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Kandahar Central Jail, also known as Sarpuza Prison, is a minimum-security prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is located next to the Kandahar-Herat Highway in the Sarpuza neighborhood, which is between the neighborhoods of Mirwais Mena and Shahr-e Naw, in the western part of the city. Its current warden is Sayed Akhtar Mohammad Agha Hussaini.

The Kandahar Central Jail has been historically used for the incarceration of common criminals of Kandahar Province, some of whom turn out to be innocent and released. In the last two decades, the facility has also been used to house Taliban and other insurgents. In 2017, the prison had approximately 1,900 inmates.

The prison has been subject to two major escapes, first in a coordinated attack in May 2008, and latter in a tunneling escape in April 2011. There has been discussions on relocating Kandahar Central Jail to the neighboring Daman District, which is to the southeast of Kandahar District. Over 1,000 prisoners were released from the prison by Taliban forces in August 2021, after they gained control of the city as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive.

History

The year in which the Kandahar Central Jail was built is unconfirmed. It was renovated in the 1960s to house common criminals of Kandahar Province. Two prisoners who had committed murders were executed by hanging in 1972. During that time some western tourists caught with drugs were also held here pending trial. It was pretty casual in the jail for the westerners. Hashish smoking was allowed inside the prison. There was in fact a large hookah set up under a tree that the inmates smoked from. During the 1980s, the facility was used by KHAD to detain and torture members of the Afghan mujahideen.

According to American intelligence analysts, the Taliban used the prison as a "political prison". The Taliban had confined Ismail Khan at Sarpuza prison for a short time in 1999. Guantanamo detainee Abd Al Rahim Abdul Raza Janko described being held in the prison following his torture by the Taliban.

The record shows that the prison continued to be used during the Islamic Republic era for detention and interrogation. Guantanamo detainee Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi faced the allegation that when he was held in the prison, prior to being sent to Guantanamo: he was among the detainees who collaborated with other prisoners to hide money in mattresses and bed frames.

A number of the captives were later transported in May 2012 to extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, and finally to the Parwan Detention Facility next to Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.

Captives reported to have been in held in American custody in Kandahar

Prison attack of 2008

In May 2008, about 200 prisoners went on hunger strike protesting detention without charge for up to two years. Many others faced summary trials they felt were unfair. Forty-seven inmates physically stitched their mouths shut. The strike ended when the Afghan parliament agreed to review their detentions.

On June 13, 2008, the Taliban orchestrated the escape of around 1,200 prisoners, including 350 Taliban by having two suicide bombers in a tanker truck blow up the main gates. Subsequently, 30 men arrived on motorcycles, killed 15 guards, and broke the locks on every cell.

Tunneling escape of 2011

On April 24, 2011, a 350m tunnel that had been dug across a highway and under the prison walls, was used in the escape of about 475 Taliban inmates. The escape has been compared to the Stalag Luft III tunnel escape in World War 2. The breakout was not detected for four hours, during which most of the prisoners were transported away. It was reported that at least 71 of the escapees were recaptured.

Riot and release of prisoners in 2021

During the Battle of Kandahar, which was part of the 2021 Taliban offensive, a riot broke out in the prison in which one prisoner was killed and 10 others injured. After gaining control of the city on 12 August 2021, the Taliban released over 1,000 prisoners.

See also

• List of prisons in Afghanistan

References

1. ^ "60 prisoners released from Kandahar jail". Pajhwok Afghan News. March 6, 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
2. ^ "IEA releases 285 detainees from Kandahar central prison". Ariana News. July 8, 2022. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
3. ^ "Policewomen Return to Work at Kandahar Prison". TOLOnews. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
4. "1 inmate killed, 10 injured in Kandahar prison clash". Pajhwok Afghan News. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
5. "70 prisoners released from Helmand, Kandahar prisons". Ariana News. March 24, 2023. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
6. "Prison review board releases 50 'innocent' prisoners in Kandahar". Ariana News. January 6, 2022. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
7. "Kandahar Central Jail should move out of city: Residents". Pajhwok Afghan News. December 30, 2018. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
8. ^ Wani, Ashraf (August 11, 2021). "Taliban overruns Kandahar jail, frees hundreds of prisoners as part of offensive". India Today. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
9. "Afghans Hang 2 for Killings". The New York Times. July 31, 1972. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
10. OARDEC (26 June 2006). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Janko, Abd AL Rahim Abdul Raza" (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. pp. 73–75. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
11. ^ John Goetz, Holger Stark (September 3, 2007). "German Soldiers under fire: New Testimony May Back Kurnaz Torture Claims". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
12. OARDEC (2 May 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Anazi, Sultan Sari Sayel" (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. pp. 8–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
13. Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 34-42
14. ^ "Taliban prisoner claims sex abuse in Afghan jail". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. July 28, 2002. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
15. list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
16. "Did German soldiers abuse ex-prisoner?". United Press International. January 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
17. "German Soldiers Accused of Abusing Terror Suspect". Deutsche Welle. January 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
18. "Germany probes 2 in ex-Guantanamo inmate abuse case". Reuters. January 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
19. ^ Carlotta Gall (May 12, 2004). "An Afghan Gives His Own Account of U.S. Abuse". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
20. "US military hit by fresh prisoner abuse allegations". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. May 15, 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
21. ^ Kate Clark (September 7, 2002). "Taleban 'warned US of huge attack'". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
22. "Taleban minister's 'peace role' mystery". BBC News. October 17, 2001. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
23. ^ Time magazine, "Taliban Militants Storm Afghan Jail", June 13, 2008
24. "Taliban reveal details of daring Kandahar prison escape". BBC News. April 25, 2011.
25. "The Destruction of Sarposa".
26. "Is the Taliban Making a Comeback?". Time. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008.
27. Shah, Taimoor; Rubin, Alissa J. (April 25, 2011). "Taliban Prison Break Sets Hundreds Free at Afghan Prison". The New York Times.
28. Jon Boone (25 April 2011). "Afghanistan's great escape: how 480 Taliban prisoners broke out of jail". The Guardian. London.quote:Kandahar's prison may not be Stalag Luft III but in terms of ingenuity, organisation and sheer cunning the successful break-out by at least 480 Taliban prisoners in the early hours of Monday morning rivals anything pulled off by British POWs in the infamous German prison camp.
29. "Recaptured Afghan insurgents tell of tunnel escape". 27 April 2011.
30. Thom, Shankar (July 13, 2011). "To Track Militants, U.S. Has System That Never Forgets a Face". The New York Times.
31. "One prisoner killed, 10 wounded in Kandahar prison riot". Ariana News. July 14, 2021. Retrieved 2024-05-07.

• Prisons in Afghanistan
• Buildings and structures in Kandahar
• Extrajudicial prisons of the United States
• 2021 Taliban offensive
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) sites