The recent, tentative peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban. As an American, I understand this anger. President Donald Trump is eager to a reach resolution to the longest war in U.S. history – no matter how much he has to concede to the Taliban—and no matter how he betrays the current Afghan government. Trump is using this agreement as a basis for his reelection campaign.

On February 29^th the U.S. signed two documents: a “Joint Declaration” with the Afghan government in Kabul, and an “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” with the Taliban in Doha. In many ways, the two documents run parallel, illustrating that how U.S. was conducting parallel discussions. However, there is at least one extraordinary divergence: the American promise the Taliban to ensure the release of prisoners on all sides, a subject is not mentioned in the Kabul declaration. I am sad to say, as an American, that there is an astounding degree of hypocrisy in this—sadly illustrating the lack of good faith in President Trump’s latest “deal”.

As a “confidence building mechanism”, the U.S. promises that as many as 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 prisoners of the “other side” will be released by March 10, 2020 – just ten days after the signing. No such commitment appears in the Joint Declaration with the Afghan Government. The U.S. hopes simply to bully the Afghan government to do what it wants, as part of President Trump’s plan to abandon Afghanistan regardless of the cost. This is all in furtherance of his November reelection strategy.

We Americans are rather good at preaching to others about human rights, but not so good at respecting them ourselves. Most recently, on March 5, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague announced an investigation into the war crimes that were committed in Afghanistan by American forces, including the torture that was inflicted on many people who would later be taken to the notorious prison in Guantánamo Bay, where I have represented many prisoners. Rather than bowing to the rule of law, the Secretary of State Pompeo attacked the ICC ruling as “reckless” and immediately threatened ways to prevent American citizens from being prosecuted. Pompeo thinks he can “build confidence” by saying that we Americans can torture people without any consequences.

If we Americans truly want to “build confidence”, we should begin by taking action ourselves, rather than making one-sided promises for the Afghan government. The U.S. military should begin by committing to release our own prisoners. We should start with your fellow Afghan citizen Asadullah Haroon—a prisoner in Guantánamo. Asad was snatched up in Afghanistan in 2007 and tortured by U.S. forces in precisely the way that was condemned by the International Court. He was then hauled all the way to Cuba, where he has suffered extraordinarily for thirteen years. He has never been charged with a crime. He has never seen the inside of a courtroom. Back home, his wife and 13- -year-old daughter Mariam wait, in deep despair, for his return.

It has been my privileged to get to know Asad well, and I can confirm that he is a pleasant and intelligent man, no more a terrorist than my grandmother. (She was a feisty woman, but she believed in justice, not terror.) He should be presumed innocent of any crime primarily because he is innocent. I wish I could say the same about my countrymen: To our shame, we Americans have been responsible for Asad’s torture and mistreatment for more than a decade.

The U.S. should start a genuine program of Afghan reconciliation by setting Asad free and sending him back to his country and his family. Next, it would be nice if my country was to issue a simple apology. Secretary of State Pompeo may think that it is “reckless” to admit our mistakes, but I do not – so let me say how sorry I am for how far we have fallen below our ambitions in Asad’s mistreatment.

I shall be in Kabul in a few weeks, and I hope to meet with members of all political parties. Surely one point where every Afghan can agree is that Americans should practice what we preach, and respect the human rights of all Afghans, including Asad.

View expressed in this article are of the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pajhwok’s editorial policy.

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