FIRST TRANSFER OF AFGHANS FROM GUANTANAMO TO

S E C R E T KABUL 002647 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR P, SCA/FO (DAS GASTRIGHT),SCA/A (SINGRAM),S/WCI (MSTAMILIO, MQRN, ARICCI),L/PM (JDOROSIN) NSC FOR AHARRIMAN OSD FOR MPORGES CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, CSTC-A, SOUTHCOM, JTF-GTMO E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2017 TAGS: KAWC MARR PTER PGOV PINS PREL AF SUBJECT: FIRST TRANSFER OF AFGHANS FROM GUANTANAMO TO AFGHAN CUSTODY COMPLETED REF: A. KABUL 02136 ¶B. KABUL 01755 ¶C. KABUL 01220 Classified By: Political-Military Counselor Carol A. Rodley; reasons 1. 4(b) and (d). ¶1. (S/REL TO IRoA) On August 9, the first transfer of Afghans from Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) to ANDF occurred. Without specifying where detainees would be transferred from, polmiloff alerted Zia Mohammed Salehi, Situation Room Director at IRoA's Office of the National Security Council (ONSC) beforehand that a transfer would occur. On August 9, she provided him with a list of the five transferees and a copy of coordinated USG press guidance which states that transfers from GTMO to IRoA custody have begun. PAS also provided the coordinated guidance to the National Communications Coordination Center and ensured it was passed to the Ministry of Defense spokesman. ¶2. (S/NF) Post has coordinated with CSTC-A on a GTMO Transfer Protocol that CSTC-A is now coordinating with CENTCOM and GTMO. The Protocol includes provisions for relay of evidence and lists of detainees in the form and by the deadline that IRoA has requested. GTMO-produced Pashto translations and English versions of US evidence for two of the August 9 tranwQs had been passed to ONSC in April (reftel C). Post passed translations for the remaining three August 9 transferees and three others to Malik Quraishi, ONSC's Director of Policy and Oversight, on August 4. IRoA had requested, per reftel B, that evidentiary files be passed 30 days ahead of a detainee's physical transfer. Quraishi advised that a one-time exception could be made for accepting evidence transferred less than 30 days before a detainee's transfer. It is therefore essential that post receive Dari translations at least 33 days before the next transfer of detainees from GTMO to allow us time to pass them to ONSC by the 30-day pre-transfer deadline. WOOD