Afghanistan: UN report on torture in detention shows some
progress, calls for more effective measures
GENEVA/KABUL, 25 February 2015 - A UN report released today
on the torture and ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees in Government
detention facilities shows some progress and welcomes the new administration’s commitment to
accelerate its efforts to fully eliminate the practice of torture and
ill-treatment in detention facilities.
“The Government of Afghanistan’s ef
forts to prevent torture
and ill-treatment have shown some progress over the last two years,” said the
UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of
UNAMA, Nicholas Haysom. “More remains to be done, however, and I welcome the
new administration’s immediate attention to end these practices.”
“In particular, UNAMA welcomes the incoming Government’s
commitment to implement a new national plan on elimination of torture,” Mr.
Haysom said. “We support – and can assist as requested – this comprehensive
approach to eliminate torture and ill-treatment in Government of Afghanistan
facilities.”
Elements of the Government’s proposed national plan on
elimination of torture, include legislative reforms, ratification of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, remedy for victims of
torture, education and capacity building programmes, discrediting torture in
public culture, preventive measures, and continuous observation of
implementation of the national plan.
The UN report released today is the third report on the
treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody jointly released by
UNAMA and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Findings are based on
interviews with 790 conflict-related detainees between February 2013 and
December 2014 and with Afghan security, police and judicial officials, and
analysis of documentary, medical and other information.
The report shows a 14 per cent decrease in the number of
detainees tortured or ill-treated compared to the previous reporting period,
with one-third of all detainees interviewed found to have endured ill-treatment
or torture.
It highlights ill-treatment and torture during the arrest
and interrogation phases in numerous facilities of the National Directorate of
Security, the national police, the local police and the national army.
Detainees – mainly alleged members of the Taliban and other anti-Government
groups or individuals suspected of conflict-related crimes – were subjected to
severe pain and suffering, aimed mainly at obtaining a confession or information.
Sixteen methods of torture and ill-treatment were described including severe
beatings with pipes, cables and sticks, suspension, electric shocks and
near-asphyxiation.
The decrease i
However the new UNAMA report shows a persistent lack of
accountability with a single criminal prosecution for torture observed since
2010, despite numerous verified incidents raised with officials over the course
of the observation period. The report notes that the National Directorate of
Security and the Ministry of Interior internal accountability and oversight
mechanisms remain inadequate, lacking independence, authority, transparency and
capacity.
“UNAMA’s finding that torture of conflict-related detainees
persists in spite of Government efforts over 2013-14 to address it is a source
of serious concern," said the UNAMA Human Rights Director, Georgette
Gagnon. “Continuing impunity for the use of torture allows torture to continue.
Accountability – particularly the prosecution of both those who perpetrate and
administer torture, and those who order or condone it – is a key means of
signalling political commitment at the highest levels to end it.”
Torture is prohibited and criminalized under Afghanistan’s
Constitution and laws, and under international law.
Twenty out of 71 interviewed detainees reported having
experienced torture or ill-treatment following their transfer to Afghan custody
in 2013-14, including in Afghan facilities the International Security
Assistance Force had certified as not using torture. International law requires
all international forces in Afghanistan to monitor the treatment of detainees
in operations they accompany for the duration of the accompanied operation to
ensure detainees are not transferred to places of detention where there is a
risk of torture, and to include efforts to prevent the use of torture and
ill-treatment in their training, advisory and assistance tasks.
The report also highlights a number of credible reports of
the existence of alternative or unofficial places of detention operated by
Afghan authorities in several regions and calls on the Government to promptly
identify and close all such places.
Many Afghan security and police officials interviewed
appeared not to accept that torture is illegal and saw it as a proper tool to
obtain valuable intelligence information.
The report also observed the widespread practice of judicial
authorities’ overwhelming reliance on confessions from defendants as the basis
for prosecutions.
“Torture is a very serious crime, for which there can be no
justification. The international prohibition is absolute. We have seen many
examples showing how its use undermines national security and proves
counter-productive,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad
Al Hussein, who stressed that both the Afghan Constitution and the Criminal
Procedure Code include due process guarantees to protect detainees from the use
of torture and ill-treatment, including the prohibition of using evidence
gained through torture.
ENDS
The full report is available on the OHCHR website at:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/AF/UNAMA_OHCHR_Detention_Report_Feb2015.pdf
For further information and interview requests, please
contact:
In Kabul: Liam McDowall ( +93 (0) 79 000
6123) or Nilab Mobarez (mobarez@un.org or +93 (0) 79 000 5565) or write to
Spokesperson-UNAMA@un.org
In Geneva: Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9769 /
rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org )
Additional information on the report
· The report is
based on interviews with 790 conflict-related detainees held by the National
Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan Local
Police (ALP) and Afghan National Army (ANA). A total of 221 visits were
conducted to 128 detention facilities in 28 provinces between February 2013 and
December 2014.
· UNAMA also
conducted multiple interviews with Afghan security, police and judicial
officials and numerous other interlocutors.
· UNAMA further
undertook rigorous analysis, corroboration and examination of documentary,
medical and other information obtained from a range of sources and
interlocutors.
· UNAMA
specifically observed implementation of Presidential Decree 129 (February 2013) which ordered NDS, the
Ministry of Interior/ANP, Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Supreme Court, and
the Ministries of Justice and Public Health to take specific measures to
address torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention in Afghan detention
facilities.
· The UNAMA study found that 278 out of the
790 conflict-related detainees interviewed (35 per cent) experienced torture or
ill-treatment on arrest or in facilities of NDS, ANP, ALP and ANA over the
observation period. Of the 105 child detainees under age 18 interviewed, 44
were found to have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment (42 per cent).
· The study
found that 161 of 611 detainees interviewed (26 per cent) who had been held in
37 NDS facilities experienced torture or ill-treatment together with 93 of 302
detainees interviewed (31 per cent) who had been held in 41 detention
facilities of the ANP and Afghan National Border Police. Twenty-two of 42 detainees interviewed (50
per cent) who had been in the custody of the ALP experienced torture or
ill-treatment and 20 of 60 detainees interviewed (33 per cent) who had been
held in several ANA facilities outside of Kabul.
· UNAMA
interviewed 71 detainees who reported the involvement of international military
forces or other foreign government agencies in their capture, arrest, detention
or transfer to Afghan custody. Of these, 20 were found to have experienced
torture or ill-treatment following transfer to Afghan custody either to
facilities the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had certified as
not using torture under its 2013-14 detention certification and inspection
programme or to detention facilities not covered by the programme. The UNAMA
report observes that ISAF’s programme overall prevented international forces
from transferring detainees to Afghan facilities where they faced a risk of
torture. ISAF referred allegations of detainee abuse in Afghan custody it
received to the NDS, Ministry of Interior and ANA for investigation.
· The incidence
of torture and ill-treatment was observed solely within the samples of
detainees UNAMA interviewed and locations visited on specific dates included in
the samples over the 23-month observation period. The UNAMA report did not make
observations about the wider use and incidence of torture and ill-treatment in
facilities UNAMA did not visit or where UNAMA had no access.
· The UNAMA
report offers 22 recommendations to the Government and international partners
and urges the Government to implement outstanding recommendations from UNAMA’s
previous two reports. UNAMA reiterates its proposal to the Government to
establish an independent oversight and accountability mechanism modeled on the
national preventive mechanism on torture as described in the Optional Protocol
to the Convention against Torture.
Government of Afghanistan Response to UNAMA 2015 Report
· UNAMA shared
a draft of its report with the Government of Afghanistan. A detailed written
response was provided through the Office of the National Security Council and
is attached as an annex to the report.
· The response
notes it is not official Government policy to use torture and ill-treat
detainees to obtain information and confessions in detention facilities. It
states that some incidents in UNAMA’s report are not correct while some could
be due to individual violations by justice and security officials. The response
expresses an acknowledgment of problems and commitment to eliminating torture
and ill-treatment at the highest level of Government. This includes development
of a national plan on the elimination of torture.
