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Afganistán

Cable sobre la corrupción del Gobernador de la provincia de Paktya

En diciembre de 2009 la embajada informa que Juma Kahn Hamdard, un antiguo señor de la guerra, mantiene un refinado montaje para obtener sobornos de los contratistas

ID:241681
Date:2009-12-27 11:34:00
Origin:09KABUL4150
Source:Embassy Kabul
Classification:SECRET
Dunno:09KABUL1345
Destination:VZCZCXRO5852
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #4150/01 3611134
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 271134Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4315
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 004150

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INR/B
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA
USFOR-A FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2019
TAGS: KDEM, PGOV, PINR, KDEMAF, AF
SUBJECT: ABOVE THE LAW: CORRUPT GOVERNOR THWARTS GOVERNANCE
AND DEVELOPMENT IN PAKTYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

REF: KABUL 1345

Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Director Hoyt Yee
for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

1. (C) Summary: Paktya Governor Juma Khan Hamdard has the
skills and charisma to be a successful politician. However,
his Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HiG) connections, alleged
meddling in political affairs in Balkh Province, leadership
of a province-wide corruption scheme, and suspected contacts
with insurgents make him detrimental to the future of
Afghanistan. Through an investigation of corruption
involving a local (Afghan) engineer assigned to the U.S.-led
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the province,
Patkya's National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief informs
that Hamdard is the central point of a vast corruption
network involving the provincial chief of police and several
Afghan ministry line directors. Alleged skimming of USG
development funds occurs at four stages of a project: when
contractors bid on a project, at application for building
permits, during construction, and at the ribbon-cutting
ceremony. These allegations of corruption hamper USG
relations with GIRoA officials, as well as contractors, and
are being reviewed by U.S. Embassy law enforcement officials.
As with other corruption cases, a major challenge to
successful prosecution will be the Afghan legal system's
limited institutional capacity -- the Major Crimes Task Force
(MCTF) currently has four vetted prosecutors and a limited
number of vetted investigators to work this and numerous
other pending corruption cases from all over the country. End
Summary.

GOVERNOR'S PEDIGREE AS HIG COMMANDER
------------------------------------

2. (S) Governor Hamdard was born in 1954 and is an ethnic
Pashtun from Balkh Province. He is a member of the Wardak
tribe from Mazar-i-Sharif. He supposedly completed high
school, but has poor reading and writing skills. During the
war with the Soviets, Hamdard fought under Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar's leadership and was a HiG commander. In 1994, he
fought with General Dostum against the Taliban until he
defected to the Taliban's side and assisted in their victory
over Dostum in 1997-98. Following the U.S.-led coalition's
invasion in 2001, Hamdard rejoined Dostum's forces, although
relations were uneasy. Following the war, he served as
Number 8 Corps Commander in Balkh. Hamdard was later
appointed governor of Baghlan and then Jowzjan provinces. He
became governor of Paktya in December 2007. Hamdard also is
one of President Karzai's Tribal Advisors. He is affiliated
with Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HiA), a political party, and
is its leader in northern Afghanistan. Sensitive reporting
indicates that Hamdard is still serving as a HiG commander
and leads a faction of HiG fighters in the north. He often
signs memos with the military title "Lieutenant General."

3. (C) In Paktya, Hamdard has shown himself to be a very
charismatic leader. Nevertheless, he spends more time
outside the province than in it, leaving most governance
responsibilities to Deputy Governor Abdul Rahman Mangal.
Prior to the August 2009 elections, he stated on several
occasions to U.S. representatives that he expected to leave
Paktya for a governorship in another province or a national
position following the elections. Rumors in Gardez and
Jalalabad place him as a top candidate for the governor of
Nangarhar. (Comment. As Nangarhar's governor, he would have
access to significant revenues generated at the Torkham Gate
border crossing with Pakistan. End comment.)

THREATENING THE USE OF FORCE DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGNING
--------------------------------------------- ----

4. (C) During the pre-election period for both the August 20
elections and the subsequent planned run-off, Hamdard spent a
significant amount of time outside of Paktya reportedly
campaigning for President Karzai. According to Afghan and
international press, his activities in Balkh Province during
this period created potential for armed conflict. Abdullah
Abdullah supporters claimed that Hamdard abused his
government position by campaigning in the northern provinces
and distributing weapons to Balkh's Pashtun districts in
order to destabilize the province. Hamdard denied these
charges and armed clashes were avoided because the run-off
was canceled, but his activities in Balkh demonstrated the
strong support base that he continues to maintain in the
north.

UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR 2007 DEATHS OF DEMONSTRATORS

KABUL 00004150 002 OF 003


--------------------------------------------- -

5. (C) Hamdard's own comments on his governorship in Paktya
leave the impression he was "banished" to this southeastern
province. In May 2007 he was forced to resign as governor of
Jowzjan when thousands demonstrated against him. Forces
under his command shot at demonstrators in the Uzbek town of
Shibirghan, killing thirteen and injuring more than thirty,
reportedly further straining relations with Dostum because
many of the demonstrators were Junbesh party members and
Dostum supporters. On November 23, Afghan National Police
505 Zone Commander Major General Fatah informed us that the
Ministry of the Interior Administration Deputy requested his
assistance in arresting Governor Hamdard and bringing him to
trial for the charges. No action has been taken to carry out
this request.

CENTER OF PAKTYA CORRUPTION SCHEME
------------------------------

6. (S) On August 23, the Paktya office of the National
Directorate of Security (NDS) arrested PRT Paktya's local
national engineer Jawid Khairudeen, an Afghan citizen, for
engaging in corrupt contract practices. Investigations
surrounding the Jawid case reveal an extensive network of
corruption throughout the province of which Hamdard and his
Office Director/Chief of Staff Hashmatullah Yousifi are
allegedly at the center. Paktya NDS Chief Ali Ahmad Mubaraz
and eyewitnesses have accused Hamdard of soliciting bribes
from contractors by having contractors arrested at job sites
and held until the bribes are paid. NDS also accuses Hamdard
of being an active member of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HiG) in
Balkh Province, funneling money he receives from bribes and
smuggling (drugs and jewels) to HiG operations in his home
province of Balkh. He allegedly has illicit contacts with
insurgents in Parwan, Kunar, and Kabul provinces, as well as
Pakistani intelligence (ISI) and Iranian (affiliation
unknown, possibly IRGC) operatives, through his business in
Dubai; he is allegedly a business partner with Gulbaddin
Hekmatyr's son in Dubai. Evidence collected in the case
points to corruption involving U.S. funds and actively
undermining GIRoA counter-insurgency policy.

7. (C) On October 29, xxxxxxxxxxxx, came to Forward Operating
Base Gardez to speak with the PRT about corruption in
Governor
Hamdard's office. According to xxxxxxxxxxxx, there are four
opportunities at the provincial level for illegally skimming
USG funds during the life cycle of a PRT development project:
the first is during the bidding/selection process. At this
stage Afghan ministry line directors, who are part of the
contractor selection process, receive payments to rig the
scores assigned to contractors so that they will receive the
highest scores and qualify for the contract. The second
opportunity occurs when the contractor requests a permit to
start work. The Governor's signature is needed for the
permit, so payments are made to intermediaries to secure the
governor's signature. The third occasion occurs during the
quality assessment/quality control (QA/QC) process. At this
stage, workers may be arrested at the construction site and
held until the requesting QA/QC government official is paid a
bribe; the other possibility is that the contractor must pay
off the public works official conducting QA/QC on the project
in order to receive a positive report. The final opportunity
for graft occurs at the ribbon-cutting ceremony where
significant sums of money are sometimes passed during the
gift-giving part of the ceremony.

STRONG SENSE OF IMPUNITY
---------------------

8. (C) Based on evidence collected, Hamdard and his
accomplices allegedly act with complete impunity, blatantly
placing themselves above the law. Contractors have informed
the PRT that Hamdard told them he does not care about
possible repercussions of his corrupt practices "because he's
under investigation already;" if contractors "complain to the
PRT about him, he will have them chained and dragged to his
office." Adding salt to the wound, on October 19, the
Governor called PRT leadership and the maneuver commander to
his office to confront them with an e-mail Hamdard obtained
in which a PRT officer asked a contractor constructing border
police checkpoints questions about corruption involving
Paktya's chief of police and Hamdard. (Note: The e-mail was
apparently leaked to Hamdard although he stated he received
it from a GIRoA source. End Note.) During the meeting
Hamdard waxed indignant and, in a memo dated soon after,

KABUL 00004150 003 OF 003


proscribed ministerial line directors from meeting further
with UNAMA or PRT officials, or answering queries from them.
Word has consequently spread about the corruption
investigations; and interlocutors are reluctant to talk to
NDS and Coalition Forces representatives -- many stating that
their lives are threatened.

COMMENT
-----

9. (C) Allegations of corruption surrounding Governor Hamdard
have come from all quarters including the private sector,
public employees, xxxxxxxxxxxx. Afghans
throughout the province generally regard him as corrupt.
Hamdard's ham-fisted approach to intimidate international
partners and the PRT, while not an admission of guilt,
illustrates his contempt for the international donor
community, GIRoA, the lawful processes for development within
ministry line directories in particular, and the rule of law.
His reported statement that he wants to "declare a jihad
against the PRT" is illustrative of the strained relations
with the PRT. Somewhat fortunately, Governor Hamdard is
often away in Kabul or Balkh Province and Deputy Governor
Mangal is a capable administrator and thoughtful
intermediary.

10. (C) If Hamdard's case comes to trial, his political
influence and HIG ties make it possible or perhaps likely
that corruption among other high-ranking government officials
in the Province and beyond will be exposed. The PRT has
briefed this case to the embassy via appropriate channels and
will share the investigative documentation to date. U.S. law
enforcement officers based in Kabul will work with the Afghan
Attorney General's office to develop this case further. As
with other corruption cases, a major challenge to successful
prosecution will be the Afghan legal system's limited
institutional capacity. The Major Crimes Task Force (MCTF)
currently has four vetted prosecutors and a limited number of
vetted investigators to work this and numerous other pending
corruption cases from all over the country.
11. (U) This message was drafted at the Paktya PRT in Gardez.
RICCIARDONE
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