US Prison in Afghanistan Holds First Trial

US Prison in Afghanistan Holds First Trial
May 26, 2010
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan - The main U.S. prison in Afghanistan is less than a week away from an event many thought would never occur at the long-secretive holding tank for captured militants: a trial.

On June 1, a detainee will stand with a lawyer and plead his case in front of an Afghan judge, said Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, the deputy commander for detention operations.

His remark came during a tour of the prison Tuesday for a handful of Afghan lawmakers who have been critical of U.S. detention practices. The facility, which is on the edge of Bagram Air Field, opened in December and can hold up to 1,300 inmates. It replaced a smaller - and more notorious - prison that was inside the base.

The trial is one of the first tangible steps toward a pledge to hand over the facility to Afghan authorities and the latest example of a U.S. push to win over a suspicious population by being more open about what happens to the people it captures.

It also offers potential recourse to prisoners, who were blocked last week from challenging their detention in U.S. courts. A federal appeals court ruled that detainees held in Afghanistan cannot sue in U.S. courts as Guantanamo Bay detainees have, because Afghanistan is a war zone.