Issue 01/10

01 February 2010

AFGHANISTAN Developments in Justice & Reconciliation January 2010 Ann-Kristin Otto Justice & Reconciliation KM (ann-kristin.otto@cimicweb.org) (www.cimicweb.org)
This document is intended to provide an overview of relevant Justice and Reconciliation developments in Afghanistan from 01 - 31 January 2010. More comprehensive information is available on the Civil-Military Overview (CMO) at www.cimicweb.org.1 Hyperlinks to original source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the embedded text.

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Prison System and Detainee Issues Afghan and US Officials Agree on Bagram Takeover. On 09 January Afghan officials signed an agreement allowing the transfer of Bagram Prison from American to Afghan control. The agreement was signed by the Afghan ministries of Defence and Justice and allows the American military to start a programme of training and preparation for an Afghan takeover. According to the signed agreement, the Ministry of Defence will be in charge of the facility, but will eventually hand over control to the Ministry of Justice. Reuters claims that the move to hand over the prison could close a chapter in the troubled history of US detentions since 2001, with Bagram having been associated with harsh treatment and a lack of legal rights for detainees. No timeline is set for the final handover of authority, but a spokesman for US military detainee operations in Afghanistan said it could be as early as the end of 2010, depending on how quickly the Afghans can be trained. According to Agence-France Press, an Afghan Ministry of Defence official confirmed that inmates will be able to legally challenge their detention once the prison is under Afghan authority. UN Report Says Secret Detentions May Constitute Crimes Against Humanity. Agence-France Presse reports that United Nations human rights experts have warned that secret detentions conducted under the banner of counter-terrorism efforts may amount to charges of crimes against humanity. The study was conducted by two independent UN terrorism and human rights experts and two UN working groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. It is scheduled to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in March. An advance unedited version was made public revealing findings on a system of secret detentions that continues to spread throughout all regions of the world, listing 66 countries that have been involved in secret detentions. Those conducting the study claim that if resorted

to in a widespread and systematic manner, secret detention might reach the threshold of a crime against humanity.2 Addressing secret detentions in Afghanistan, the study mentions three facilities including one
1 2

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See study, page 16, paragraph 30.

at Bagram Air Base, reportedly called The Hangar, and two in the vicinity of Kabul known as The Dark Prison and The Salt Pit.3 US Court of Appeals Warns of Habeas Corpus Challenge by Afghan Detainees. The Washington Post reports that an American appeals court in Washington DC expressed doubts about the ruling of a US District Judge that would allow some detainees in US detention facilities in Afghanistan to challenge their imprisonment in federal court. The lower court ruling had granted three detainees held at Afghanistans Bagram Air Base the right to challenge their imprisonment under habeas corpus, the right to challenge the lawfulness of ones detention. According to the Washington Post, the judges of the US Court of Appeals in Washington raised their concerns during oral arguments claiming that the decision could extend such rights to other detainees abroad. The detainees, two Yemenis and one Tunisian citizen, accuse the US government of capturing them outside Afghanistan and holding them for at least six years in the US detention facility at Bagram Air Base. The District Judge based his opinion on the Supreme Courts 2008 ruling granting Guantanamo Bay prisoners habeas corpus rights, saying that the three detainees are virtually identical to those in Guantanamo Bay. The US Department of Justice claims that the judge erred in his ruling because Bagram is in a highly active war zone and federal court proceedings would hamper the war effort and complicate diplomatic relations with the Afghan government. Reconciliation Afghan Government Introduces New Reconciliation Programme. During his opening remarks at the 28 January London Conference on Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai presented a new reconciliation and reintegration initiative to encourage Taliban fighters to switch sides and lay down their arms. In his speech, Karzai said the programme would reach out to all Afghans, especially our

disenchanted brothers who are not part of al Qaeda or other terrorist networks, who accept the Afghan constitution and announced that he would establish a National Council for Peace, Reconciliation and Reintegration. According to Agence-France Presse, Karzai secured international support for his plans

during the days leading up to the conference. A meeting in Istanbul attended by regional players Pakistan and Iran, as well as Russia, China and Turkey, gave support to the Presidents plans to reintegrate fighters. In related news, the Washington Post reported that Britain and Japan agreed to create an international fund to facilitate the reintegration of Taliban foot soldiers into Afghan society. The fund is expected to reach USD 500 million which will be used to provide jobs, protection against retaliation and other measures meant to encourage fighters to switch sides. The Associated Press reports that Karzai visited Saudi Arabia to request support for possible peace talks with the Taliban. During his visit, Saudi officials said the Kingdom would not become involved in peacemaking in Afghanistan unless the Taliban severed ties with al Qaeda and expelled Osama Bin Laden from their areas of control. According to the Afghan website Taand, Karzai has appointed Mullah Abdul Sallam Zaeef, a former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, to reach out to the Taliban as part of reconciliation efforts. In addition, during a press conference broadcast by National TV Afghanistan, Karzai announced that he will convene a Loya Jirga (Grand Council) to discuss the reconciliation programme with tribal elders, religious scholars and other influential Afghans; he did not specify a date. Reuters reports that Karzai also invited the Taliban to join the Jirga, while local Tolo TV quoted Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs Zalmay Rasoul as saying that the Taliban had not been invited to take part in the meeting.

See study, page 17, paragraph 132.

Kai Eide Reportedly Met Taliban to Discuss Peace Talks. According to the New York Times, Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) in Afghanistan Kai Eide met with members of the Taliban leadership in January to discuss the possibility of face-to-face peace talks with the government. The report indicated that Eide met with a group of Taliban leaders days before the international community met in London to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and examine revived reconciliation and reintegration initiatives. UN officials in Kabul confirmed that the meeting took place without giving any further details on exact location, time or outcomes. Since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, various attempts at negotiation have been made, but no formal talks have taken place. A UN Security Council panel announced that it has removed five Taliban names from the UN list of terrorists, as reported by Agence-France Presse. The five individuals are former Taliban ministry officials and are now being considered moderate Taliban officials. Abdul Wakil Mutawakil (former Taliban Foreign Minister), Faiz Mohammad Faizan (former Deputy Commerce Minister), Shams-US-Safa (a former Foreign Ministry official), Mohammad Musa (former Deputy Planning Minister) and Abdul Hakim (former Deputy Frontier Affairs Minister) were taken off the list of individuals subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo. The Afghan daily Arman-e Melli questions the effectiveness of removing the five individuals from the list, calling the removal a trick to mislead public opinion, as the individuals have long separated from the Taliban. Removing top Taliban names from the UN terror list has repeatedly been mentioned as one of the Taliban demands for engaging in negotiations. The New York Times claims, however, that the critical issues remain unresolved, including the Afghan governments demand that the Taliban renounce its relationship with al Qaeda and conversely, the Talibans call for the international military to start pulling out of the country. Differing reactions from the Taliban regarding reports that peace talks took place illustrate the disunity amongst the insurgency, says the Afghan daily Hasht-e Sobh. The paper claims that the lack of organization, unity and sole leadership make reconciliation efforts problematic, considering neither the Afghan government nor the world community knows with whom to negotiate . According to Al Arabiya News, the Taliban leadership denied their involvement in the alleged talks. The Arab News Channel quotes a statement posted on a Taliban website calling the reports rumours and propaganda, while the Afghan website Larawbar reports that Taliban leaders are considering reconciliation offers. Al Jazeera reports that another meeting took place between Afghan Members of Parliament (MPs), Afghan government officials and some Taliban fractions, including the group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the most active insurgent leaders, who according to Al Jazeera sent his son Feroz Hekmatyar to take part in the meeting. Pajhwok Afghan News reported that the meeting took place on 23-24 January in the Maldives and was attended by nine MPs and representative of Hekmatyars Hezb-e Islami group and other Taliban fractions.

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