Message #35181

[Adrienne]

Walker was captured on November 25, 2001, by Afghan Northern Alliance forces, and questioned by CIA officer Mike Spann and another officer at General Dostum's military garrison named Qali Jangi near Mazari Sharif. As shown on British Television (Channel 4 news) Spann asks Walker "are you a member of the IRA?" Later that day, the makeshift prison was the scene of a violent uprising, in which Spann was killed along with hundreds of foreign fighters. Walker found refuge in a basement bunker after taking a bullet in the upper-right thigh, hiding with Saudi, Uzbek and Pakistani jihadis. He was found seven days later on December 2, 2001, when Northern Alliance forces diverted an irrigation stream, drowning many, and eventually flushing out Walker and about 80 survivors from the original 300. Walker initially gave his name as "Abd-al-Hamid" but later gave his real name when interviewed against his will by Robert Young Pelton for CNN. Pelton brought a medic and food for the American and interviewed Lindh about how he got there. Walker said that the prison uprising was sparked by some of the prisoners smuggling grenades into the basement, "This is against what we had agreed upon [with the Northern Alliance], and this is against Islam. It is a major sin to break a contract, especially in military situations,". [4]

Upon capture, Walker was given basic first aid and then questioned for a week at Mazari Sharif, before taking him to Camp Rhino on December 7, 2001[5][6] When Lindh arrived at Camp Rhino his clothes were taken off and he was restrained to a stretcher, blindfolded and placed in a metal shipping container. While bound to the stretcher his picture was taken by American military personnel.[7] While at Camp Rhino he was heavily medicated and in severe pain from a bullet in his leg. On at least one occasion he was interrogated while naked. On December 8 and 9th he was interviewed by the FBI[6]. He was held at Camp Rhino until he was transferred to USS Peleliu on December 14, 2001[8]. It was only here on the USS Peleliu that he had his leg operated on. While on the Peleliu, Walker signed confession documents while he was held by the United States Marine Corps and informed his interrogators that he was not merely Taliban but al-Qaeda, though his father later asserted he was not involved in, and unaware of, al-Qaeda. On December 31, 2001, he was transferred to the USS Bataan, where he was held till January 22, 2002, when he was flown off the Bataan to begin the journey back to the United States to face criminal charges. While on the USS Bataan, Attorney General John Ashcroft, on January 16, 2002, announced that Lindh would be tried in the United States.

His attorney claimed to the press that he asked for a lawyer repeatedly before being interviewed but he did not get one, and that "highly coercive" prison conditions forced Walker to waive his right to remain silent. Although the FBI asked Jesselyn Radack, a Justice Department ethics advisor, whether Walker could be questioned without a lawyer present, her advice that this should not be done was not followed.