AFGHAN NATIONAL DETENTION FACILITY OPENS MARCH 25;

S E C R E T KABUL 001078

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR P, SCA/FO (DAS GASTRIGHT),SCA/A (SINGRAM),S/WCI
(MSTAMILIO),L/PM (EPELOFSKY)
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN
OSD FOR ARICCI
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, CSTC-A, SOUTHCOM, JTF-GTMO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2017
TAGS: KAWC MARR PTER PGOV PINS PREL AF
SUBJECT: AFGHAN NATIONAL DETENTION FACILITY OPENS MARCH 25;
TRANSFERS OF EVIDENCE CONTINUE

REF: A. MARCH 28 DUSKA-INGRAM E-MAIL

B. KABUL 956

C. KABUL 05850

Classified By: Political-Military Affairs Counselor Carol A. Rodley; re
asons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (SBU) This is an Action request. Please see paragraph 9.

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ANDF March 25 Opening, Press Reaction
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2. (S/NF) The Afghan National Detention Facility (ANDF) in
the Pol-e-Charkhi prison compound was opened formally and the
300-member Detainee Guard Force (DGF) graduated on March 25
at a ceremony in honor of ANDF commander Brigadier General
Safiullah. Defense Minister Wardak, Meshrano Jirga Speaker
and head of the Peace and Reconciliation Program ("Program
Tahkim-e Solh"--PTS) Mojadeddi, CSTC-A's Commander and the
Polish Deputy Commanding General for International Security
Cooperation, and other Afghan, CSTC-A, and CJTF-82 general
officers attended; polmiloff represented the Embassy. The
Ministry of Defense (MOD) did not invite staff of the Office
of the National Security Council (ONSC). Deputy Commander
Oryakhil, the subject of reftel C Leahy concerns, attended,
but BG Safiullah explained his attendance to CSTC-A as a
face-saving gesture only and confirmed he has been
reassigned. The ceremony included a riot control
demonstration during which several guard force members
dressed as detainees were "subdued" and frequent references
to a DGF member killed in the February 27 suicide bombing at
Bagram.


3. (S/NF) Ahead of the ceremony, Defense Minister Wardak
expressed concern to US generals and polimiloff that the ANDF
would be a burden for MOD. Polmiloff assured him that while
MOD was represented on the Detainee Review Board (reftel B),
plans are for the prosecutorial burden to be borne by the
national security and civil courts, not the MOD court system.
The Defense Minister did not seem mollified and later at a
celebratory lunch also did not seem receptive to
congratulations. (CSTC-A Comment: MinDef,s concerns may be
less related to the administrative or logistical burden of
the ANDF but more that he would prefer to put the trained
soldiers on the battlefield. End comment)


4. (SBU) MOD invited international and domestic press
including AP, Reuters, and al-Jazeera, and CSTC-A used
coordinated guidance (reftel B). Most Afghan TV, radio, and
newspaper sources carried short reports about the new guard
force unit's future responsibility for protecting Afghans now
in Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) and Bagram and stressed detainees
will be handed over to the GOA in the near future. The
independent daily Weesa commented "Getting inmates
transferred from Guantanamo and Bagram to Pol-e-Charkhi
prison and fulfilling the duty of the Afghan forces to defend
and protect territorial integrity could have a positive and
constructive impact on the country's fate....The more the
international community relies on the Afghan people, the more
support it will attract." Afghan Radio and TV sources later
cited a Presidential spokesman as saying that all Afghan
prisoners would be transferred to Pol-e-Charkhi "in a few
days." ONSC Situation Room Director Zia Salehi told
polmiloff on March 29 that the statement should have
indicated transfers will be "soon" but that ONSC did not plan
to issue a clarification since the opening was no longer
attracting press attention. Post has seen no international
coverage of the opening or about initial transfers.

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Relay of Evidence Continues; Translation Issues

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5. (S) Polmiloff informed ONSC's Salehi on March 29 that 12
detainees would now be transferred initially; transfers of
two others originally scheduled for the first transfer are on
hold. In addition to the 13 sanitized and translated case
files passed to GOA on March 11, polmiloff passed the

following on March 29: A) A list of all Afghan prisoners in
GTMO as received from CSTC-A on March 28, B) Notes in Dari
taken by GOA prosecutorial teams at BTIF for the 14 cases
originally planned for the first transfer, C) GOA notes in
Dari for 42 cases slated for the next round of transfers, D)
GOA notes in Dari for 10 cases that the GOA teams indicated
required further investigation before prosecution, and E) the
BTIF Order of Merit list of all 238 cases BTIF now plans to
transfer, all of which were reviewed by GOA investigative
teams. It should be noted that the 10 "D" cases were proposed
for transfer by OSD but are not on the current BTIF Order of
Merit list. Post therefore recommends that files for these 10
cases be translated as soon as possible and passed to GOA.


6. (S) Salehi, who has extensive experience as a translator
and interpreter, commented that some of the case file
translations received on March 11 were not readable.
Polmiloff requested samples of problematic translations to
pass to CSTC-A so translation and quality control issues can
be addressed. CJTF-82 has advised post that a new unit of six
translators will begin translating case files shortly.


7. (S) GTMO advised CSTC-A that case files for Afghan
detainees at GTMO are being translated into Pashto. Salehi
advised it is acceptable if the first files received are in
Pashto but stated that Dari is the preferred language. Since
at this point we do not know who will be preparing cases for
prosecution, post recommends that GTMO produce Dari
translations of case files.


8. (S) Post is tracking relays of evidence via a spreadsheet
that will be shared with GOA, CSTC-A, CJTF-82, and SCA.

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GOA Delegation to GTMO
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9. (S) Action Request: CSTC-A advised that OSD Detainee
Affairs recommended the Department task post to request the
GOA designate a small delegation of professional
investigators to visit GTMO to interview all Afghan detainees
and assess cases for potential prosecution. CSTC-A
recommends that COL Khadigul Hamdard of the Ministry of
Interior and COL Abdul Jalil Muldafi of the National
Directorate of Security be part of the delegation since both
have extensive experience in interviewing Afghan detainees at
BTIF. Consul here has advised that visas could take two
months or more to arrange. CSTC-A and post also recommend
that polmiloff visit GTMO to discuss the relay of evidence to
ONSC and other transfer-related issues. Post requests
instructions via front channel regarding these proposed
visits.
NEUMANN