Eleven years ago, I stood in the witness box in a courtroom at the Old Bailey, London’s historic Central Criminal Court, to testify in the case of Faryadi Sarwar Zardad, an archetypal Afghan warlord who in the 1990s abducted and tortured travelers on a stretch of road he controlled east of Kabul. It was a landmark case – the first ever held in the United Kingdom under universal jurisdiction – which allows prosecutions of non-nationals for serious crimes committed abroad. I was vouching for a number of Afghans testifying in the case, several of whom I had interviewed as part of an effort to document war crimes in Afghanistan.
Now these same extraordinarily brave witnesses are in grave danger. After Zardad was convicted and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on the basis of their testimony, UK authorities last week abruptly announced the parole of Zardad, 11 years into his sentence, and deported him to Afghanistan.
Incredibly, and unforgivably, British officials didn’t even bother to warn the witnesses until a few days before that they were returning this still-dangerous criminal into their midst. None of the witnesses have any protection from this man, who retains his supporters and has shown a willingness to commit torture and other crimes.
After briefly detaining Zardad upon arrival in Kabul, the Afghan government yesterday released him, after an unnamed high-ranking official intervened on his behalf. Many now fear that Zardad may seek revenge against those who put him away in a British prison cell, and no one in Kabul seems willing to try to stop him.
But they could. While the UK Home Office has shamefully washed its hands of the case, the Afghan government can and should protect those witnesses most at risk. Zardad was tried in the UK for a limited number of cases of hostage-taking and torture, but nothing prevents Afghan authorities from investigating him for the many other serious crimes he’s alleged to have committed. The government should also impose parole restrictions on him, and scrupulously monitor his compliance in order to protect those who testified against him.
President Ashraf Ghani recently vowed to “protect every citizen” in accordance with Afghanistan’s human rights obligations, even if it means investigating prominent political figures. To show that he’s serious, he should start with Zardad. But if he fails to stand by those who bravely took the witness stand 15 years ago, Zardad’s victims will realize the sobering truth: Speak out, but know that no one will protect you.
