Juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp numbered fifteen, according to a 2011 study by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California Davis.[1] The U.S. State Department had publicly acknowledged twelve.[2] The US Department of Defense defined minors at Guantanamo as those below the age of 16, whereas they are defined as below the age of 18 in international law. Three juveniles aged below 16 were held in Camp Iguana, but others between 16 and 18 were put into the general population and treated as adults. These included Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was 15 when captured and one of the youngest detainees, 16 when transported to Guantanamo.
On May 15, 2008 the American Civil Liberties Union published a report that the George W. Bush administration had submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.[3] The report stated that the USA had apprehended 2500 juveniles, 2400 of them in Iraq. It said that a total of ten juveniles had been held in the Bagram Theater Detention FacilityinAfghanistan and that eight juveniles had been held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps.[4][5][6][7]
Department of Defense documents acknowledge that at least fifteen children were at one time imprisoned at Guantanamo:[2]
| Name | ISN | Date of birth | Transferred to Guantanamo | Age in years at transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Ismail | 930 | -- -- 88 | 07 Feb 02 | 13 - 14 |
| Assad Ullah | 912 | -- -- 88 | -- Dec 02 | 13 - 14 |
| Naqib Ullah | 913 | -- -- 88 | -- Jan 03 | 14 - 15 |
| Mohammed el Gharani | 269 | -- -- 86 | 09 Feb 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Mohammed Omar | 540 | -- -- 86 | 11 Jun 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Shams Ullah | 783 | -- -- 86 | 27 Oct 02 | 15 - 16 |
| Omar Ahmed Khadr | 766 | 19 Sep 86 | 27 Oct 02 | 16 |
| Yussef Mohammed Mubarak al Shihri | 114 | 08 Sep 85 | 16 Jan 02 | 16 |
| Abdul Samad | 911 | -- -- 86 | 06 Feb 03 | 16 - 17 |
| Abdul Qudus | 929 | -- -- 86 | 07 Feb 03 | 16 - 17 |
| Ibrahim Umar al Umar | 585 | -- -- 85 | 15 Jun 02 | 16 - 17 |
| Abdul Salam Ghetan (al Shehri) | 132 | 14 Dec 84 | 20 Jan 02 | 17 |
| Yasser Talal Al Zahrani | 093 | 22 Sep 84 | 20 Jan 02 | 17 |
| Khalil Rahman Hafez (Hafez K. Rahman) | 301 | 20 Feb 84 | 07 Feb 02 | 17 |
| 'Abd al Razaq (Abdullah Razzaq) | 067 | 18 Jan 84 | 17 Jan 02 | 17 |
In addition, the UC Davis report lists six detainees who might have been 17 at the time of transfer to Guantanamo:[2]
| Name | ISN | Date of birth | Transferred to Guantanamo | Age in years at transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Jawad | 900 | -- -- 85 | 06 Feb 03 | 17 - 18 |
| Qari Esmhatulla | 591 | -- -- 84 | 10 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Sajin Urayman | 545 | -- -- 84 | 13 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Faris Muslim al Ansari | 253 | -- -- 84 | 17 Jun 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Peta Muhammed | 908 | -- -- 84 | 05 Aug 02 | 17 - 18 |
| Mahbub Rahman | 1052 | -- -- 85 | 21 Nov 03 | 17 - 18 |
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Controversies surrounding people captured during the War on Terror
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| Guantanamo Bay detention camp |
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| CIA black site operations |
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| Prison and detainee abuse |
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| Prison uprisings and escapes |
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| Deaths in custody |
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| Tortured |
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| Forced disappearances |
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| Reports and legal developments |
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| Related media |
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