UN Report Finds Rampant Torture in Afghan Prisons
Prisoners in Afghanistan continue to be tortured and abused in detention facilities under Afghan control and Afghanistan’s spy agency is operating secret prisons to avoid international scrutiny, according to a United Nations report released on Sunday.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) interviewed 635 conflict-related detainees held at 89 facilities across Afghanistan and found “credible and reliable evidence” that about a third of them were subjected to torture and abuse.
Detainees in Afghanistan have been subjected to torture at both American-controlled as well as Afghan-controlled prisons. But the US is in the process of transferring full control of all detainees to Kabul, at President Hamid Karzai’s insistence.
Despite the fact that most of the torture is now being carried out in Afghan-controlled prisons, the US is no less culpable. The Kabul government has no domestic legitimacy: the Karzai regime has remained in power through widespread election fraud, and the rest of the government is one of the most corrupt in the world. The Afghan government owes its continuing survival to exorbitant US support, and therefore the policies it carries out – in this case rampant torture – are to some extent the responsibility of Washington.
michaelhamrin
January 21st, 2013 at 11:48 am
Certainly, when the Westernized Hamid Karzai was selected in Europe following the disposition of the Taliban, there were squeals of "foul play", since Afghans were not permitted to select their new leader. However, Mr.Karzai has shown some backbone in resisting the more egregious behavior of the American occupying powers. It is not really helpful to denigrate entirely the Karzai government with charges of incompetence and corruption. His replacement could very well be worse. Anyway, Karzai is going to bail soon because he is in an untenable situation. The US resistance movement should stop ganging up on his government and praise his admittedly rare occasions of criticism of the occupation.
Jim Bovard
January 21st, 2013 at 1:14 pm
At least the torturers are not Islamists.
ZGR 1/22/2013 | Zephyr Global Report
January 21st, 2013 at 11:02 pm
[...] UN Finds Rampant Torture in Afghan Prisons [...]
curmudgeonvt
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:27 am
Who said the CIA/ISAF couldn't train the Afghan Army?
JLS
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:16 am
Exaclty! World of difference between being tortured by the bad guys and being tortured by the good guys!
Jacob Gabel
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:26 am
I was tortured for almost 3 years by the FBI and their friends only
because 85 years old man, Roland Sibens(chicago) convinced them that I
am a terrorist. I was tortured for working on my prosthetic legs in
the basement. I done absolutely nothing illegal or wrong. They thought
that in theory it is possible to hide bomb in them. They saw an
opportunity to get famous, so they were trying to torture me till I
sign their insane story. They tortured me using more than 100
different torturing methods and trust to me waterboarding is not how
they torture nowadays. I dont know where to find justice.
I think that after 9/11 things got out of control. Freedom fighters
became tyrants. In 1945, most Germans had an opportunity to learn about Nazis death
camps. I hope that one day American citizens will get chance to learn about people
like me, who were tortured with no reason for years.
Bulldozer
January 22nd, 2013 at 7:54 pm
There are no good guys…