{"id":21117,"date":"2019-04-19T10:34:36","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T02:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=21117"},"modified":"2019-04-19T10:34:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T02:34:38","slug":"torture-still-practiced-in-afghan-detention-centres-un-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=21117","title":{"rendered":"Torture still practiced in Afghan detention centres: UN report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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File photo of UN shows Afghan National Police guard the office of the Governor of Bamyan Province, Afghanistan on 22 July 2009. Photo courtesy of UN <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 19 (NNN-APP)- Torture is still widespread in Afghanistan\u2019s State-run prisons for detainees linked to ongoing conflict there, the UN noted, while also noting an \u201cencouraging reduction\u201d in the level of abuse since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on interviews with more than 600 detainees and published jointly by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), their latest report on the treatment of prisoners in 77 facilities in 28 out of 34 provinces indicates that an average of nearly one in three, provided \u201ccredible and reliable\u201d accounts of suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the previous reporting period, covering 2015 and 2016, the ratio was closer to four in 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beatings represented the most common form of torture and ill-treatment, according to the data, which also noted that \u201cthe vast majority\u201d of detainees held for alleged links to extremist group ISIL\/Da\u2019esh or other opposition forces, said they had been tortured or ill-treated to force them to confess \u2013 and that the treatment stopped once they did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significant differences in the treatment of detainees were found depending on where they were held, with one Afghan National Police (ANP) facility in Kandahar, linked to a 77 per cent torture rate \u2013 well above the 31 per cent ANP average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kandahar findings included allegations of \u201cbrutal\u201d forms of torture such as \u201csuffocation, electric shocks, pulling of genitals and suspension from ceilings\u201d, UNAMA and OHCHR said, while underlining that abuse allegations in ANP detention centres had fallen \u2013 from a 45 per cent average \u2013 since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, which finds that youngsters are at higher risk of suffering mistreatment, discusses how detainees\u2019 rights are violated in other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include a lack of legal safeguards to prevent torture, difficulties in gaining access to lawyers and the continued absence of accountability for perpetrators, with very limited referrals to prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, said the report\u2019s findings demonstrated that the embattled Government\u2019s policies put in place to combat torture and ill-treatment were having an effect, but they were far from sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA year ago, on this day, the Government of Afghanistan committed itself to the prevention of torture by acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture,\u201d Ms. Bachelet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI urge the Government to work swiftly to create a National Preventive Mechanism to ensure independent, impartial scrutiny of the treatment of detainees. A well-resourced watchdog of this sort, which is able to make unannounced visits to places of detention and raise awareness of what constitutes torture and ill-treatment according to international human rights law, can go a long way towards the ultimate goal of fully eradicating torture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also highlighted in the report are concerns over an Afghan National Army-run detention facility in Parwan, in the north-east of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include overcrowding and the use of solitary confinement as the sole disciplinary measure, despite progress and \u201ctangible results\u201d made by the Government in implementing a national plan to eliminate torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe welcome the steps taken by the Government to prevent and investigate cases of torture and ill-treatment over the past two years,\u201d Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever\u2026there is still a long way to go to eradicate this horrendous practice among conflict-related detainees,\u201d he added. \u201cRespect for the rule of law and human rights is the best way to create the conditions for sustainable peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 19 (NNN-APP)- Torture is still widespread in Afghanistan\u2019s State-run prisons for detainees linked to ongoing conflict there, the UN noted, while also noting an \u201cencouraging reduction\u201d in the level of abuse since 2016. Based on interviews with more than 600 detainees and published jointly by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":21119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[215],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21117"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}