Dutch court jails 1980s Afghan prison chief for 12 years

THE HAGUE: A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced an elderly Afghan man to 12 years in prison for war crimes committed while in charge of a notorious Kabul jail in the 1980s.

The sentencing in The Hague is one of the latest in a series of efforts by Europeans to bring people to account for crimes in conflict-torn nations, including Syria and Afghanistan -- as eyes turn to Ukraine.

Abdul Razzaq Rafief "treated the prisoners cruelly and dishonourably and arbitrarily deprived them of their liberty," judge Els Kole told The Hague regional court, adding "these are war crimes". Rafief, 76, played a leading role in the abuse of prisoners at the Pul-e-Charkhi jail between 1983-88 "where he had effective command and control", the judge said.

She said he was head of the prison during a period when Afghanistan’s communist regime was fighting a Soviet-backed war against mujahideen resistance fighters. Thousands of prisoners were tortured and some executed, many of those who were seen as enemies of the regime, Kole said.