Today, RFE/RL Newsline reports that twelve suspected Taliban fighters from Afghanistan will be transferred from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan to the newly refurbished Pol-e Charki Prison near Kabul. Soon, other Afghanistani nationals in Guantanamo Bay will also be transferred to Pol-e Charki. Last year, Financial Times reported that 110 detainees in Guantanamo would be transferred along with 350 prisoners at Bagram AFB.
The Pol-e Charki prison was the focus of an Amnesty International Report in 2003 for its execrable conditions; however, reports also suggest that it was the best of the available prisons. UNAMA (United Nations Mission to Afghanistan) has been monitoring prison reform in Pol-e Charki. A 2004 prison riot was blamed upon al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners; however, bad conditions certainly also give rise to prison riots, and poor security due to bad conditions allows them to happen.
David Bosco of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has an excellent editorial (see link below, well worth a read). Bosco reports that U.S. voter's and human rights advocates’ disgust with Guantanamo/Bagram is matched by ISAF diplomatic/military reluctance to use any existing, U.S.-promulgated detainee process. Shoving the detainees into Afghanistan's judicial system ostensibly allows the U.S. to transfer its liability for political prisoners and gives ISAF a chance to develop new protocols for new political prisoner intake and legal reform. However, given the poor state of Afghanistan's legal system, the detainee transfer development is not likely to give the U.S. a clean slate. Nor will it give a humanitarian or legal victory.
Selected timeline of articles:
AI's 2003 report on Afghanistan's prisons
BBC report on 2004 Pol-e Charki prison riot and siege
January, 2006 Financial Times report on U.S. plans to use Pol-e Charki
March, 2006 RFE/RL report by Amin Tarzai on prison conditions, another prison breakout, and unanswered questions
September 2006, ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent) report on 2006 activities in Afghanistan
November, 2006 editorial by Mr. Bosco in the Washington Post about detainees, ISAF, interrogation, and prison conditions
To keep up with U.S. detainees, check the FPA War Crimes blog written by my colleague Daniel Graeber
Photo: Xinhuanet
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
