Showing posts with label detention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label detention. Show all posts

Monday, March 2, 2015

Foreign Detainees in Afghanistan

Although the United States tried it failed to get rid of all the foreign detainees held at the Bagram detention center before it was turned over to the Afghans. As a result the Afghans inherited six foreigners that the U.S. could not find country willing to take the prisoners. Read more in "The Other Guantanamo: What Should Afghanistan do with America's foreign detainees?", by Kate Clark of Afghanistan Analyst Network, March 2, 2015.

Friday, December 12, 2014

U.S. Ends Control of Afghan Prisons

The U.S. military no longer operates any detention centers or prisons in Afghanistan. As of December 10th, when the last remaining prisoners (3) were released from U.S. custody, the detention of insurgents is solely a responsibility of the Afghans. The detention of prisoners by the U.S. was a source of tension between President Karzai and the U.S. military. When the U.S. transferred insurgents over to the Afghans many of them were released (only to rejoin the fight). Read more in "U.S. Ends Control of Afghan Prisons", Gandhara Blog (Radio Free Europe), December 11, 2014.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Pol-i-Charkhi Prison - "Incomplete Project"

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has released a report entitled Pol-i-Charkhi Prison: After 5 Years and $18.5 Million, Renovation Project Remains Incomplete, SIGAR 15-11 Inspection Report, October 2014. The Department of State paid the Al-Watan Construction Company (AWCC) $18.5 million for work performed on a contract (awarded in June 2009) valued at $20.2 million. Unfortunately AWCC only completed 50% of the required work. The prison was designed and built in 1973 for 5,000 inmates but currently houses about 7, 400 in crowded conditions. The State Department says that it will fix the problem with another $11 million to finish renovations and $5 million to remedy waste water disposal. Hopefully they will assign a state employee (with some contracting, accounting, and construction experience) who will provide proper oversight on the project. You can read or download the report at the link below off SIGAR's website:
www.sigar.mil/pdf/inspections/SIGAR-15-11-IP.pdf

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Afghan Detainee Transfer to U.S. - Analysis

The U.S. will soon be shutting down the U.S. administered military detention facility at Bagram. The questions remains of what to do with the non-Afghans currently detained there. One interesting development is the transfer of one of the detainees to the United States for prosecution. Read more in "Detainee Transferred from Afghanistan to US for Trial: A Model for GTMO Closure?", Lawfare, November 4, 2014.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Incoming at ANDF-P

It appears that the Taliban conducted an indirect fire attack on a detainee housing unit at the Afghan National Detention Facility - Parwan (ANDF-P) located adjacent to Bagram Air Field. Twenty-six detainees - including members of the Taliban and other insurgent groups - were injured in the attack. Read more in "ISAF condemns indirect fire attack on Afghan detention facility", ISAF News, November 1, 2014.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Russian Prisoner at BAF to Be Tried in U.S.

There are 13 non-Afghans still residing in the Parwan detention center adjacent to Bagram Air Field (BAF). One of them is a Russian who will soon be brought to the United States for trial on several charges relating to a 2009 incident. The prisoner is a Russian veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who deserted to the resistance. He stayed in the country and was captured in 2009 after an attack on Afghan Border Police and U.S. soldiers in Khost province. Read more in "Prisoner in Afghanistan to be tried in US", Star-Telegram, October 23, 2014.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Pakistani Prisoners Freed From U.S. Custody

Fourteen Pakistani prisoners were released from the Bagram Prison in Afghanistan. They were under U.S. custody and were repatriated to Pakistan. Reportedly they are under the control of Pakistan authorities. Read more in "14 Pakistanis freed from U.S. custody in Afghanistan's Bagram prison", Reuters, September 20, 2014.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Foreign Detainees at Bagram Pose Vexing Problem

Foreign detainees being held at a Bagram detention facility are posing problems for the United States. The difficulty lies in where to send them as their home countries will either not accept them as prisoners or can't vouch for their future activities. Read more in "US. quietly whittles down foreign detainee population at facility in Afghanistan", The Washington Post, February 25, 2014.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

More Afghan Detainees May be Released

It appears that Afghanistan is reviewing the cases of seven more detainees to determine if they should be tried by the Afghan judicial system or released because of lack of evidence. This follows on the heels of 65 detainees being released who were determined to be hardened insurgents that committed crimes against Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces, or U.S. military personnel. Read more in "Seven more Afghan detainees under review for release", DEFCON Blog, February 18, 2014.

Dangerous Detainees Are Legitimate Targets Says Pentagon

The Afghan government recently released 65 dangerous insurgents from detention. This was done despite over-whelming evidence that the detainees were guilty of various crimes under Afghan law. A Pentagon spokesman says that if the released detainees (65) go back to the fight then they are legitimate targets and will be pursued by U.S. military forces. Read more in "Pentagon: If freed Afghan prisoners return to fight, they're legitimate targets", CNN, February 14, 2014.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Histories of the 65 Detainees Released by Afghaistan

The 65 detainees released by the Afghan government were hardened Taliban fighters - some who were directly responsible for the death of U.S. military members. Read the history of some of the detainees releases in a PDF document provided by BBC News. See "ANDF-P Pending Detainee Releases (65)".

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Afghan Prisoner Release Strains Afghan / US Relations

The release of 65 detainees from the high-security Bagram detention facility has strained relations between the Afghan government and the United States. Read more in "Q&A about the Afghanistan prisoner release", The Washington Post, February 13, 2014.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Dangerous Taliban Prisoners Released by Karzai

Sixty-five dangerous prisoners were released by the Afghan government recently. The U.S. has registered strong discontent with this action but Karzai went ahead with the release anyway. Read more in "Afghanistan frees 65 inmates U.S. calls dangerous", USA Today, February 13, 2014.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

65 Afghan Detainees Freed by Karzai

Afghan insurgents under detention by the Afghan government have now been freed. Many were confined due to attacks against NATO or ANSF troops over the past several years. Over sixty-five detainees were released from the high-security Bagram detention center. The U.S. embassy in Kabul has labeled the move as "deeply regrettable". Read more in "Afghan prisoners freed from Bagram amid US protests", BBC News Asia, February 13, 2014.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Karzai Says U.S. is Harassing Afghanistan Over Detainee Issue

Karzai continues to poke his fingers in our eyes. The latest news from Karzai is that the United States is 'harassing' him over the recent release of 65 detainees from the Bagram high-security detention center. Read more in "Karzai: US 'harassing' Afghanistan over detainee release", DEFCON Hill Defense Blog, February 13, 2014.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

US Denounces Release of Detainees by Afghans

The U.S. military is not happy with Karzai on a number of issues. One of these is Karzai's insistence on releasing insurgents that were under U.S. control and then transferred to the Afghans. Many of the detainees to be released are considered by the U.S. to be "legitimate threats to security". Read more in "US military denounces release of 'dangerous' Afghan prisoners", Stars and Stripes, January 27, 2014.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Afghans to Release Taliban Prisoners Despite US Objections

The Afghans will soon release about 88 prisoners held in a detention camp now run by the Afghans. The detention camp at Bagram Air Field was run by the United States but turned over to the Afghans in March 2013. The Afghans are reneging on a promise to the United States not to release any of the hard-core Taliban prisoners who have been detained for attacks against coalition forces. Read more in "US lists crimes of alleged insurgents slated for release in Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, January 7, 2014.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Afghans to Release Detainees Over US Objections

Afghanistan has given approval for the release of 80 or more detainees that were formerly held in the U.S. detention center in Bagram. The detainees are now under the control of the Afghans and may be released due to "lack of evidence". The underlying issue is the lack of an Afghan willingness to adopt an option for non-criminal military detention; relying instead on prosecution under criminal law. The Afghans, of course, are doing exactly what we have been advising them to do over the past several years - to conduct warrant-based arrests and prosecutions of insurgents in the criminal court system utilizing a "Rule of Law" approach to defeating an insurgency. Of course, it should be mentioned that the Afghan justice system is incredibly corrupt, not very well established, and terribly inefficient. And then . . . there is also the Afghan police which is problematic at best. So on one hand the U.S. wants to instill within the Afghans a "Rule of Law" approach to fighting the insurgency and insurgents (treating them as criminals) but on the other hand we want to keep some detainees in confinement and subject to "a law of war detention" environment. Read a more detailed account of this situation in "Afghanistan on Verge of Releasing 88 Former US-Held Detainees, Over US Objections", Lawfare Blog, January 2, 2014.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Karzai Plan to Release Prisoners Puts BSA in Doubt

President Karzai is planning on releasing some detainees (approximately 86) currently held at the Bagram detention center located north of Kabul. This planned release is over the objections of the ISAF Coalition and is putting the Bilateral Security Agreement process into further jeopardy. The Karzai administration states that many of the detainees are innocent as there is not enough evidence to hold them. Read more in "Karzai is Warned Over Release of Detainees", The New York Times, January 2, 2014.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Agreement May be Reached on Bagram Detention Transfer Soon

The disagreement between Karzai and ISAF over the Bagram detention facility continues although there are hints that it may be resolved soon. The stumbling block appears to be a small group of hard-core Taliban fighters. The US wants assurances from Karzai that they will not be released. Karzai isn't making any promises on that point - therefore the delay in the detention facility transfer. Read more in "US, Afghan detainee deal done by next week, says ISAF", The Hill Blog, March 20, 2013.