Afghan President
Hamid Karzai on Sunday criticized the United States for failing to transfer 600
inmates at Bagram jail to Afghan control, despite handing over the prison to
Afghan authorities.
The prison at
Bagram airbase, now known as Parwan Detention Center, holds more than 3,000
prisoners and is one of the largest in Afghanistan. Control of the jail was
handed over by the U.S. to Afghan authorities on September
10.
But the U.S.-led
coalition said 34 prisoners plus 600, who were captured after the initial
agreement had been signed, would remain in U.S. custody pending clarification.
The U.S. is reportedly concerned that Afghan authorities may simply release
inmates it considers to be dangerous.
“Delay in the
handing over of prisoners after September 9 is a serious violation of the
agreement signed between Afghanistan and the United States,” Karzai told Marc
Grossman, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in a
meeting at his palace.
“The people of
Afghanistan consider prisons and the detention of Afghans to be an issue related
to their national sovereignty and this has been repeatedly mentioned in the
strategic partnership agreement between the two countries,” Karzai was quoted as
saying in a statement. Pakistan Observer
Afghanistan has
long sought control of the sprawling Bagram prison, which has been likened to
Guantanamo in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq for its association with abuse of
inmates. The U.S. invaded
Afghanistan in 2001. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but
insecurity has continued to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of
about 130,000 U.S.-led troops.
AHT/KK
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