Dilawar (torture victim)

Dilawar
Dilawar's mugshot from Bagram prison
Born	1979 Khost Province, Afghanistan
Died	December 10, 2002(2002-12-10) (aged 22) Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan
Occupation	Taxi driver, farmer

Dilawar (born c. 1979 – December 10, 2002), also known as Dilawar of Yakubi, was an Afghan taxi driver who was tortured to death by US army soldiers at the Bagram Collection Point, a US military detention center in Afghanistan.

He arrived at the prison on December 5, 2002, and was declared dead 5 days later. His death was declared a homicide and was the subject of a major investigation by the US Army of abuses at the prison. It was prosecuted in the Bagram torture and prisoner abuse trials. The American documentary Taxi to the Dark Side (2007) focuses on the murder of Dilawar; it won awards.

Dilawar was a 22-year-old Pashtun taxi driver and farmer from the small village of Yakubi in the Khost Province of Afghanistan. He was 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall, and weighed 122 pounds (55 kg). Dilawar was transporting three passengers in his taxi, when he was stopped at a checkpoint, where he and his passengers were arrested by Pakistani militia. The four men were detained and turned over to American soldiers, who transferred them to the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. Two of his passengers, Abdul Rahim and Zakim Shah, were reported to have suffered treatment similar to that of Dilawar. They survived Bagram and were later flown to the Guantanamo Bay detention camps at the US base in Cuba. At Bagram, Dilawar was chained to the ceiling of his cell, and suspended by his wrists for four days. His arms became dislocated from their sockets, and flapped around limply whenever guards collected him for interrogation. During his detention, Dilawar's legs were beaten to a pulp. They would have had to have been amputated because damage was so severe. He died on December 10, 2002. He is survived by his wife and their daughter, Bibi Rashida.