Abstract
This chapter explores the factors that led to unlawful detentions of civilians in U.S. internment centers in Afghanistan. The first section of the chapter analyzes the factors that influenced the selection of targets for detention (e.g., too-broad criteria for determining who was detainable, reliance on weak evidence to justify detentions, mistakes in verifying the identity of detainees). The second section examines the lack of adequate procedural safeguards during detention (e.g., denial of the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention, denial of access to information about the reasons for detention, denial of access to a defense lawyer). The third section shows how both the vaguely defined grounds for detention and the inadequate procedural safeguards led to the arbitrary detention of hundreds of civilians.
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Notes
- 1.
The description of clearance operations is based on the report prepared by OSF and TLO (2011, 12–13).
- 2.
The entire description of the operation in Otmanzey is based on the report prepared by OSF and TLO (2011, 12–13).
- 3.
This section examines only the fact that the review board lacked the power to order the release of unlawfully detained individuals. The other deficiencies are examined below.
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Badalič, V. (2019). The War on Due Process: Civilian Victims of the U.S. Arbitrary Detention Program in Afghanistan. In: The War Against Civilians. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12406-9_4
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