Who are HIA prisoners held at Bagram prison?

KABUL (HIA) prisoners held at the notorious Bagram prison.

The list includes 173 individuals, most of them accused on terrorist activities and other security crimes. Only three inmates have been declared innocent by court, with four others handed down the death penalty, PIJC said.

Forty-eight inmates are serving 16 to 20 years terms, 17 others from 11 to 15 years, 41 from six to 10 years and 23 from one to five years. However, the fates of 20 other HIA inmates on the list remain unclear.

The cases of 17 others are currently being heard by courts. Most of the prisoners belong to Kandahar, Helmand, Farah, Herat and Maidan Wardak provinces.

After HIA leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s removal from the UN sanctions list, another condition the party has set for the government is the release of its inmates.

HIA spokesman Dr. Hamid Azizi, when approached for comments on the PIJC list, refused to say anything. All HIA inmates were political prisoners some of whom might have been awarded severe punishments, he said.

The party has shared a list of 700 prisoners with the government, seeking their release. “We have sent lists of HIA prisoners to the government in three phases,” the spokesman said.

“In the first, we share with authorities a list of 270 individuals, in the second 208 and in the third -- an addendum to the first -- 179. The cases of nearly 150 prisoners have been finalised and they will be freed in the next few days.”

However, he complained some institutions, financed by foreigners and Afghanistan’s enemies, were trying to impede the peace process -- a proof of continued international meddling  in the country’s internal affairs.

The landmark peace agreement between the government and HIA was inked on September 29, 2016 by President Ashraf Ghani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Eng. Mohammad Amin Karim, the HIA delegation head, told a news conference on Tuesday his party and the government were seriously preparing for the arrival of Hekmatyar in Kabul.

To a question posed regarding an HIA apology for its past activities, he said nowhere in the world an accused had sought pardon before being found guilty. 

A bout the HIA activities, he said: “We are fighting for freedom for more than 48 years; we have sacrificed the most and are proud of our nation. We consider ourselves as fallible, we don’t claim to be angels.”

Click here for more details and the list of HIA prisoners

mds/sns/mud