"Karzai demands transfer of US prison to Afghan control; Americans warn new government may not be ready" by Kevin Sieff | Washington Post, January 06, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai called yesterday for the United States to hand over its biggest military prison in Afghanistan within one month, despite repeated warnings that Afghan institutions are woefully unprepared to detain or try suspected terrorists.
Yeah, right, we of the indefinite detention, torture, and patsy plot set-ups are going to make sure the Afghans.... sigh.
As you can probably see from scrolling this page I am really sick of this shit.
Karzai said that Afghan government investigators found violations of the Afghan constitution and international human rights conventions at the prison, which houses about 2,600 inmates near Bagram Airfield. He did not provide details about the alleged violations, but said in a statement that they constituted a “breach of Afghan sovereignty.’’
Of that I have no doubt; the existence of the facility itself is testament to that.
The transfer of the prison, called the Parwan detention center, and its detainees is regarded by both Afghans and Americans as a critical marker of the war’s endgame, a sign that Afghan officials are ready to inherit institutions essential to the nation’s future.
As long as there is one American boot, be it contractor, soldier, or diplomat, on the ground the war will never be over.
US officials said in a memorandum two years ago that they expected the prison to be transferred in early 2012. Karzai interpreted that timeline as being firm, but US officials point to a caveat in the document: that it was subject to “demonstrated capacity.’’
They didn't; they were given a veto.
“At this point, the Afghans don’t have the legal framework or the capacity to deal with violence being inflicted on the country by the insurgency,’’ one US official said then. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Yesterday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: “We’re going to continue to work with the Afghan government to implement the transition that we have both agreed needs to happen of detention operations in Afghanistan. We need to do this in a manner that is maximally responsible.’’ She said she could not comment further.
The US military has detained suspected insurgents at facilities in the area for about a decade. Most have been kept without trial.
But we can't turn them over to Afghans because they don't know how to.... (sigh).
That thumping you here is not the guy in the next cell; it is Orwell twirling in his box buried in the ground.
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"Afghan commission hits US on detainees; Alleges abuse by military, pushes for local control" January 08, 2012|By Kay Johnson and Rahim Faiez, Associated Press
KABUL - An Afghan investigative commission accused the American military yesterday of abusing detainees at its main prison in the country, saying anyone held without evidence should be freed and backing President Hamid Karzai’s demand that the United States turn over all prisoners to Afghan custody.
The demands put the United States and the Afghan governments on a collision course as negotiations continue for a Strategic Partnership Document with America that will determine the US role in Afghanistan after 2014, when most foreign troops are due to withdraw.
And here the AmeriKan media has pushed the impression that we are leaving, blah, blah, blah.
By pushing the detainees issue now, Karzai may be seeking to bolster his hand in the negotiations.
At the center of the dispute are hundreds of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operators captured by American forces. The controversy mirrors that surrounding the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
Except that Bagram is even more secret, and because it is located in Afghanistan violations are even more secret than at Gitmo!
There, as at the prison in Afghanistan, American forces are holding many detainees without charging them with a specific crime or presenting evidence in a civilian court.
'cause we gotta show the Afghans how to do it!
Members of the Afghan investigation said US officials told them that many of those militant suspects held at the US-run portion of the prison outside Bagram Air Base north of Kabul were taken based on intelligence that cannot be used in Afghan courts.
PFFFFFFFFTTT!
Detainees interviewed during two visits by the investigators complained of freezing cold, humiliating strip searches and being deprived of light, according to Gul Rahman Qazi, who led the investigation ordered by Karzai....
Karzai on Thursday abruptly demanded that the US military turn over full control of the prison, officially known as the Parwan Detention Center but generally referred to as the Bagram prison, within a month....
The president’s demand for full control of the prison so soon took many by surprise, since the US and Afghan governments had been working on a gradual timetable for transferring responsibility for the prison over the next two years.
In the ongoing negotiations over the Strategic Partnership, Karzai has demanded an end to night raids by international troops and complete Afghan control over detainees.
Karzai is walking a fine line in the brinkmanship over the negotiations. He needs America’s military and financial strength to back his weak government as it battles the Taliban insurgency.
At the same time, he is under pressure from the public, where there is widespread resentment of US methods in the fight against the Taliban - and Karzai has in the past sought to demonstrate his independence from the Americans with anti-US rhetoric.
I can't imagine why Afghans would resent the bombing and destruction of their villages, the killing of their relatives, the pollution of their environment, or their doors being kicked down so their men can be dragged away to torture centers for "interrogation."
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Also see:
Afghans Despise AmeriKan Detention Dungeons
So would you, 'murkn.
