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Detentions in Afghanistan
Over 600 prisoners are being held in a U.S. detention facility at Bagram air base. The public does not know their names. Some have been held for as long as five years. Some detainees were captured outside Afghanistan and rendered to Bagram. Detainees in Bagram do not have access to lawyers nor does a judge review their case. A three-member military panel decides their fate: continued detention, release, or transfer for criminal prosecution under Afghan national security law in Afghan courts.
Human Rights First has conducted extensive research on the capture, detention, and trials of Bagram prisoners, resulting in the following reports:
Fixing Bagram: Strengthening Detention Reforms to Align with U.S. Strategic Priorities (2009).
This policy paper analyzes the detention reforms undertaken by the Obama administration in September 2009 and provides recommendations on further reforms that are needed to bring U.S. detention practices in accordance with international law and to further U.S. counterinsurgency goals.
Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009This report is based on research in Afghanistan in April 2009 where we interviewed former Bagram detainees held by the U.S. military and describes how they were captured, treated, and what means were available to them to challenge their detention. The report also contains our recommendations submitted to the Detention Task Force, CENTCOM, and Department of Defense in May 2009.
Arbitrary Justice: Trials of Bagram and Guantanamo Detainees in Afghanistan (2008).
This report examines the problems, such as lack of witnesses and evidentiary concerns, in the trials of former Bagram and Guantanamo detainees in Afghan courts, and provides detailed recommendations to both the U.S. and Afghan governments to reform detention and trial proceedings.
Read Executive Summary in Pashto
Read Full Report in Dari
Commentary
Key information missing in McChrystal's recipe to reform detentions
Foreign Policy, September 22, 2009
Hidden justice: do Obama's detention reforms in Afghanistan go far enough?
Foreign Policy, September 18, 2009.
Letter to the Editor, Build a Strong Afghan Judicial System
March 27, 2009
Afghanistan: weak criminal justice system needs support
Jurist, May 17, 2009
Afghanistan's Guantánamo: Unfair trials exported
Jurist, April 28, 2008