U.S. may seek use of prison at Bagram to hold terror suspects

The Obama administration is pursuing plans to hand control of its largest prison in Afghanistan to that country’s government, but wants Kabul to let the American military hold terrorism suspects from other countries there, according to U.S. officials.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pursuing plans to hand control of its largest prison in Afghanistan to that country’s government, but wants Kabul to let the American military hold terrorism suspects from other countries there, according to U.S. officials.

If Afghan officials agree, it would give the administration a place to hold and interrogate terrorism suspects captured elsewhere around the world. President Barack Obama wants to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, leaving the administration without a lockup for those suspected of plotting attacks against the U.S.

Administration officials have looked in recent months to the U.S.-run prison at Bagram air base as place to hold suspects captured elsewhere. But Afghan officials have long demanded they be given control of the prison and the Obama administration has agreed. Last month, Obama reiterated his commitment to give the Afghanistan government control of the prison.

Now, administration officials are developing a compromise plan to hand over control, but also to carve out a section of the prison for non-Afghan detainees who would remain under U.S. custody, according to a senior U.S. official.

The proposed plan, in early stages of development, is the subject of quiet discussions among senior officials and has not been submitted to the White House National Security Council. The idea also has not been formally presented to Afghan officials, who did not respond to calls seeking their views.

But the issue encompasses the legal and ethical quandaries that continue to engulf U.S. detention policy. Under a recent U.S. appeals court decision, the prison at Bagram air base is outside the reach of federal courts. The ruling means that prisoners held there cannot challenge their detention or demand legal rights, unlike detainees even at Guantanamo.

In addition, once the Afghan government takes over the prison, the Army Field Manual, which prohibits the use of physical force on detainees, no longer will apply to Afghan guards or interrogators, according to Pentagon officials. But the manual likely would continue to govern the interrogation of any prisoners who remained in U.S. custody, they said.

The senior U.S. official, who along with others spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is not final, said Bagram remains the best option for holding future terrorist suspects captured elsewhere in the world, in places such as Somalia or Yemen. The official said a final decision on using Bagram likely would be made only after U.S. forces capture a suspect in an area with few detention options and officials decide that interrogations are necessary.

Officials said that, so far, no plans have been approved to send militants from outside Afghanistan to Bagram.

"No decision has been made to house international terrorism suspects at Bagram," said Maj. Tanya J. Bradsher, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Bradsher added that the U.S. was not considering transferring any detainees from Guantanamo to Bagram.

There are about 800 detainees at Bagram right now. Fewer than 10 are detainees from outside Afghanistan or the Pakistan border region.

The U.S. is currently scheduled to hand over the Bagram prison early next year. Afghans chafe at having a foreign power detain their citizens and giving Kabul formal control would meet a key demand of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and could help reduce tensions created by U.S. control.

Once the Afghan government takes over the prison, U.S. interrogation rules — including prohibitions on physical contact contained in the Army Field Manual — no longer will technically apply to the overall prison population, Bradsher said.

"Detainees will be under the exclusive custody and control of the government of Afghanistan and subject to its laws," Bradsher said.

Despite the insistence that no final decision has been made on Bagram, officials note that other options for holding terrorism suspects are being cut off.

The current version of the defense authorization bill, a spending plan that has been approved by the House of Representatives and is being debated by the Senate, restricts the Obama administration from renovating a state prison in Illinois to hold detainees from Guantanamo.

Although primarily intended to hold detainees from Guantanamo, the prison in Thomson, Ill., also could have been used to hold other non-American terrorism suspects. Administration officials still plan to someday use Thomson, but will not be able to quickly modify the prison to hold Guantanamo detainees.

The House Armed Services committee voted to require the Obama administration to seek congressional approval before redesigning the prison.

In the past, U.S. military officials in Afghanistan have opposed bringing additional detainees from outside the war zone to Bagram, fearful it could delay the handover of prison and erode relations between Washington and Kabul.

But the compromise plan being discussed by officials in Washington preserves Afghan control and meets the need of other military officials for a secure overseas prison at which to interrogate suspects.

Senior defense officials have expressed frustration that the U.S. lacks an overseas prison where new terrorism suspects can be held. Without a prison of its own, some defense officials believe the U.S. is often pushed into trying to kill militants, rather than attempting to capture and question them. Some detainees can be held by friendly governments in the countries in which they are captured. But in such situations, American interrogators do not have control of the suspects.

Allowing the U.S. to hold detainees at the prison at Bagram — known to the military as the Parwan detention facility — would give American interrogators an ability to question suspected terrorists directly, an approach considered more effective.

But human rights organizations are likely to view the creation of another detention facility outside the reach of U.S. law as a betrayal by the Obama administration.

The administration earned accolades from liberal groups after announcing steps to close Guantanamo early in the administration and end the Bush administration’s use of harsh interrogation tactics.

Since then, however, human rights organizations increasingly have criticized the White House for reviving military commissions and wavering over federal trials for the Sept. 11 masterminds.

Once transferred, the Parwan facility will be under the control of the Afghan government. But Bradsher said that U.S. forces will remain at the prison in a "mentoring and supporting role."

(c) 2010, Tribune Co.

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