President Hamid Karzai’s decision to put prisons under the Interior Ministry has been greeted with dismay. Human rights activists are worried.
President Hamid Karzai’s decision to put prisons under the Interior Ministry has been greeted with dismay. Human rights activists are worried.On Jan 10, a presidential decree overturned a 2003 decision to put prisons under the Ministry of Justice.
The authorities cited security reasons for the decision. Prisons needed to be guarded better, they claimed. But rights activists think the Interior Ministry may ignore prisoners’ rights, and the violence in prisons may increase.
Minister of Interior Affairs, Bismillah Muhammadi, gave an assurance that prisoners would be treated as per the law, and there would be no negative impact on the condition of prison life. Habibaullah Ghaleb, the minister of justice, promised all assistance saying his ministry has the experience in policing prisons.
Safety and security of prisons has emerged a government concern since the reports of jail breaks and prison protests. Taleb commanders were among 470 political detainees who tunnelled their way out of a high security Kandahar prison in March last year.
Serious reservations
There are 34 prisons in Afghanistan. Roughly half of these have new buildings, and work is going on in most. An estimated 22,000 people are in prison. There are separate custody houses, where 608 inmates are women. There are 400 foreign prisoners – 300 of them are Pakistani nationals.
There is increasing worry that the Ministry of Interior may ignore human rights concerns.
The AIHRC (Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission) has expressed serious reservation about the Interior Ministry behaving impartially with prisoners.
Musa Mahmoodi, executive director of AIHRC, says, “There are always concerns that a military office would not be able to keep itself from impartiality and safeguard the prisons according to standards.”
Lal Gul Lal, the head of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Organisation, points out that the concern about violence against prisoners is valid because the Interior Ministry has a military side and creates the “military behaviour fear” among prisoners.
Lal Gul adds, “The responsibility (of prisons) should be with a civil ministry such as Ministry of Justice. As the Ministry of Justice has worked on the laws of the prisons as well; if there were defects Ministry of Justice is not at fault.”
Protect rights
Shamsullah Ahmadzai, the head of the regional office of AIHRC in Kabul, shares concern about the non-implementation of human rights.
He told Killid that it would be necessary to monitor the status of prisoners when the responsibility is transferred to the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Ahmadzai adds, “An office for independent monitors should be established in the Ministry of Interior. The attorney general’s office as well as human rights offices should supervise the situation which will prevent interference (read abuse) in prisoners’ affairs and concerns of human rights would be answered as well.”
At the same time Ruhullah Qarizada, the head of Independent Law Defenders’ Union, told Killid that worldwide the justice ministry has responsibility of the prisoners, but “here there is the security angle so it is good that Ministry of Interior undertakes responsibility due to security concerns.”
Qarizada says the Ministry of Interior has promised over and over again to safeguard the rights of prisoners. “Ministry of Interior has told international organisations as well as Law Defenders (they) can meet the prisoners.”
Qarizada adds that the Union of independent Law defenders would keep watch, and if there was a problem they will definitely raise their voice.
Prisoners’ problems
Ajmal Hodman, a law expert and activist, also thinks that it would be premature to predict the future, but he maintains that under the Ministry of Justice, investigation into prisoners’ problems was easy.
Hodman adds, “There is concern about the condition of prisons, torture of prisoners and right of defence, because the police have a reputation of violence and aggression in Afghanistan.”
The authorities confirm there are problems in prisons and say that the prison conditions are not according to the law. But Interior Minister Bismillah Muhammadi has promised vast reforms will be brought in all prisons.
Ministry of Interior has said the prisoners would be treated according to Islamic laws and human rights.
But some domestic and international human rights organisations have warned the transfer of prisons under the Ministry of Interior will lead to human rights violations. Human Rights Watch has expressed serious reservations about the presidential order.
The Ministry of Interior has a poor track record on torture of prisoners, the organisation has noted. The problem has not been addressed. It says the role of the police has been strengthened, and the judiciary system has been weakened.
