AP offers details about prolonged confinement about detainees at classified detention sites in Afghanistan

The Associated Press reported yesterday on the existence of “classified detention sites” being run by the Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan, where detainees are held for “weeks” in secret for the purposes of interrogation. Daphne Eviatar, a senior associate at Human Rights First, recently interviewed several former detainees who had been held at these [...]

Testimony from Bagram’s black jail

As reported on the Afghanistan Analysts Network: After our arrest we were first taken to Tor Jail, or the Black Jail. It was terrible. They didn’t treat us like humans at all. They didn’t allow us to sleep. There was nothing to cover ourselves with. They insulted the Quran. Whenever we were taken to the [...]

80 persons to be held indefinitely in new Parwan Detention facility near Bagram, Afghanistan

In 2010 the US-led coalition arrested 6,223 Afghans, the largest number on record said Vice Admiral Robert Harward, head of US detention operations in Afghanistan. About 5,000 were let go within days, often after tribal elders vowed to keep them out of trouble. About 1,200 — who had the most damning evidence against them — [...]

Rights group warns Australia detainee transfer program may violate international law

[JURIST] Australia’s new Afghan detainee transfer policy may violate international human rights laws, Amnesty International warned Tuesday. The new detainee management system, announced Tuesday by Australian Minister of Defence Stephen Smith, provides for the systematic transfer of “high risk” detainees to US forces and “low risk” detainees to Afghan forces. According to AI Asia-Pacific director [...]

Academics, experts appeal to Obama to back Taliban talks

A group of academics, journalists and NGO workers (including Ahmed Rashid, Nir Rosen, Joshua Faust, Anatol Lieven) have published an open letter to President Barack Obama appealing to him to support direct negotiations with the Taliban leadership. The Taliban’s leadership has indicated its willingness to negotiate, and it is in our interests to talk to them. In [...]

US army amasses biometric data in Afghanistan

The Guardian reports that the US army now has information on 800,000 people, while another database developed by the country’s interior ministry has records on 250,000 people. It is the sort of operation that would horrify civil liberties campaigners in the west, but there has been little public debate in Afghanistan. Kitted out with handheld [...]

Federal court rules government not required to disclose Bagram detainee information

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a request Monday for documents regarding the detention and treatment of prisoners being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Judge Barbara Jones granted summary judgment for the government, denying the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) access to the documents under the [...]

Pakistani judge asks government clarification on rendition of Pakistani citizens to Bagram

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif has sought in the beginning of October a reply from the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs on a petition against the abduction and extradition to foreign countries of seven Pakistani citizens now detained at the Bagram Theatre Internment Camp in Afghanistan. Sharif directed the lawyer representing [...]

Are the U.S. Detainee Review Boards for suspected Afghan insurgents fair?

Rachel Reid observed the US Detainee Review Boards in Afghanistan and wrote down her experiences in the LA Times here. The Pentagon recently has tried hard to improve its detention policy in Afghanistan. It should take two more achievable steps. The first is to give detainees access to legal counsel, an internationally recognized right. The [...]

UN panel calls for more oversight of contractors

A U.N. panel has called for greater oversight and regulation of private military contractors working in war zones such as Afghanistan. The U.N. working group on the use of mercenaries says there is a lack of effective vetting procedures with some companies employing individuals who may have been involved in human rights abuses. The panel [...]