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Karzai Orders Takeover of Afghan Prison Karzai Orders Takeover of Prison at Bagram
(about 2 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan forces to take control of the Bagram prison and accused American officials of violating an agreement to hand over the facility to Afghan control, according to a statement issued by his office on Monday. KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan forces to take control of the Parwan detention facility, and accused American officials of violating an agreement to fully transfer the facility to the Afghans, according to a statement issued by his office on Monday.
The move came after what Mr. Karzai said was the expiration of a two-month grace period agreed to with President Obama to complete the full transfer of the prison. The Afghan president convened a meeting Sunday of top officials to report on the status of the transfer, which led to Monday’s statement. The move came after what Mr. Karzai said was the expiration of a two-month grace period, agreed to by President Obama in September, to complete the transfer of the prison, at the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. The Afghan president convened a meeting Sunday of top officials to report on the prison’s status, which led to Monday’s statement, officials said.
“The meeting began by hearing reports by the attorney general and the military police commander, where it said that even prisoners who were presumed innocent by the court are still being held,” the statement said. Particularly at issue were 57 prisoners held there who had been acquitted by the Afghan courts but have been held by American officials at the prison for more than a month in defiance of release orders, Aimal Faizi, the spokesman for President Karzai, said in an interview.
American forces were continuing to house newly captured prisoners at the Parwan detention center, the American-built prison at Bagram Air Base, the main facility for Afghanistan, another violation of earlier agreements, the statement added. Afghan officials were also concerned with the status of new prisoners being captured on the battlefield by American troops, who the Afghans feel should be transferred to their control under the prison transfer agreement signed by the two countries this year.
American officials have said that the agreement between the two countries, known as a memorandum of understanding, left open to further negotiation how to handle new prisoners captured by American forces on the battlefield. Those negotiations have stalled, however, over disputes about the release of some prisoners whom the Americans have refused to release. Mr. Faizi said hundreds of new prisoners are being held by American authorities in a closed-off section of the Parwan facility. American military forces, mainly Special Operations troops carrying out night raids, have been arresting suspected insurgents at the rate of more than 100 a month, according to Afghan officials.
The status quo was “a serious breach of the memorandum of understanding,” Mr. Karzai was quoted as saying in the statement, and he ordered Afghan officials, including the commander of Bagram, to take “urgent measures to ensure a full Afghanization of the prison affairs and a complete transfer of its authority.” “We expect the Americans to respect the agreement according to the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries,” Mr. Faizi said.
“It’s an issue of sovereignty for the government of Afghanistan, and to General Allen it’s a matter of security for the coalition troops; you can’t just bring these guys in and let them go,” an American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because an official response to Mr. Karzai’s statement had not yet been prepared. Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of American and NATO troops here, is still in Washington after a scandal erupted over numerous e-mails he sent to a woman in Florida. The American military did not immediately have any response to the Afghan accusations, but a spokesman said a comment would be coming later.
It was not clear whether there would be any immediate practical change in control of the facility, which holds up to 3,000 prisoners. The prison lies within the much larger American-controlled Bagram Air Base and is surrounded by American-staffed checkpoints, as well as being heavily staffed by American guards, despite the nominal transfer of control to the Afghans in September. American officials have said that the agreement on detention left open to further negotiation how to handle new prisoners captured by American forces on the battlefield. Those negotiations have stalled, however, over disputes about the release of some older prisoners that the Americans have refused to let go.
Tensions over detainee transfers have been on the front-burner since the initial Memo of Understanding on prisons was signed in March, setting a six-month timeline for full transfer of Parwan to Afghan authority. That deadline lapsed with the central issues of a prison transfer still unresolved, leading to a two-month extension agreed to in a videoconference between Mr. Karzai and Mr. Obama in September.
Now, the continued disagreement threatens to complicate an even larger issue: the two countries began negotiations last week on a status of forces agreement that would govern the sort of American military presence that would remain in Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal deadline. The controversy comes at an awkward time, as the two countries also begin negotiations on a status of forces agreement, which would govern the sort of American military presence that would remain in Afghanistan after a full withdrawal.
In the statement by Mr. Karzai’s office on Monday, he was quoted as saying the Americans were in “serious breach” of the prison transfer agreement and ordered Afghan officials, including the Parwan prison commander, of Bagram, to take “urgent measures to ensure a full Afghanization of the prison affairs and a complete transfer of its authority.”
American officials, however, say it’s not so simple. One American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a formal response to Mr. Karzai had not yet been prepared, said: “It’s an issue of sovereignty for the government of Afghanistan, and to General Allen it’s a matter of security for the coalition troops. You can’t just bring these guys in and let them go.” Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of American and NATO troops here, is still in Washington, D.C., after a scandal erupted over numerous e-mails he sent to a woman in Florida.
Mr. Faizi said there would not immediately be a change in actual control over the Bagram facility, despite the Afghan president’s strongly worded statement. He said Afghan judicial, defense and prison officials would hold urgent discussions with American officials and report back to President Karzai in the next couple days about how to actually implement his order. After that, Mr. Karzai would hold a news conference to announce his government’s next steps.
The Parwan detention facility, which has a capacity for more than 3,000 detainees, lies within the much larger, American-controlled Bagram Air Base and is surrounded by American-manned checkpoints as well as being heavily staffed by American guards.