Prisons Head: Int’l Organizations Can Visit Afghanistan’s Prisons

Mohammad Yousuf Mestari, the acting head of the Prisons Administration, in an exclusive interview with , has stated that international organizations can visit the country’s prisons but must reflect the realities in their reports.

Mestari also provided statistics indicating that over the past three years, between 15,000 to 16,000 prisoners were released from the country’s prisons due to presidential amnesty granted during the holidays.

He further mentioned that international organizations should use the global budget allocated for prisoners to also pay for the rights of Afghan prisoners.

The acting head of the Prisons Administration, told : “Our request from international organizations is that they visit our prisons closely and if there are any shortcomings, they should mention them. If everything is in order, they should announce that to the world. If the rights of prisoners are being upheld, they should report it, and if not, they should also report that. Our request is that they speak about what they observe.”

Mestari also spoke about the creation of an agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education and courts, stating that through the provision of modern, religious, and vocational education, prisoners will be granted sentence reductions.

He said: “We have created an agreement that, for example, prisoners who engage in modern education, religious education, and vocational training will receive sentence reductions based on the amount of education they pursue.”

The acting head of the Prisons Administration added that the cases of American prisoners currently in detention have not been finalized for their transfer to general prisons.

He said: “They may be involved in cases where their matters are not finalized. When the judgment for a prisoner is final, they are transferred to general prisons.”

Mestari also spoke about Allah Gul Mujahid, former member of the parliament, stating that he is alive and currently detained at the Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul.

He added: “He is at Pul-e-Charkhi prison. He is still with us and is alive. No one has executed him, nor has he been tortured.”

According to the statistics provided by the Prisons Administration, there are 40 prisons across the country, and formal detention centers exist in 226 districts.