Afghan Panel Backs Down: Won’t Release 88 Detainees

Still Waiting for Actual Evidence Against Captives

The Afghan Review Board has backed down in the face of US military condemnation, and has agreed to hold off on releasing 88 detainees they already cleared, pending further “review.”

The 88 in question were among 650 Bagram capitves that the board has already cleared for release, citing a complete lack of credible evidence against any of them.

The US Army has argued that they wouldn’t have been detaining them for years without charges if they weren’t “dangerous,” and has also insisted the Review Board was never meant to have the power to release anyone, but rather only could choose between prosecuting those for whom evidence exists, or lacking that to carry out “further investigations” to look for some evidence.

The board says it still doesn’t have any evidence on any of the 88 detainees, but has agreed to hold off on releasing them pending any evidence that might turn up at some point in the future.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.