Afghanistan: Progress in torture eradication, but a long way to go - UN report
GENEVA/KABUL (17 April 2019) - In its latest report on the treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan
published today, the UN documents an encouraging reduction in the number of cases of torture since 2016 but notes its
ongoing concern at the high number of detainees who continue to report torture and ill-treatment.
The joint report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office, issued on the first
anniversary of Afghanistan’s accession to the Convention Against Torture’s Optional Protocol, finds that nearly a third
of conflict-related detainees interviewed provided credible and reliable accounts of having been subject to torture or
ill-treatment. The report is based on interviews with 618 detainees held in 77 facilities in 28 provinces across the
country between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2018.
The report acknowledges progress made by the Government in implementing Afghanistan’s National Plan on the Elimination
of Torture, and highlights that this enforcement has had tangible results, with a reduction in torture or ill-treatment
of conflict-related detainees across different security entities in the country.
Overall, among those in the custody of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, 32 percent based of the sample
of the detainees reported torture and ill-treatment, compared to 39 percent over the previous reporting period (1
January 2015 to 31 December 2016). Notably, the reduction was more marked in 2018. In particular, within facilities of
the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the prevalence of torture and ill-treatment of those interviewed decreased
from 29 per cent to 19 per cent in 2018. And among conflict-related detainees held by the Afghan National Police (ANP),
the proportion of those who reported torture or ill-treatment fell from 45 per cent over the previous reporting period
to 31 percent. Youngsters were at a higher risk of suffering mistreatment.
While the reduction in the number of cases is encouraging, the report notes that the “decline in use of torture or
ill-treatment is not yet significant enough to indicate that the remedial measures taken are sufficient.” The most
common form of torture and ill-treatment reported was beatings. The vast majority of detainees said they had been
tortured or ill-treated to force them to confess and that the treatment stopped once they did so.
There are also major differences depending on the location of the detention facilities. While, on average, 31 percent of
those ANP facilities reported torture or ill-treatment, the rate in the ANP facility in Kandahar was a very disturbing
77 per cent, including allegations of brutal forms of torture, such as suffocation, electric shocks, pulling of genitals
and suspension from ceilings. Allegations of enforced disappearances in Kandahar also persisted during the reporting
period.
While the report highlights significant improvements for the NDS facilities in Kandahar and Herat, the treatment of
conflict-related detainees in some NDS facilities also remains of concern, particularly those located in Kabul, Khost
and Samangan provinces, as well as by the NDS counter-terrorism department. The report also highlights instances of
unlawful and arbitrary detention, including following mass arrests, by NDS Special Forces and the Khost Protection
Force.
The report further raises concern about poor conditions of detention observed within the Afghan National Army-run
Detention Facility inParwan, including overcrowding, inadequate lighting, the use of solitary confinement as the sole
disciplinary measure and restrictions on family visits and access to lawyers.
“We welcome the steps taken by the Government to prevent and investigate cases of torture and ill-treatment over the
past two years. However, as our report illustrates, there is still a long way to go to eradicate this horrendous
practice among conflict-related detainees,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Afghanistan. “Respect for the rule of law and human rights is the best way to create the conditions for sustainable
peace.”
The report emphasizes violations and challenges in other areas, among them, legal limitations on the right of
conflict-related detainees to judicial oversight; lack of implementation of key procedural and other legal safeguards to
prevent torture (medical screening, access to lawyers, etc.); continued absence of accountability for perpetrators, with
very limited referrals to prosecution; and lack of any meaningful possibility of obtaining an effective judicial or
administrative remedy.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the report’s findings demonstrate that the policies put in
place to combat torture and ill-treatment were having effect – but they were far from sufficient.
“A 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,” Bachelet said.
“I 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.”
The report does not discuss the issue of deprivation of liberty by Anti-Government Elements.
The full report is available here: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/AF/PreventingTortureReportApril2019.pdf
A video interview with Richard Bennett, the head of the Human Rights Section of UNAMA, is available here: https://owncloud.unog.ch/index.php/s/a1o0UD5DnXTS7ZZ.
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