AMNESTY BILL ENTERS TWILIGHT ZONE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001246 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SA/FO, SCA/A, S/CT, S/CR, SCA/PAB, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR HARRIMAN OSD FOR SHIVERS CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-82 POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM AF SUBJECT: AMNESTY BILL ENTERS TWILIGHT ZONE REF: KABUL 834 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Richard Norland for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) There is continuing uncertainty about the current status of the Afghanistan's new Amnesty Bill, which would give general amnesty to all political sides involved in conflict prior to the establishment of the interim administration (Reftel). Parliamentarians and their staffers note that the bill was officially submitted to the Palace on March 11 and, according to the Constitution (Article 94),it should be now considered law even if the President has not signed it. The Palace meanwhile quietly insists it has not received a final version of the document for signature. Caught between the politically powerful sponsors of the law and those who would criticize him for signing a law that is meant to give them amnesty, President Karzai may be willing to let the law slide quietly into existence. END SUMMARY. -------------- Palace Official: Bill is not Law -------------- ¶2. (C) On April 8, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Farouk Wardak's Chief of Staff Qutbuddin Roydar told Poloff that President Karzai had not signed the bill into law. He said there is a question as to whether or not the bill should, in fact, have gone to the Upper House after the President's amendments were approved by the Lower House. In any case, Roydar claimed the Palace has received only an unofficial copy of the bill - that it has not been officially sent to the Palace for the President's signature. (Note: All bills must be approved by both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament before going to the President for final approval and signature. However, there is a question about whether a bill such as the Amnesty Bill, that was approved by both Houses once then amended by the President must get a second round of official approval from both Houses - or just the Lower House - before being re-sent to the President for final signature. End note.) -------------- -------------- Another Palace Official: Bill is Law, but Hush Hush -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) In a separate meeting on the same day, Office of the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Lower House of Parliament Liaison Director Sayed Dadshani acknowledged that the Palace has officially received the bill but said the matter is "very hush hush." He agreed (but only with a nod of his head) that the "15 day rule applies". (Note: Article 94 of the Constitution states that if the President does not sign draft legislation within 15 days, "the draft shall be considered endorsed and enforceable." End Note.) According to Dadshani, since Parliament sent the bill to Karzai in mid-March, the fifteen days had passed, so the bill is now a law, adding that no one is making an issue of it. -------------- Parliament: Bill is Law -------------- ¶4. (C) In an April 8 meeting parliamentarian Registani, a prominent member of the Legislation Committee and one of the drafters of the Amnesty Bill, reiterated to PolOff that the Amnesty Bill is now law. He confirmed that the Lower House sent the amended bill to the President KABUL 00001246 002 OF 002 in mid-March and that the 15-day rule applies to the bill, hence it has been enacted. He insisted that the bill did not need to go through the Upper House as Royder had indicated. Registani speculated that the President opted to let the bill quietly come into force so as not to draw a lot of attention to the highly sensitive event. ¶5. (C) On March 29, staffers in the Lower House told PolOff that their records clearly show that the draft bill was sent to the Palace, via Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Farouk Wardak's office, on March 11. They added that the President had 15 days to sign the bill and enact the legislation or else it automatically becomes law. On the same day Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Farouk Wardak's Special Assistant Ahsan Tahiri told us the President definitely had the bill, and added that the Palace staff had not been clear with him about the bill's status. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The Palace appears to be engaged in an effort to keep the spotlight off the Amnesty Bill. If no one pushes for a public declaration from the President on the bill's status, he can avoid being responsible for having signed the bill into law and hope that the issue of amnesty will lie dormant. This would be possible only if the bill's drafters and supporters did not feel a need to invoke its protections. ¶7. (C) Though the impetus for the Amnesty Bill appears to have been a desire of senior Afghan power brokers to protect themselves from possible prosecution, it is, as yet, unclear whether courts would uphold the law or how it would work in practice, including exactly who it would cover and how. While providing general amnesty, the law does allow for individuals to take other individuals to court, in accordance with Sharia law. But how it might apply to insurgents detained on the battlefield, or to individuals alleged to have committed terrorist acts against the GOA or members of the international community is not clear. (Note: Thus far the Amnesty Bill has not been mentioned by the GOA's interagency Detainee Review Board, which is responsible for reviewing detainee cases transferred to the Afghan National Detention Facility (ANDF) from Bagram and Guantanamo and determining prosecutability. End Note). END COMMENT. NORLAND