Report - United States Department of Defense

UNCLASSIFIED
CJIATF 435 is responsible for U.S. detainee operations in support of Operation ENDURING
FREEDOM (OEF) in Afghanistan. Since its creation in 2009, CJIATF 435 has transferred more
than 5,000 detainees to Afghan control. CJIATF 435 will continue to engage with its Afghan
counterparts to ensure the transition of detention operations results in consistent safeguarding of
our force protection interests and the humane treatment of all detainees.
The Afghan Detention Operations Command’s capacity continues to grow and expand with the
benefit of the Security Force Assistance (SFA) under the command of CJIATF 435. During the
ongoing transfer of detention operations to Afghan control, in accordance with the detention
MOU, the ANA has demonstrated its ability to maintain secure and humane care, custody, and
control of the detainee population.
The ANA continues to source, train, and develop the skills and capacities necessary to establish
an independent, sustainable detention operation program at Parwan. The ANA is currently
leading operations in every area of the facility where Afghan detainees are housed. They also
man every checkpoint granting access into the facility. The ANA is now processing all new
Afghan detainees upon their entry to the facility.
Although the Afghans have already taken control of key enabler missions such as food services
and guard control for their facilities, they continue to face challenges in facility engineering,
medical support, contracting, and overall logistics. The Afghans’ ability to assume these
additional enabler mission areas will be important to complete transition. The development of a
professional guard force, committed to adherence to appropriate Afghan detention policies and
procedures, remains a mid-level leadership challenge, risking the provision of safe and humane
care, custody, and control of detainees in ANDF-P.
3.5: PARLIAMENT
Afghanistan’s National Assembly has demonstrated slow but growing capacity and political
maturity. Parliament continued to develop institutionally during its July 2012 – January 2013
session by approving a final budget and questioning ministers over their failure to properly
execute their budgets. Although consistently fractious, the Parliament is occasionally capable of
confronting the President and directing a public spotlight on ministries. The legislative branch
remains weak in comparison to the executive, but members of Parliament appear to be trying to
strengthen their hand. However, staffing struggles, corruption, and low levels of education and
experience continue to plague the body.
The best example of Parliament’s growing capacity and advancement is its oversight of the
national budget, where it has repeatedly and successfully reoriented executive branch spending
priorities. Parliament lacks the “power of the purse” – the Afghan constitution grants it the
power only to accept or reject the executive branch’s proposals on budgetary matters – but
Parliament has seized its constitutional authority and leveraged it to force the executive to
compromise on spending plans. Parliament has also demanded more oversight of ongoing
projects, and now routinely summons officials from the Ministry of Finance, not only for budget
preparation but also for performance updates.
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