Afghanistan rejects UN report on torture of prisoners

[News_Editor]

Afghanistan rejects UN report on torture of prisoners

2011-10-12 07:51:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- The Afghan government on Tuesday rejected a United Nations (UN) report which accused Afghan security forces of using torture while investigating suspected militants kept in some detention centers, the Pajhwok Afghan News agency reported.

The interior ministry rejected as unfounded the newly-released report which says that Afghan detention facilities, which also hold children, have allegedly been carrying out 'systematic' torture and mistreatment of detainees. Interior Ministry spokesman Ghulam Siddique Siddiqi said Afghan police do not treat prisoners the way mentioned in the report.

"Detainees are subjected to slight torture during [the] investigation process. We have nothing to do with the long investigations as we keep these detainees for few hours before handing them over to other law enforcing agencies and the National Directorate of Security (NDS)," he said.

He admitted that police had beaten and maltreated prisoners in some cases, but rejected the allegations of nails being removed, electric shocks and sexual abuse. The investigation found that methods of torture included suspension - being hung by the wrists from chains or other devices attached to the wall, ceiling, iron bars or other fixtures for lengthy periods - and beatings, especially with rubber hoses, electric cables or wires or wooden sticks and most frequently on the soles of the feet.

Among other forms of torture that detainees reported were electric shock, twisting and wrenching of detainees' genitals, stress positions including forced standing, removal of toenails and threatened sexual abuse. The report also showed that routine blindfolding, hooding and denial of access to medical care in some facilities were not uncommon.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) carried out an extensive investigation for the report, interviewing 379 pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners at 47 facilities of the NDS and Afghan National Police (ANP) in 22 provinces from October 2010 to August. The report is the result of the investigation.

According to UNAMA, there is "compelling" evidence that 125 detainees, or 46 percent, of the 273 detainees interviewed who had been in NDS detention experienced interrogation techniques at the hands of NDS officials that constituted torture, and that torture is practiced "systematically" in a number of NDS detention facilities throughout Afghanistan.

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