VZCZCXRO3395
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #3426 3000700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270700Z OCT 09 ZDK (SVC STATE 4933)
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2485
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 003426 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (CHG PARA 2 TO SBU) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, INL 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR MCGRAW 
CG CJTF-101, POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM KCOR KDEM AF
SUBJECT: LAST INMATE-CONTROLLED PRISON IN AFGHANISTAN COMES 
UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL 
 
¶1. (U) On September 29, Afghanistan's Central Prison 
Directorate (CPD) peacefully transferred all inmates from the 
existing prison facility in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, 
which was controlled by inmates, into a newly constructed 
facility.  The United Kingdom, which runs the PRT in Helmand, 
built the new facility directly adjacent to the older 
facility.  Lashkar Gah was the last provincial prison in 
Afghanistan to be fully controlled by inmates; all provincial 
prisons in Afghanistan are now under the control of the CPD. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Prior to September 16, 2009, CPD personnel rarely 
entered the Lashkar Gah facility as the inmates (including 
some linked with the Taliban) were in complete control.  CPD 
authorities did not have the precise data on how many inmates 
were held in the facility, and there was no classification or 
segregation of inmates between insurgents and common 
criminals.  Due to the old facility's decrepit condition, the 
UK constructed a new prison that is in compliance with 
international humanitarian standards.  On September 26, the 
UK transported five CPD Headquarters Commanders and 25 CPD 
Emergency Response Team (ERT) members from the 
Counter-Narcotics Justice Center in Kabul to Lashkar Gah. 
Utilizing the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the UK's Quick 
Reaction Forces and patrols for external perimeter security, 
on September 28 and 29 the ERT and the CPD Lashkar Gah prison 
staff transferred the 383 inmates from the old prison to the 
new facility.  Prior to transferring, all inmates were 
classified by the CPD as political (insurgent), maximum, 
medium, or minimum security prisoners and each was assigned 
to a commensurate security level cell within the new 
facility.  CPD authorities and international corrections 
experts had some fears this operation could end in violence 
(as occurred at Afghanistan's central prison Pol-i-Charkhi in 
December 2008, when the CPD retook two wings controlled by 
the Taliban, but nine inmates were killed in the process); 
however, ultimately no use of force was required at the 
Lashkar Gah, and no injuries were sustained by CPD personnel 
or the inmates. 
 
¶3. (U) Prior to this transfer to the new facility, all 40 
members of the Lashkar Gah CPD staff received training from 
both U.S. and UK corrections assistance programs.  During the 
summer of 2009, two of INL's Corrections System Support 
Program (CSSP) trainers and eight CSSP-trained Afghan 
trainers, partnered with the UK's corrections advisors to 
conduct the standard two-month basic training course for the 
Lashkar Gah CPD staff.  The CPD Emergency Response Team (ERT) 
deployed to Lashkar Gah also completed CSSP's ERT course and 
was one of the same teams that helped regain control of 
Pol-i-Charkhi prison from the Taliban in December 2008. 
 
EIKENBERRY