US Officials in Afghanistan have unveiled a ‘new’ detention facility within the US Military run Bagram Airbase called the “Detention Facility in Parwan”. Despite the new label, and a slight shift in location, the new detention facility will house even more detainees than Guantanamo Bay, and continue to hold them in conditions contrary to internationally recognised humanitarian and human rights law. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First have released a joint statement calling on the Obama administration to review its detention policies in line with international law standards. Read the statement here

Last week, in a rare interview, Brigadier General Mark Martin revealed that there are around 700 people held at Bagram, including 30 non-Afghan’s and 5 children1. This number is, of course, approximate due the Obama administrations' continued refusal to release a comprehensive list of the names and nationalities of those detained. There are three prisons within Bagram Theatre Internment Facility; The main prison, which will move to the “Detention Facility in Parwan”, a second run by a US Special Operations Team, and the third, which is a CIA run facility. Of course, not much is known about the last two.

Conditions within the main prison largely remain secret due to the overt restrictions placed on visitors, including human rights groups. For the first time, reporters were invited into Bagram last week to unveil the new facility, but as is standard practice, they were unable to interview detainees or guards2. Presently, the only group that has access to the detainees is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), however, their findings remain confidential.

What we do know from former detainees, lawyers and whistle-blowers, is that Bagram is a place of continual terror, torture and abuse. In 2002, two men, Dilawar and Habibullah, were tortured to death3. Former detainees describe being held in stress positions, threatened with dogs, kicked and punched for hours at a time, being urinated on, being kept in small isolation cells, forced to live on dry biscuits and water for several weeks at a time, held in cold isolation cells, not allowed to pray or receive water for ablution, and subjected to sleep deprivation over prolonged periods4.

The newly built prison has been constructed to change the international perception of this ill treatment and abuse by providing a ‘new face’ to the haunted facility. But although the face has changed, Amnesty International remains concerned that detainees remain in the same legal limbo that was established under the Bush administration.

Of particular concern, is the fact that detainees are still denied habeas rights. Earlier this year, Judge Bates ruled that foreigners held in Bagram should be entitled to challenge their detention in US courts. In response to this, the Obama administration filed a memo claiming broad authority to indefinitely hold detainees under the Authorisation for Use of Military Force (AUMF) enacted by the Bush administration after the September 11 attacks. Soon after the case, the Pentagon issued a ‘revised policy guideline’ that changed the label given to detainees to ‘unlawful enemy belligerents’, rather than ‘unlawful enemy combatants’ as they were previously known.

"Detainee Review Boards"

Human rights groups have expressed concern that, contrary to international law, detainees at Bagram have not been told of the reasons for their detention, or given access to any ‘meaningful review procedures’5. In response to international criticism, the US government has recently revealed new guidelines for determination of status called a ‘Detainee Review Board’ (DRB). These review boards are unnervingly reminiscent of the Guantanamo ‘Combatant Status Review Tribunal’ (CSRT), which are farcical at best. New procedures, slightly improve the procedures under the old “Unlawful Enemy Combatant Review Board” (UECRB).

Some of the improvements include;

  • Detainees will now be able to attend hearings and these hearings will occur within 60 days of being detained

  • Improved notification procedures (ie. They will now be told why they are detained and some of the evidence against them that is not classified)

  • Detainees will now be able to question government witnesses and have access to their own witnesses; and,

  • A ‘personal representative’ will also be available to help them during the proceedings.

Whilst these are positive steps, many concerns still remain6. With total disregard for international law provisions, evidence used at the DRB’s may be obtained by torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This is antithetical to the rule of law, due process and the basic foundations of justice. The DRB’s also cannot be regarded as independent, impartial or transparent due to all decision makers being US military officers, instead of including an independent Afghan judge, and the reasons for findings may be kept secret.

Even though there is a provision for the detainee to call witnesses, it has become apparent in similar circumstances, such as those who have gone through the Guantanamo 'Combatant Status Review Tribunal' (CSRT), that three quarters of all requests were denied. This is due to the provision that witnesses can only be called at the ‘board president’s discretion’.

In another affront to justice, detainees will still be unable to see all evidence against them. Provisions remain in the new system that exclude detainees from seeing ‘classified evidence’. The reality of this provision means that a whole case can be decided without the person even knowing the evidence against them. In addition, contrary to international fair trial standards, there is no independent or impartial appeals process.

One of the primary concerns held by human rights groups is that Bagram detainees still have no entitlement to legal representation. Although they are now entitled to a ‘personal representative’, they are not trained lawyers, but military personnel. This provision was enacted in the Guantanamo CSRT’s, and found to be useless to the detainee. In 78% of cases, the personal representative and detainee met only once, and for less than two hours. There is also the problem of confidentiality, as the ‘representative’ can relay any information said in confidence to the CSRT hearing.

Under international law, any person detained must be held on the basis of a solid legal argument, backed up with credible and legally obtained evidence. They must also be given a fair hearing to have a chance at establishing their innocence. However, due to the inbuilt procedural unfairness of the DRB’s, many will continue to be held in cruel conditions without legal safeguards that should be automatically afforded.

Amnesty International continues to urge the US Government to;

  1. Grant all detainees held in the US base at Bagram access to legal counsel, relatives, doctors, and to consular representatives, without delay and regularly thereafter;

  2. Grant all Bagram detainees access to US courts to be able to challenge the lawfulness of their detention;

  3. Assist the Afghan government in creating mechanisms to ensure fair trials for those in detention, including the option of mixed national/international tribunals to try those apprehended in counter-insurgency operations by Afghan as well as US and other international forces.7

For more information about Bagram, see the new reports released by Human Rights First entitled “Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in April 2009” and “Fixing Bagram: Strengthening Detention Reforms to Align with U.S. Strategic Priorities”.

Further Information:

Human Rights First Arbitrary Justice: Trials of Bagram and Guantanamo Detainees in Afghanistan

Amnesty International “USA: Out of sight, out of mind, out of court? The right of Bagram detainees to judicial review”

Amnesty International “USA: Obama administration must take new approach on Bagram detentions”

Amnesty International “Urgent need for transparency on Bagram detentions”

Amnesty International “Administration opts for secrecy on Bagram detainee details”

References

  1. See Al Jazeera report by James Bays: “Notes From Bagram Prison”

  2. ibid.

  3. For more information, see Human Rights First “Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan”

  4. See Human Rights First Report “Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in April 2009” (44 pages).

  5. Joint press release “US: Reform Afghanistan Detention Policy as New Facility Opens, Prisoner Rights Still Lacking”

  6. See Human Rights First Report “Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in April 2009” (44 pages).

  7. For more information see, Amnesty International “USA: Out of sight, out of mind, out of court? The right of Bagram detainees to judicial review”