DETAINEE LEGAL FRAMEWORK: NON-PAPER ON SECURITY

S E C R E T KABUL 001779 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR P, SCA/FO (DAS GASTRIGHT),SCA/A (SINGRAM),S/WCI (MSTAMILIO, MSHIN),L/PM (EPELOFSKY) NSC FOR AHARRIMAN OSD FOR ARICCI CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, CSTC-A, SOUTHCOM, JTF-GTMO E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2017 TAGS: KAWC MARR NATO PTER PHUM AF SUBJECT: DETAINEE LEGAL FRAMEWORK: NON-PAPER ON SECURITY DETENTION DELIVERED REF: A. KABUL 1558 ¶B. KABUL 1705 ¶C. 16MAY07 INGRAM-DUSKA E-MAIL Classified By: Acting DCM Carol A. Rodley; reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (S) On May 25, the Ambassador delivered the ref C non-paper on security detention to President Karzai in a one-on-one meeting. Karzai undertook to review the matter. On May 26, Afghan Deputy National Security Advisor Engineer Ibrahim told A/DCM that President Karzai had held an internal meeting with advisors earlier in the day regarding the subject of security detention. Ibrahim said that a decision was made during the meeting to pass a copy of the non-paper the same day to Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Azimi for his advice on the legal issues, but not for an official pronouncement or judgment. Ibrahim commented that such advice would be important to avoid running into problems down the road. He declined the A/DCM's offer to follow up directly with Azimi or relevant GoA ministries, indicating that the Office of the National Security Council (ONSC) was taking charge of coordination. In a subsequent meeting with A/DCM on May 27, Ibrahim emphasized the GoA's interest in resolving the security detention issue soon, commenting that having all of the Afghan detainees in GoA custody would be good for public perceptions of the government. ¶2. (S/NF) Comment: Post will continue to follow up on the issue of security detention with the most senior levels of the GoA. While pressing the matter with the Palace, we believe it essential to avoid raising the profile of the issue in such a way that it would put Karzai publicly on the spot -- that would most certainly be counter-productive. WOOD