Afghanistan turns deaf ear to NATO, frees 77 prisoners
23 March 2014 4:19 AM IST
Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government has long complained that foreign forces have locked up many Afghans on dubious grounds and with no proper judicial process. A similar release last month caused tension with the United States. The latest batch walked free from Bagram prison, which was transferred to Afghan control last year as a milestone in the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. ‘Insurgents in this group of detainees have caused casualties amongst coalition and Afghan forces,’ the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said in a statement. Tim James, a spokesman for the British embassy, said: ‘We don’t agree with the releases.’ Thirty-nine of those freed on Thursday were captured by British forces. As they left the jail, prisoners complained about long detention periods without being charged.
‘They arrested me without any proof, they have harmed my education and my family,’ said Mohammad Enam from eastern Nangarhar province, who spent almost a year in Bagram. Mowlawi Nazar Mohammad, a prisoner from Helmand province, said he had been threatened. ‘The British were telling the prisoners on day one after capturing me that: ‘We have come here to deal with you and take revenge on you.’
‘They arrested me without any proof, they have harmed my education and my family,’ said Mohammad Enam from eastern Nangarhar province, who spent almost a year in Bagram. Mowlawi Nazar Mohammad, a prisoner from Helmand province, said he had been threatened. ‘The British were telling the prisoners on day one after capturing me that: ‘We have come here to deal with you and take revenge on you.’
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