The special presidential commission charged with reviewing the files of Taliban prisoners has already begun its work. But analysts across the board warn that releasing the detainees could deepen the political and security crisis in the country.

The commission was established by presidential decree on June 6 as a direct result of the National Consultative Peace Jirga, held in Kabul June 2-4. One of the Jirga’s recommendations was the release of detainees suspected of cooperation with insurgents, but against whom there was insufficient evidence for a conviction. President Hamid Karzai promised to take immediate action in this regard, and established a commission that would examine the cases and, if it deemed it appropriate, free the prisoners.

The Ministry of Justice is taking the lead on the commission; other members include representatives from the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s office, the Peace and Reconciliation Commission and the Presidential Legal Advisory Board.

Many have hailed Karzai’s decree as the first step towards implementation of the Jirga’s recommendations.

But Lal Gul, who heads the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization (AHRO), said that Karzai’s decree contradicted the spirit of the Jirga.

“The prisoners are in police custody, but their cases are not being referred to judicial bodies,” he said. “In my opinion, this belittles the nature of the Jirga.”
The decree was meant as “a gesture of goodwill,” according to the president. But goodwill is not an appropriate basis for freeing armed opponents of the government, added Lal Gul. “This is more a political move than anything else,” he said.

“On the other hand, there are some people who are incarcerated who are innocent,” he continued. “We do not need a presidential decree to release innocent people. They should be freed as soon as possible and without any conditions. They should also receive compensation from the Afghan government and the foreign forces.”

There are many questions surrounding the recommendations of the Peace Jirga, which observers feel could prevent them from being implemented.

“The recommendations of the Peace Jirga have no legal base,” said parliamentarian Noorulhaq Ulumi. “The government should have asked the Parliament for a decision if it really wanted to obey the law. Of course it is the responsibility of each Afghan to try to end war and establish peace, but the decision of a small group of government supporters should not be taken as the decision of the Afghan people.”

Regarding the proposed release of Taliban prisoners, Ulumi largely agrees with Lal Gul.

“It is for the courts and law enforcement officials to detain or release suspects,” he said. “Why were these people arrested if they are innocent? They should already have been released. But those who instigate suicide attacks or who tried to sabotage the Peace Jirga with rockets should be punished. For example, the government released Mullah Dastgir and you know what happened? He rejoined the insurgency and kept fighting against the government. It is ridiculous to arrest and then release such figures.”

According to Ulumi, the Taliban are controlled by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and do whatever ISI tells them to. Afghanistan, he insisted, does not benefit from the release of high-level Taliban.

“Killers of innocents should be punished,” he said. “But the security forces should not arrest innocent people.”

Political analyst Waheed Mojdah believes that Karzai’s decree is a positive first step, but will do little good for the president’s relations with the Taliban.

“President Karzai cannot satisfy the Taliban with such decrees,” he said. “Those who will be released are not Taliban insurgents; they are innocent people who have been arrested for various reasons.”

But some initiatives from the Jirga have a good chance of gaining results.

UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, recently told the media that a UN delegation would review the names of the Taliban leaders on the UN blacklist.

The names of about 142 Taliban and 360 Al-Qaida insurgents have been entered into the blacklist since 1999. This freezes the bank accounts of those on the list and bans them from traveling.

Karzai has been pressing for the removal of the Taliban’s names from the UN blacklist for quite some time.

Prior to the London Conference in January, five former high-ranking Taliban officials were taken off the list. These included the Taliban’s former Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, Deputy Minister of Commerce Fazel Mohammad, Deputy Minister of Planning Mohammad Musa Hotak, Deputy Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs Abdul Hakim and Press spokesman Shams Aminzai. 

But others are having a more difficult time, since some countries such as the United States, Russia and China are unwilling to remove some of the entries.

“The UN blacklist needs to be reviewed,” said Mojdah. “It is getting old now. Some of the ‘most-wanted’ are now dead, like Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah; other Taliban leaders who were incarcerated in U.S. prisoners are now free and are working with the Afghan government.”

While the Taliban labeled the Jirga an “American plot,” the delegates invited the insurgents to come to the negotiating table. The call for some form of negotiated settlement is growing.

The international community is also cautiously supportive of talks.

“There is no military solution to this conflict,” said de Mistura, in a press conference in early June. “The Taliban will never win … and the other side will never win, either. The only way is some type of dialogue based on clear conditions. I do not say ‘preconditions.’ Conditions.”

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi told www.afghansitanvotes.com that the group’s stance was the same as in the past: they demand the total withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan as a precondition for talks.

“It is still too early to comment on the decisions of the Peace Jirga,” he said. “We will issue a statement at the proper time.”