Afghan Biographies

Hesamudin, Hesam


Name Hesamudin, Hesam
Ethnic backgr. Tajik
Date of birth
Function/Grade Ex Deputy Minister
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions:
Head of the military intelligence service KhAD-e-Nezami (1983-1990)
Deputy minister of the Ministry of State Security (WAD)
3. Biodata:

Heshamuddin (or Hesamuddin) Hesam applied for political asylum in the Netherlands in 1996, but this was refused due to suspicion of his involvement in torture and war crimes during the war in Afghanistan in the 1980’s. He was a PDPA Parcham Member. However, Hesam stayed in the Netherlands, and after investigations he was arrested in 2004. The Hague District Court convicted him for war crimes and torture committed by him as head of the military intelligence agency KhaD-e-Nezami (KhAD) and as superior for failing to prevent these crimes from being committed by his subordinates. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeal affirmed this decision. Consequently, Hesam appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the previous courts had erred in law on several points. The Supreme Court disagreed, however, and held that Dutch courts had jurisdiction over the crime, that prosecution was admissible, that the crimes were not time-barred (as Dutch law excludes war crimes from becoming so), and that the convictions had been in conformity with the law. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

In 2005, police investigations brought about the conviction, of two Afghan generals, Hesamuddin Hesam and Habibullah Jalalzoy, who had worked with the PDPA’s intelligence service, KhAD, for torturing detainees during the 1980s and 1990s. On 29 January 2007, the Hague Court of Appeal confirmed the Hague District Court's sentences of Hesamuddin Hesam and Habibullah Jalalzoy, who were sentenced to twelve and nine years' imprisonment respectively. They are convicted for the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. While the sentences remained unchanged, the Court of Appeal found the accused guilty on (slightly) different grounds than the District Court. The  Court of Appeal found Hesam guilty of complicity to torture and violations of the laws and customs of war and Jalalzoy of complicity to violations of the laws and customs of war.


He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in October 2005. Released in 2015. He is still resident in the Netherlands.

Last Modified 2020-03-25
Established 2015-11-12