 10026). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on April 27, 2007,
• ISN 10027: Abdullahi Sudi Arale (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 10027). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on June 6, 2007,
• ISN 10028: Inayatullah (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 10028). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on September 12, 2007.
• ISN 10029: Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani (Source: Wikileaked DAB for ISN 10029). His transfer to Guantánamo was announced on March 14, 2008.

According to military records that have been made public, only ISN 1348 (aka 3148) and the last five individuals in this list were ever held at Guantánamo. Human Rights Watch has gathered testimony, however, that six further individuals were held at Guantánamo. They are:

• ISN 212: Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (or Ali Muhammad Abdul Aziz al-Fakhri) (Human Rights Watch 2012, 127).
  
• (no ISN provided): Abu Omar al-Maghrebi (held in Guantánamo some time in 2002-2003) (Human Rights Watch 2012, 69).
  
• (no ISN provided): Nuqman LAST NAME UNKNOWN, from Zliten, Libya (Human Rights Watch 2012, 42).
  
• (no ISN provided): Abu Ahmad LAST NAME UNKNOWN (Human Rights Watch 2012, 42).
• (no ISN provided) Abu Omar al-Baydawi, from al Bayda, Libya (Human Rights Watch 2012, 42).
• (no ISN provided): Munir al Khomsi, from Khoms, Libya (Human Rights Watch 2012, 42).

In December 2014 a Study by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence corroborated that the first of these individuals was indeed a ghost prisoner at Guantánamo. The testimony gathered by Human Rights Watch should be fully investigated to determine whether the remaining five individuals were also ghost prisoners at the Cuban base.

In addition to being ghost prisoners at Guantanamo, the individuals assigned the skipped ISNs could have died at the Cuban base as a result of injuries sustained during capture, detention, or transfer to Guantanamo. In fact, testimony has been provided that "a number of the detainees have died [in Guantanamo] of the wounds that they arrived with." And, by the time this testimony was provided, ISN 929 had been assigned. Consequently, by that date (February 19, 2002), the following ISNs remain skipped and unaccounted for:

Did any of the individuals assigned to these ISNs die an unreported death in Guantánamo?

CSHRA calls for a thorough investigation into the fates of the individuals assigned to all the skipped ISNs detailed above.