A number of prosecutors from the CJTF Prosecution Department went to Turkey on a study tour for learning about technical and professional legal issues, including legal intercept / wiretapping. They returned back to the country after one week.
On 24th May, 2014, the British Embassy Kabul facilitated a study tour for 15 CJTF Prosecutors including Mr. Yar Mohammad Hussainkhail, General Director of Prosecutions at the Criminal Justice Task Force.
During the tour, the prosecutors were introduced to and became familiar with the Turkish Academy Against Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC), a dedicated International Training Centre in Ankara which hosted the tour. The prosecutors learned about prosecution with technological tools, criteria of data documentation, concept of prosecution, and pursuing methodology based on a study plan prepared by the Turkish instructors.
The training was also focused on physical pursuit, pursuit methodologies with modern tools in closed space and installed tools in city vehicles.
Also, the CJTF prosecutors learned about the credentials of documents and evidence, GPS Identification System of License Plates, Data Systems and Investigation Sources for goals and learned other important technical issues.
During the tour, prosecutors also visited the Turkish Justice Academy. Within a short meeting, Judge Emaz, Chief of the Turkish Justice Academy, expressed that Afghanistan and Turkey are old friends with much in common. Afghanistan is the second country which recognized Turkish Independence and therefore Afghanistan is on the top of Turkey friends’ list.
He added that the Turkish Justice Academy would like to provide facilities to Afghan people, in particular to prosecutors in Afghanistan. Then, they projected a training presentation prepared by the Turkish Justice Academy.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yar Mohammad Hussainkhail, General Director of CJTF Prosecution, introduced the Criminal Justice Task Force in detail and said that CJTF is a unique organisation throughout Afghanistan and investigates cases involving 2 Kgs Heroin or more, 10 Kgs Opium or more, 50 Kgs Hashish or more and 50 liters Alcohol or Chemical precursor used in refining narcotic drugs.
He added that the Criminal Justice Task Force also consists of Primary and Appeal Courts , as well as aPolice Investigation and Laboratory Department.
Mr. Hussainkhail pointed to friendly relations between Afghanistan and Turkey and asked the Turkish Justice Academy to assist in capacity building of the justice and judicial organs of Afghanistan.
Thereafter, Judge Emaz promised for the reception and training of qualified Afghans in judicial aspects in the future.
During the tour, the CJTF trainees went to Sengean Court Center and Mr. Husssainkhail shed light on the organizational structure of the Attorney General’s Office of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and showed his admiration for the warm reception he and his companions received in the court center.
Afterwards, Mr. Ahmad Hamidy Kaya, Deputy AGO of Sengean, expressed his pleasure and explained, “There is no Central led Attorney General’s Office in Turkey, but there are Attorney units in large cities and districts. The AGO’s exist in provinces where there are highly authorized tribunals.” He suggested that there are more than one hundred Attorney General Units which act independently throughout the country.
Based on his speech, Turkish Attorney units consist of two sub units which are admin and legal units. The administration unit belongs to the Justice Ministry and legal unit is related to Judges’ high council and prosecutors.
Turkish Deputy AGO of Sengean explained that Police can only act on law according to directions of the prosecution and investigation. Preparing indictments and rendering cases to courts are done by prosecutors. In case there is not enough evidence for charges, a prosecutor can stop a case process at the time.
On 30th May, 2014 they learnt about wiretapping law and they explained that article number 135 of Turkish criminal law allows eavesdropping of drug traffickers in following stages:
1- At first telephone conversations are recorded and saved for target person and also we can identify suspects’ location based on telephone signals.
2- Voice, SMS, email, IMSI,etc are pursued and wiretapped, but there are still problems in social networks like Facebook and Skype.
3- Conversations that prove charges are filtered and are sent out to courts. If wiretapping doesn’t produce results in one month, the duration can be extended to six months.
4- The punishments are given based on quantity of drugs being seized and if 10 gram Heroin is mixed with other chemicals, the suspects are punished for only 10 gram Heroin.
5- Turkish government has allowed specified fields where poppy is cultivated and is only used in refining medicines.
It is worth mentioning the CJTF prosecutors also visited the historical sites of Ankara and Istanbul cities like Aisofia museum, Fateh Mosque, Aotuman Central Office, Ankara Historical Castle, Mustafa Ata-Turk Museum, Ankara Security Control System, Ankara Criminal Branch, and different Baltech Laboratories working on identification of voice and got enough information in their exposure in the mentioned locations.
At the end of study tour, the trainees received Certificates of Completion distributed by Deputy Chief of TADOC and Yar Mohammad Hussainkhail, General Director of CJTF Prosecution.
It is worth mentioning that after the beginning of study tour in May, two other study tours have been coordinated and toured by the CJTF proseuctors and investigators in 2014.