LAST INMATE-CONTROLLED PRISON IN AFGHANISTAN COMES

UNCLAS KABUL 003426 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CHG PARA 2 TO SBU) SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, INL STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR MCGRAW CG CJTF-101, POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM KCOR KDEM AF SUBJECT: LAST INMATE-CONTROLLED PRISON IN AFGHANISTAN COMES UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL ¶1. (U) On September 29, Afghanistan's Central Prison Directorate (CPD) peacefully transferred all inmates from the existing prison facility in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, which was controlled by inmates, into a newly constructed facility. The United Kingdom, which runs the PRT in Helmand, built the new facility directly adjacent to the older facility. Lashkar Gah was the last provincial prison in Afghanistan to be fully controlled by inmates; all provincial prisons in Afghanistan are now under the control of the CPD. ¶2. (SBU) Prior to September 16, 2009, CPD personnel rarely entered the Lashkar Gah facility as the inmates (including some linked with the Taliban) were in complete control. CPD authorities did not have the precise data on how many inmates were held in the facility, and there was no classification or segregation of inmates between insurgents and common criminals. Due to the old facility's decrepit condition, the UK constructed a new prison that is in compliance with international humanitarian standards. On September 26, the UK transported five CPD Headquarters Commanders and 25 CPD Emergency Response Team (ERT) members from the Counter-Narcotics Justice Center in Kabul to Lashkar Gah. Utilizing the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the UK's Quick Reaction Forces and patrols for external perimeter security, on September 28 and 29 the ERT and the CPD Lashkar Gah prison staff transferred the 383 inmates from the old prison to the new facility. Prior to transferring, all inmates were classified by the CPD as political (insurgent),maximum, medium, or minimum security prisoners and each was assigned to a commensurate security level cell within the new facility. CPD authorities and international corrections experts had some fears this operation could end in violence (as occurred at Afghanistan's central prison Pol-i-Charkhi in December 2008, when the CPD retook two wings controlled by the Taliban, but nine inmates were killed in the process); however, ultimately no use of force was required at the Lashkar Gah, and no injuries were sustained by CPD personnel or the inmates. ¶3. (U) Prior to this transfer to the new facility, all 40 members of the Lashkar Gah CPD staff received training from both U.S. and UK corrections assistance programs. During the summer of 2009, two of INL's Corrections System Support Program (CSSP) trainers and eight CSSP-trained Afghan trainers, partnered with the UK's corrections advisors to conduct the standard two-month basic training course for the Lashkar Gah CPD staff. The CPD Emergency Response Team (ERT) deployed to Lashkar Gah also completed CSSP's ERT course and was one of the same teams that helped regain control of Pol-i-Charkhi prison from the Taliban in December 2008. EIKENBERRY