Afghan council backs release of Taliban prisoners
An assembly of Afghans yesterday approved the release of hundreds of Taliban prisoners accused of serious crimes, a decision that cleared the way for peace talks with the insurgent group but led to a mixed response from victims of their violence.
The traditional gathering, known as a loya jirga, was convened by President Ashraf Ghani, who has been under pressure from the US to release the prisoners as part of its peace deal with the Taliban.
The agreement, signed in February, required the government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 detainees held by the Taliban before it can begin direct peace talks with the insurgents.
The government freed most of the prisoners demanded by the Taliban, but Mr Ghani said releasing the last batch of about 400 with “serious cases” against them was “not within the authority of the president of Afghanistan” and referred the decision to the loya jirga comprised of more than 3,000 representatives.
The gathering was chaired by the Afghan National Reconciliation Council headed by Dr Abdullah Abdullah. After deliberations among 50 committees, the jirga issued a statement approving the prisoner release.
It listed conditions and recommendations, including guarantees that freed prisoners would not resume fighting, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and the release of all Afghan security forces in Taliban captivity.
Mr Ghani said he would sign a decree to release the remaining prisoners and that the intra-Afghan talks would begin in the coming days.
However, there was scepticism about the peace process from some at the gathering.
Lima Ahmad, a doctoral scholar who has worked with Afghan civil society and the government and has taken part in previous loya jirgas, said: “I am not convinced that 3,500 people who participated believe that these murderers should be free.
“This is just a political settlement, and not actual efforts towards reconciliation or conflict resolution.”
Ms Ahmad’s 24-year-old sister Fatima, an employee of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, was killed by a bomb in Kabul on June 26.
“They will release the murderers, and my sister will just be collateral damage,” she said.
Other Afghans were willing to accept the prisoner release as the price of peace, but remained cautious of the Taliban’s intentions.
Among them was Breshna Musazai, who was shot several times during a Taliban attack on the American University of Afghanistan in August, 2016, that killed 13 people.
Lailuddin, a Taliban commander accused of masterminding the attack as well as the bombing of the German embassy in May, 2017, is on the list of the 400 prisoners to be freed.
“It doesn’t seem right to release people who have killed many innocent people and it’s hard to trust them, but if this can bring peace then I think we should,” Ms Musazai said.
“It’s hard to say that they [Taliban] won’t do it again, because they haven’t shown interest in peace – they haven’t stopped fighting.”