Karzai ordered the formation of a panel to screen the cases of suspected Taliban detainees. The panel will comprise officials from Afghanistan's Supreme Court, its Justice Ministry, and a governmental reconciliation commission. The panel, Karzai's decree stated, will "free those prisoners whose detention is based on inaccurate information or unsubstantiated allegations."
Hundreds of Taliban suspects are being held in Afghan jails, as well as in U.S. detention facilities in Bagram, Afghanistan, and at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In announcing the order, Karzai did not address whether the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be consulted before any suspect is freed. His decree also did not specify whether it applied to suspected Taliban insurgents held at U.S. military jails.
