Petraeus discusses future of Afghan detainees
 By MCC (SW) Maria Yager , Armed Forces Press Service
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 PARWAN  PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Sept. 28, 2010) —     The top U.S. commander in  Afghanistan toured the U.S. Detention Facility here yesterday, and  discussed his vision for detention operations in Afghanistan. “When  I took command of Multinational Force - Iraq in February 2007, we still  had Camp Bucca with 17,000 detainees at that time and it grew larger,”  said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, International Security  Assistance Force and commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan. “We still had  all of the detainees in huge enclosures. It was just fenced-in  enclosures of about 800 to 900 detainees per enclosure. Obviously, we  have come a long way since then.” Combined Joint Interagency Task  Force-435, in partnership with the Afghanistan government, and U.S. interagency and international partners,  conducts operations in detention, corrections, the judicial sector and  biometrics. Next year the task force will transition detention operations to  Afghan control while partnering with Afghan authorities to promote rule  of law practices. Petraeus said his team had implemented job  training and rehabilitation programs, routine detainee review boards,  integration of host nation legal activities, and shuras, or meetings, to  get communities to re-embrace detainees when they were released. “All that began a good bit of what you see today,” said Petraeus, who  was joined by his deputy commander for detention operations, Vice Adm. Robert Harward, commander, Combined Joint Interagency Task  Force-435. Petraeus said when he left Iraq and assumed command of  U.S. Central Command in 2008, one of his first acts was to send U.S.  Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone to survey the detention operations  situation in Afghanistan. Now retired, Stone served as Petraeus’ deputy  commander for detention operations in Iraq. “He came back in the  spring of 2009 and had a number of recommendations – a number of those  have led to what you have seen right here,” Petraeus said. Parwan’s  state-of-the-art theater internment facility opened in December 2009. Petraeus said the focus was initially on detainee operations, which,  over time, expanded to training Afghans to take on detention facility  tasks. In January 2010, Afghan government officials signed a  memorandum of understanding that guides the process for the Afghan  Ministry of Defense to take the lead on assuming responsibility for the  Parwan detention facility. In the memo key ministries agreed to  identify and assign personnel to staff the facility, working alongside  American personnel through the transition process. Currently more than  160 Afghan soldiers have completed required training and joined the  1,200 U.S. servicemembers who make up the guard force. Another 600 ANA  soldiers are currently in training to join their Afghan and U.S.  counterparts. The detention facility’s design accommodates  detainee reintegration efforts and enables CJIATF-435 to better align  detention operations with the overall strategy to defeat the extremist  insurgency in Afghanistan. “This is about doing it right. And I  really mean that,” Petraeus said. “The fact is that what we wanted to do  was do it properly.” During his tour of the detention facility,  Petraeus received a briefing on detainee reintegration programs and he  also visited the detainee agriculture training area. Eligible detainees  at the facility may participate in literacy and educational programs.  Earlier this year reintegration officials at the detention facility  implemented vocational training for eligible detainees including bread  making, agriculture and tailoring. Reintegration, under Petraeus’  counterinsurgency strategy, includes removing Afghan fighters by  bringing those willing to renounce violence and accept the Afghan  constitution back into their communities with honor and dignity. It is  about creating conditions through community-based programs, public  protection, and sustainable economic opportunities so fighters have  incentives to live peacefully and return to their communities. As  part of ongoing efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of reintegration  programs, last week, Harward and CJIATF-435’s Afghan Commander,  Maj. Gen. Marjan Shuja, met with members of the Afghan government,  community members and 22 former detainees to discuss reintegration  successes and challenges for the released men. Petraeus said he  has seen progress in the short time since the Parwan detention facility  opened and implemented reintegration and rehabilitation programs for  detainees. “The recidivism rates so far on those who have been released are very low indeed,” the general said.