KABUL — An Afghan judicial panel ruled Monday that administrative detention violates Afghan law, potentially thwarting a US plan to hand over Afghan detainees who American officials believe should continue to be held without a trial.
President Hamid Karzai’s office announced in a statement that a top-level judicial panel met earlier in the day and decided that the detention of Afghan citizens without a court trial ‘‘has not been foreseen in Afghan laws’’ and therefore could not be used.
The US government has long held Afghans captured in operations inside the country without trial, arguing that they are enemy combatants and therefore can be detained for as long as their release might pose a danger to the international coalition.
Afghan laws have come into play only since the signing of a deal in March in which the United States agreed it would hand over all Afghan citizens to the Afghan government — acceding to a key Karzai demand to pave the way for a pact allowing for the long-term presence of US forces in the country.
But the United States has also argued that it cannot risk the release of some high-value detainees to the notoriously corrupt Afghan court system. Even though the deadline for the handover passed Sept. 10, the Americans are still holding more than 600 Afghans in their custody.
A US official confirmed that the transfer of detainees had paused because of the dispute.
Also Monday, NATO said it has scaled back operations with Afghan soldiers and police officers to lower the risk of insider attacks against coalition troops and reduce local tensions over the anti-Islam film that sparked protests in Afghanistan.
In the latest insider attack, an Afghan soldier fired on a vehicle he believed was driven by NATO soldiers on a shared base in southern Afghanistan, slightly wounding a foreign civilian worker. The attack occurred Sunday evening in Helmand Province.
Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Karzai, said Monday’s judicial ruling followed a vigorous effort by the Americans to persuade the Afghans to adopt administrative detention. He said the topic was discussed Sunday during a contentious meeting between Karzai and Marc Grossman, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After the meeting, Karzai issued a statement lashing out at the Americans.
‘‘The continued holding of Afghans in American custody runs in contradiction with the spirit of mutual friendship and the provisions of the bilateral strategic partnership agreement,’’ the statement said. It accused the United States of violating the March pact by continuing to hold some prisoners.
In an e-mailed response, the US Embassy in Afghanistan said they were still committed to abiding by the memorandum of understanding, or MOU.
‘‘Ambassador Grossman made clear in his discussion with the president that the United States fully respects Afghan sovereignty,’’ the statement said. “There is no question of our commitment to fully implement the MOU in recognition of Afghan sovereignty and the need to protect the security of Afghan civilians, Afghan national security forces and coalition forces.’’
Faizi said now that the judicial panel has ruled, Karzai expects the remaining prisoners to be transferred to Afghan control as soon as possible.