Assessing Afghanistan's correctional needs. (International).

During the past several months, two major events have provided an outline for the way in which the United Nations, and most likely, the international community, will respond to help rebuild Afghanistan's correctional system. First was Security Council Resolution 1378, which was passed on Nov. 14, 2001; and second was the Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-Establishment of Permanent Government Institutions, which became known as the Bonn Agreement, finalized on Dec. 5, 2001. As summarized in the Bonn Agreement, the action to be taken is: "The Afghan interim administration shall establish, with the assistance of the United Nations, a judicial commission to rebuild the domestic justice system in accordance with Islamic principles, international standards and Afghan legal traditions.... The interim administration shall also establish a human rights commission whose responsibilities will reside in human rights monitoring, investigation and violation of human rights."

On March 28, the U.N. Security Council endorsed the secretary general's report establishing the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which provided the special representative of the secretary general with full authority over U.N. activities in Afghanistan. The report states that "among the various assignments of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, special attention should be given to the promotion of the rule of law and the re-establishment of the judicial system."

The Center for International Crime Prevention (CICP), located at the U.N. headquarters in Vienna, Austria, provides technical assistance with crime prevention and criminal justice to countries in need. CICP was tasked with conducting an initial assessment of the existing judicial institutional structures, as well as the current criminal justice legislation (laws and decrees). The following information comes from the organization's mission report and discussions with those involved.

The Assessment Process

The field visits and information-gathering took place March 18-30, and included meetings in Cairo, Egypt; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Kabul, Afghanistan. The subjects specific to corrections that were examined include: the functions and legal framework of the penitentiary services in Afghanistan; rehabilitation of the prison service in Afghanistan; prison conditions in Afghanistan for foreign and female inmates; and juvenile correctional facilities in Afghanistan.

General Data

The interim administration's Ministry of Justice is responsible for corrections, among other aspects related to the criminal justice system in Afghanistan. However, its initial efforts have been handicapped by the inability to readily access information on existing civil and criminal laws. After 23 years of war, only one copy each of the Civil Code and Penal Code were found in the entire country.

Currently, the Ministry of Justice has two deputy ministers, one for legislation and legal affairs and one for administration. When this article was written in May, the deputy minister for legislation and legal affairs was absent and was expected to be away from his post indefinitely. Deputy Minister of Administration Mohamed Ashraf Rosouly, who oversees juvenile corrections, is supervising in the interim. Recently, the Office of Juvenile Justice Administration was created under the deputy minister of administration. Its staff includes 1,600 employees who have been appointed by the minister of justice after being nominated by the heads of the provinces. The Afghan government intends to create 32 juvenile correctional facilities--one in Kabul and 31 in the provinces.

Juvenile Corrections

Despite the fact that there are no juvenile correctional facilities in Kabul, 80 professional and administrative staff have been recruited. Two juvenile correctional facilities exist in Afghanistan in the provinces--one in Mazar-e Sharif and another in Jalalabad. However, as of May, all juvenile inmates were mixed with adults since the country had been in the midst of war and people were being locked up wherever there was space, as some prisons were destroyed. The interim administration has placed special importance on the creation of appropriate juvenile correctional facilities. In order for Afghanistan to be able to comply with basic international human rights requirements concerning juveniles, U.N. personnel identified training, general equipment and educational material as the country's most urgent needs.

The Penitentiary Services

The Penitentiary Services is under the Ministry of Interior. However, the Ministry of Intelligence is responsible for those convicted of or indicted for political offenses linked to the current situation in Afghanistan. Therefore, there are no political inmates in the Penitentiary Services or police stations under Ministry of Interior control. Also, the Kabul prison Pullichaary is empty because inmates who were sentenced prior to the interim administration's establishment have been released. The Penitentiary Services' top management is hesitant about reopening Pullichaary before major renovations are completed because of the summary executions, torture and inhumane treatment that occurred there during the time of the Communist regime.

Currently, the 350 inmates being detained are held in police stations; as a result, detainees, sentenced inmates and juveniles are housed together. The Ministry of Interior has recruited the personnel for Pullichaary in anticipation of its reopening as an adult penitentiary, including 700 correctional officers and 200 social workers and administrative staff. The central office of the Penitentiary Services also is in place and staffed by what U.N. observers consider competent personnel. The Penitentiary Services will be organized into various departments to cover a variety of specialties, such as administration, security, health services and personnel.

As of May, U.N. personnel had not been able to visit the police stations in which the inmates were being held "for technical reasons." However, the officer in charge of the U.N. Drug Control Program in Kabul was aware of the situation and pledged to visit the inmates as soon as possible.

The U.N. team visiting criminal justice facilities in Afghanistan also recommended creation of a special rehabilitation program for women in conjunction with the Ministry for Women Condition. On March 27, 15 female inmates were being held in a Kabul police station.

A Personal Conclusion

In terms of U.N. initiatives and activities geared toward helping re-establish the correctional system in Afghanistan, what follows will be determined by a variety of political considerations. Some of those decisions will be impacted by the philosophies of the major donor nations, as well as by the philosophy of the interim administration's leadership. Having been involved in two previous U.N. missions in nations just coming out of civil war, I am confident that the correctional system in Afghanistan will receive some favor able and constructive attention. I base that feeling on the fact that there already has been an initial mission to determine correctional needs as Afghanistan rebuilds, which was not the case in most previous U.N. peacekeeping and peace support initatives. Where the United Nations did decide to treat corrections as a separate, yet important part of the total criminal justice system--in East Timor and Kosovo--a serious and remarkably successful program was established that is leading those nations to develop humane correctional systems.

Much information remains to be gathered and serious planning based on the realities of the economy, culture and political climate needs to be undertaken. That planning should be preceded by a detailed analysis of what exists in terms of facilities and what is expected in terms of anticipated correctional populations. CICP has made recommendations to establish that type of study mission and some potential donor nations have been contacted to fund it. Throughout history, many leaders and philosophers have commented that "you can judge the degree of civilization of a nation by visiting its prisons." The type of civilization the world community will help Afghanistan build will be obvious as we monitor the types of prisons it constructs, who it incarcerates and how it cares for them.

Gary Hill is president of CEGA Services Inc., an international consultant in crime prevention, criminal justice and corrections, and chairman of ACA's International Relations Committee.