(Image source: The New York Times)
BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN
A new United Nations report finds torture is still rampant in Afghan prisons.
This comes just over a year after the U.N.’s first report of widespread detainee abuse which was met by promises of reform from the Afghan government. But this latest report documents little progress... [Video via Al Jazeera]
… as more than half of the 635 detainees interviewed said they had been abused or tortured -- about the same percentage to have reported abuse in the original report.
The report cites instances of Afghan police hanging prisoners by their wrists, beating them with cables and administering electric shock. [Video via BBC]
In what it calls a “persistent lack of accountability for perpetrators of torture,” the U.N. notes there have been no prosecutions for detainee abuse since the first report was released more than a year ago.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pushed for complete Afghan control of the country’s detention centers -- a major part of the recent summit talks between Karzai and President Obama early in January. [Video via RealClearPolitics]
In response to the U.N. report, Karzai’s spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal:
“There may be certain cases of abuse, and we have begun to investigate these cases mentioned in the U.N. report. We will take action accordingly...While the Afghan government takes very seriously the allegations ...we also question the motivations behind this report...”
The report concluded that the Afghan government was trying to cover up the human rights abuses. Amid reports, the NATO has suspended the transfer of detainees to some of the facilities named in the report.
(Image source: The New York Times)
BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN
A new United Nations report finds torture is still rampant in Afghan prisons.
This comes just over a year after the U.N.’s first report of widespread detainee abuse which was met by promises of reform from the Afghan government. But this latest report documents little progress... [Video via Al Jazeera]
… as more than half of the 635 detainees interviewed said they had been abused or tortured -- about the same percentage to have reported abuse in the original report.
The report cites instances of Afghan police hanging prisoners by their wrists, beating them with cables and administering electric shock. [Video via BBC]
In what it calls a “persistent lack of accountability for perpetrators of torture,” the U.N. notes there have been no prosecutions for detainee abuse since the first report was released more than a year ago.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pushed for complete Afghan control of the country’s detention centers -- a major part of the recent summit talks between Karzai and President Obama early in January. [Video via RealClearPolitics]
In response to the U.N. report, Karzai’s spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal:
“There may be certain cases of abuse, and we have begun to investigate these cases mentioned in the U.N. report. We will take action accordingly...While the Afghan government takes very seriously the allegations ...we also question the motivations behind this report...”
The report concluded that the Afghan government was trying to cover up the human rights abuses. Amid reports, the NATO has suspended the transfer of detainees to some of the facilities named in the report.
