Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that 72 of the 88 detainees the Obama Administration is trying to keep in Bagram are now entirely cleared for release, with 45 of them totally cleared of any wrongdoing and 27 others lacking sufficient evidence to hold them.
The other 16 aren’t facing trial either, with officials saying there’s not enough to prosecute, but they have enough evidence that they will continue to be held pending further review.
That 88 were initially slated for release by the Afghan Review Board, which sparked US complaints that the board was never meant to have the power to release anybody, but was only meant to decide between prosecution and indefinite detention.
US officials continue to warn that the release of the detainees threatens US-Afghan ties in the long run, but the paucity of evidence justifying the detentions, which is clearly not a big deal for the US anymore, has Afghanistan’s fledgling justice system convinced they can’t just keep them in prison forever.
In a way, this reflects how much the US has changed in the past 12 years, as it was the US that tried to establish the Afghan system in their own theoretical image, and now sees their interest in things like due process and evidence as a source of tension.
The Karzai Afghan government is teaching badly needed and valuable lessons to the US government on the subject of justice. We should thank karzai for showing us how to depart from the dark side.
True!
The Karzai Afghan government is teaching badly needed and valuable lessons to the US government on the subject of justice. We should thank karzai for showing us how to depart from the dark side.
I hope this newly-found courage will last.
Karzai must have read Bob Gates book in which Gates stated that “Obama can’t stand him.”
home of the brave sends a platoon to kill a 5 yr old boy, wants no accountabliity from the locals and orders them around, then expects RESPECT. idiots.
US Government should be ashamed of itself for behaving worse than the Nazis and Communists.