The ‘held beyond sentence’ state of prisoners: Another international crime of the Kabul regime

Ever since the two-head regime came into existence, they have achieved two major steps. Firstly they immediately signed the Bilateral Security Agreement, paving the way for constant and punitive bombardment that almost daily cause civilian losses.

Secondly the regime head – Ashraf Ghani – suspended all prisoner releases (political prisoners to be exact) that has effectively meant that political prisoners in Afghanistan are indefinitely incarcerated. Under this decree even prisoners who have served their court sentences are also being retained in their detention.

The infamous Bagram prison – which to a large degree was vacated and handed over to Afghans – has once again being filled with prisoners by the two-headed regime and is once more largely supervised by the foreigners.

Recently the regime’s Independent Commission for Human Rights reported that currently there are hundreds of prisoners in Bagram facing an unknown fate and approximately 150 children and minors are also held in this facility. This regime body admitted that this state of affairs violates human rights law.

Similarly media reports quote the Senate’s Representative for Pul e Charkhi prison adding that 800 prisoners in this facility are being held beyond their sentence, 440 are sentenced to execution, and a further 144 are inflicted with unknown illnesses.

The Senate’s Representative has remarked he wants the government to treat these prisoners according to the law. Currently thousands of prisoners across the country are kept in indefinite detention. The prisoners are not trialed but neither are they being released.

This state of ‘held beyond sentence’ is a breach of international human rights law and the regime can be subject to a writ of habeas corpus. Yet the regime violates its international obligations be keeping these prisoners indefinitely and the international community has turned a blind eye to this blatant violation.

We call upon international organizations to work for the release of those prisoners that have served their sentences and to campaign for bringing those responsible for these illegal detentions to justice.