The US military’s internment facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, much like the American prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba, has become a symbol of one of the darker aspects of global counterterrorism efforts: there is torture, abuse and detention of suspects without recourse to due process.

While those accused of terrorism must be tried and punished if found guilty, this must be done in consonance with the law and international human rights standards. Sadly, in many instances this has not been the case. As reported, nine Pakistanis held in Bagram were repatriated on Thursday.

Justice Project Pakistan — a group which extends legal help to detainees — says, quoting the International Committee of the Red Cross, that the men were now in the custody of the Pakistani government. The Foreign Office has also confirmed the men’s arrival.

This is not the first batch of detainees to have arrived from Bagram; in May 10 individuals were repatriated while a number of men also returned last November. Though the men’s arrival is welcome, it throws up a number of disturbing questions about the conditions in which they were captured and detained, as well as the role governments — American, Afghan and Pakistani — may have played in their detention.

Rights activists say all the men who arrived on Thursday had been held without access to counsel, some being in captivity for as long as eight years. Considering the allegations of abuse that have swirled around Bagram, there are distinct possibilities the men were subjected to illegal punishments.

The problem is we do not know the exact details as none of the governments in question have been transparent regarding the men’s detention. Islamabad needs to say what charges the men were being held for; were they in Afghanistan to take part in militant activities, or were they simply living and working in Taliban-controlled regions of that country?

The Americans and Afghans also need to explain why the men were not tried in detention. We understand that local intelligence agencies will want to interrogate the men, but their families need to be informed and given access to them, while the individuals must also be granted access to counsel.

If no charges are framed they should be set free; if the situation is otherwise they must have fair trials. The government must also inform the public how many Pakistanis remain in Bagram while the US needs to shut down such gulags.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2014