This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/FO AMBASSADOR QUINN, S/CT, SA/A, EUR/RPM, 
EUR/UBI 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
SENSITIVE 
REL NATO/ISAF/AUS/NZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS AF
SUBJECT: PRT/TARIN KOWT: DOING HARD TIME IN URUZGAN PROVINCE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  A USG team visiting Uruzgan 
Provincial Prison found that the warden and prison 
guards, although untrained, were paid regularly and 
were interested in receiving training and improving 
the facility.  The prison and administrative buildings 
were largely crumbling mud-brick structures which had 
collapsed in the past; prisoners did not have access 
to potable water.  However, an inspection of the 
facility and interviews with inmates revealed that 
prisoners were generally healthy, fed regularly, and 
not mistreated.  Indeed, living conditions at the 
prison compared favorably with villages and police and 
army barracks PRToff has visited in the province.  The 
main area of concern actually had little to do with 
the prison itself; rather, it was the absence of any 
uniform judicial process.  Neither guards nor inmates 
had any idea about the length of prison sentences or 
possibilities of reprieve or appeal.  Inmates were 
remanded to the Warden by the Governor or District 
Chiefs and remained incarcerated until the Governor 
ordered their release.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) PRToff, DynCorps Police Mentors, and the 
Military Police Advisory Team (MPAT) visited the 
Uruzgan Provincial Prison on December 30, 2005, where 
they spoke with the Warden, inspected the prison, and 
interviewed several inmates. 
 
Prison Personnel 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Uruzgan Provincial Prison is operated by 
a private contractor, Sadar Mohammed, who was not 
present on the day of the visit.  Governor Jan 
Mohammed Khan appointed (or awarded a contract to) 
Sadar Mohammed Khan a year ago.  Although nominally 
under the authority of (and apparently financed by) 
the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Mohammed and other 
prison officials and guards take their orders from the 
Provincial Governor. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sefallah Khan, as Warden, is responsible for 
the day-to-day operation of the prison.  Like all of 
his men, he has received no training but expressed an 
interest in possible improvements to the prison or its 
operation.  Mr. Khan supervises 25 guards who also 
double as cooks, mechanics, or masons, and take on 
other tasks as needed.  One literate individual, who 
was not present, maintains the prison records in a 
locked room (which PRToff and other visitors were not 
able to see).  Collectively, the guards are armed with 
five AK-47 assault rifles and limited ammunition. 
During the visit none of the guards were carrying 
weapons or in uniform.  All the employees, including 
Sefallah Khan, live in an administrative building 
adjacent to the prison.  Guards earn wages of 1500 
Afghanis/month (about USD 30) and are paid in three- 
month increments of 4500 Afghanis by Sardar Mohammed, 
with money he apparently obtains from an MOJ 
representative in Kandahar. 
 
Buildings in State of Decay 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Uruzgan Prison sits at the edge of Tarin 
Kowt about a block from the GovernorQ,s compound.  The 
prison is actually two compounds, an administrative 
building and an adjoining prison separated by a shared 
wall.  The administrative building is a former 
residence surrounded by a typical residential wall 
(about two meters high) that houses the warden, 
guards, and administrative offices. In the adjacent 
compound, the prison consists of a large mud building 
with three large cells, a kitchen, a latrine, and a 
large yard in back surrounded by a three meter wall 
topped with concertina.  Guards watch from the roof of 
the jail down into the yard.  The prison is apparently 
designed to house 60 inmates and currently holds 53 
prisoners.  Both buildings and their compound walls 
are in a state of decay, although the crumbling mud 
structure of the prison is by far in the worst 
condition.  Indeed, the Warden related that one of the 
prison walls had collapsed the previous year and 
killed an inmate (the new but shoddy and unmortared 
bricks of one wall validated his statement).  Along 
with the danger to the prisoners and guards, the 
crumbling structure also provides inadequate security 
-- 13 inmates have escaped in the last year. 
 
Procedures Lacking 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Warden and guards operate on only the 
most rudimentary procedures.  Individuals are sent to 
prison at the order of the Governor, District Chiefs, 
Police Chiefs, and occasionally by judges and 
prosecutors.  There appears to be little or no 
criminal procedure guiding the system.  Prisoners come 
from all over Uruzgan and from a wide cross-section of 
tribes (including the GovernorQ,s Populzai tribe). 
They arrive with indeterminate sentences and are 
incarcerated until the Governor sends a letter 
ordering their release.  For the most part, the 
inmates seem to have no set routine, sometimes working 
on handicrafts for income to supplement their diet (or 
scheming to escape, given the inadequate security and 
poorly armed guards).  In any case, the Warden had no 
real plan beyond holding and feeding the prisoners -- 
no thought has been put to usefully employing or 
rehabilitating the inmates. 
 
Prisoners Living Conditions 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The condition of the prisoners is simple but 
surprisingly mild relative to the quality of life of 
an average farm worker in the province.  The prisoners 
are assigned to three sleeping rooms that all open out 
onto a courtyard. (Note: The Warden claimed that the 
most violent prisoners are all housed in one room, but 
given the three rooms appeared unsecured and the 
inmates moved about freely this assertion is probably 
not true.  End note.)  Although there is no heat and 
the inmates have no beds, they are issued blankets and 
mats to sleep on. Along with the three sleeping rooms, 
there is one communal indoor latrine. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The prisoners are fed three times a day from 
the same kitchen and pantry that the guards use. 
Morning meals consist of tea and bread and mid-day and 
evening meals consist of tea, bread, and potatoes. 
Once a week, beef is served with the evening meal. 
Food for prisoners and guards alike is funded by the 
MOJ through Sadar Mohammed and purchased locally. 
Water for both drinking and hygiene comes from a pool 
in the middle of the courtyard.  Although the pool 
appears to be fed from a pipe or spring and has an 
outflow, prisoners it use for all manner of personal 
needs and it appeared very unsanitary.  Finally, 
prisoners may receive visitors for an hour on 
Thursdays in a separate room in the prison, although 
there was some uncertainty as to whether women can 
visit prisoners at all or just not privately. 
 
¶9. (SBU) By permission of both the Warden and the 
prisoners in question, Poloff and MPAT Sergeant 
interviewed two prisoners.  The first was a farmer 
from the western district of Deh Rahwud who shot to 
death one of his workers, apparently accidentally. 
For this crime, the 19-year old farmer has been 
incarcerated for 3 + years.  After being arrested he 
was sent directly to prison and never went before a 
judge.  He has no idea how long he will be in prison. 
His immediate physical concern was the prison water 
supply, which has caused many prisoners to frequently 
fall ill.  He also noted that the prison provided no 
regular medical attention, although very ill prisoners 
were taken to a doctor in town.  The prisoner was 
issued a mattress and blankets and his family had 
brought him more. He had no complaints about the 
prison staff and said he felt healthy and adequately 
fed.  While openly conceding to having killed a man, 
the young farmer insisted it was an accident and 
wanted resolution to his case -- how long must he 
serve and for what crime: murder or manslaughter? 
 
¶10. (SBU) The second inmate was also a farmer, but 
from Chora District and, at 35 years old, only three 
months into an indeterminate sentence.  Also accused 
of murder, he claimed that another man has since been 
caught for the murder, so now he wants to be released 
from prison.  Sent to prison at the orders of the 
Governor, the farmer indicated that he also never went 
before a judge but did go before a prosecutor. 
Despite that, he still has no idea how long he will be 
in prison.  He has been allowed to see visitors but 
not his wife, about which he was very distraught.  He 
also complained about dirty water that caused diarrhea 
among many of the prisoners.  Responding to a question 
from the MPAT Sergeant, he indicated that the 
prisoners were beaten with sticks by guards for 
misbehaving, but follow-up questions did not elicit 
much fear or concern about the beatings; the prisoner 
only became agitated discussing the water and his 
wife. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Overall the prison had a surprisingly 
relaxed atmosphere, with guards and prisoners dressed 
alike and largely sharing the same existence. PRToff 
noted that the prison compared favorably with army and 
police barracks.  Although PRToff and MPAT team were 
there for only a few hours, at least superficially no 
deliberate or cruel treatment seemed evident and any 
mistreatment suffered by the inmates likely resulted 
from a paucity of resources. The unsanitary water 
source was clearly a problem that the PRT will 
investigate, but it is a hardly a unique problem to 
the prison and indeed is endemic throughout the 
province. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The most troubling issue from this visit was 
a reflection not so much on the penal system but on 
the judicial process. Neither the guards nor the 
prisoners seemed familiar with any legal procedures 
and neither group had any idea of the length of 
prisonersQ, sentences.  Thus, although by Afghan 
standards the prisoners were not physically abused, 
they certainly languish in a deeply uncertain state of 
imprisonment that itself is no small form of 
mistreatment. 
NORLAND