A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced an elderly Afghan man to 12 years in prison for war crimes committed while in charge of a notorious Kabul jail in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
The sentencing in The Hague is one of the latest in a series of efforts by Europeans to bring people to account for crimes in conflict-torn nations, including Syria and Afghanistan -- as eyes turn to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Abdul Razzaq Rafief \"treated the prisoners cruelly and dishonourably and arbitrarily deprived them of their liberty,\" judge Els Kole told The Hague regional court, adding \"these are war crimes\".<\/p>\n
Rafief, 76, played a leading role in the abuse of prisoners at the Pul-e-Charkhi jail between 1983-88 \"where he had effective command and control\", the judge said.<\/p>\n
She said he was head of the prison during a period when Afghanistan's communist regime was fighting a Soviet-backed war against mujahideen resistance fighters.<\/p>\n
Thousands of prisoners were tortured and some executed, many of those who were seen as enemies of the regime, Kole said.<\/p>\n
Rafief \"was involved in the violence. He gave orders and knew what was happening in the prison and did nothing to stop his subordinates\" from abusing inmates, the judge said.<\/p>\n
This included a prisoner who was beaten up on Rafief's orders \"because he complained about the conditions in the prison.\"<\/p>\n
Prisoners were held in three blocks at the jail, with the worst being reserved for political detainees and those with death sentences, the judge said.<\/p>\n
The blocks were overcrowded and the prisoners covered with fleas and lice. Medical help was almost non-existent, the judge said.<\/p>\n
- 'Deep, lasting scars' -<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said some were executed without trial and those who were brought before a judge only received a hearing \"for show.\"<\/p>\n
\"Prisoners were in a cruel world and were being detained in inhuman conditions without any hope for the future,\" judge Kole added.<\/p>\n
\"The suspect's actions left deep and lasting scars,\" on the victims, she said.<\/p>\n
Dutch authorities started investigating in 2012 after blogs said the former commander of Pul-e-Charkhi was living in the Netherlands, where he was arrested in 2019.<\/p>\n
He came to the Netherlands as a refugee in 2001.<\/p>\n
Rafief, who previously attended in a wheelchair and was not present for the verdict, had told the court his trial was a case of mistaken identity.<\/p>\n
But judges threw out the defence, saying that an Afghan driver's licence, confiscated during his arrest showed that he was indeed the correct person.<\/p>\n
He was also positively identified by numerous of the 19 witnesses in the trial.<\/p>\n
\"Even though it was a long time ago, there is no reason to doubt the reliability of these witnesses' testimony,\" Kole said.<\/p>\n
Ahmed Faquri, 66, one of the victims who was present at the hearing said he was \"relieved\" when the sentence was read.<\/p>\n
\"One of the people who tortured me has been judged and sentenced,\" he told AFP outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n
\"It doesn't matter for how long. This is about recognition,\" Faquri said.<\/p>\n
Rafief's lawyer said he would appeal the sentence.<\/p>\n
\"We disagree on almost every point the judge mentioned in the courtroom,\" Marijn Zuketto said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced an elderly Afghan man to 12 years in prison for war crimes committed while in charge of a notorious Kabul jail in the 1980s. The sentencing in The Hague is one of the latest in a series of efforts by Europeans to bring people to account for crimes in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553,1],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-90827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed","category-non-classifiee"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n