Thousands of Taliban Await Release From Prisons

Around 3,000 prisoners classified as Taliban are in their own block. The caution, even fear, felt by guards and administrators was unmistakable as they entered the Taliban cellblock, protected by a phalanx of guards in armored vests and helmets, carrying bulky weapons that fire tear gas shells. Behind them on the dimly lit stairs were another half dozen guards, also in vests and helmets, automatic weapons at the ready.

The prisoners had free rein in a room where they could mingle, pray and study. The room was lined with small desks at which the Taliban sat on the carpeted floor in traditional style.

The AP interviewed the prisoners in a nearby room, unshackled and with no guards or administrators present. The prisoners decided among themselves who would be interviewed, without interference — at least none visible — from the administration.

Still, they spoke in whispers as they complained of maltreatment by guards, some of whom they said wanted revenge for personal losses blamed on Taliban attacks, while others fear a Taliban return.

Maulvi Niaz Mohammad emerged as the leader among the prisoners, although no one identified him as such. He has been sentenced to 15 years. During the Taliban rule, he served with Qari Ahmadullah, a Taliban intelligence commander who controlled much of northern Afghanistan.

He said barely 1,000 of the prisoners in the block are actually Taliban. The rest were accused of being sympathizers or members of the group, often to settle old scores; others were criminals.

One, Noorullah, 34, was sentenced to 20 years for killing his wife. He said that in prison he'd found comfort with the Taliban and sees their rule as preferable to the current government — though under the Taliban, he likely would have been sentenced to public execution at the hands of a relative of his wife.

He said that sentence would have been better, since now his family fears revenge attacks by his wife's relatives. "Why is it better now? I have to pay the judge, pay to the police, just so my family is not bothered."

One Taliban prisoner who gave his name as Maulvi Sahab, saying he feared reprisals, said Taliban prisoners are beaten and taunted by guards. Dozens of prisoners were still in prison even after their sentences have been completed, sometimes for one week, one for a year, he said.

Medicine and medical treatment are often slow in arriving when they are for Taliban prisoners, he said. Every concession the Taliban have won has come through protests — refusing to return to cells or comply with orders until eventually some of their demands are met, including the use of mobile phones, which he and several others had in their hands as they spoke.

The prison warden, Noorzoi, rejected the Taliban litany of complaints. He said they promptly receive medical treatment, have access to literacy classes, religious schools and a gymnasium and are served meat at least three times a week. He said a hospital is under construction.

Treatment, he insisted, was "better than some of them would get in their villages."

Pul-e-Charkhi prison is Afghanistan’s most notorious, with a disturbing history of violence, mass executions and torture. Mass graves have been uncovered dating back to the purges carried out by Kabul’s Soviet Union-backed governments of the late 1970s and 1980s. Torture cells and underground holding areas have been unearthed.

Prison authorities said that today the prison is monitored by an Interior Ministry human rights commission and the International Committee of the Red Cross makes regular visits.

"Torture, mistreatment that's all a thing of the past," said Najeeb Nangyal, the Interior Ministry's director of media and public affairs.

Still, violent outbreaks are not uncommon.

In November, a riot broke out after authorities tried to confiscate cellphones and narcotics. When it ended, 16 prisoners were dead, many of them Taliban. The Taliban said they were targeted.

Analysts, including the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko, said neither Afghanistan nor the United States is ready for the Taliban prisoners' release.

Every past attempt at reintegration has been costly and a failure.

A report released in September — one of several "Lessons Learned" treatises done by Sopko's team during the United States’ 18-year, $1 trillion involvement in Afghanistan — said Afghans on both sides of the conflict need to avoid the missteps of the past.

Sopko said Congress should consider funding reintegration only if a peace deal provides a framework for reintegrating ex-combatants, there is strong monitoring of the process and violence is dramatically reduced.

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