Indefinite Detention in Afghanistan's Kunar Province

Ahmadullah has been in prison in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar for the last 16 months with no imminent prospect of release.

He was arrested with 12 others, three days after crossing into Kunar from the Swat Valley of Pakistan, where the security situation was poor at the time.

The group was brought before a court, and while seven were convicted of having inadequate ID, he and the other four were pronounced not guilty. But they were nevertheless sent back to languish in jail with no indication of what might happen next.

Ahmadullah is by no means the only prison inmate in Kunar whose case seems to have been forgotten.

Court officials deny accusations that they are not reviewing the files of those currently detained. They say all suspects are investigated within two months, although Judge Muhammad Ashraf, the head of Kunar’s court of appeal court, acknowledged that with around 3,000 cases a year, the process “takes time”.

Zabiullah Larawai is an IWPR-trained radio reporter in Jalalabad.

This report was produced as part of the Afghan Critical Mass Media Reporting in Uruzgan and Nangarhar project, and is also published on the Afghan Centre for Investigative Journalism website which IWPR has set up locally.