Taliban suspects tortured in Afghan detention centres
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Suspected Taliban fighters have been subjected to beatings, electric shocks and other forms of torture in some Afghan-run detention centres, the United Nations said yesterday.
A 74-page UN report found that detainees in 47 facilities in 24 provinces run by the Afghan National Police and the Directorate of Security suffered interrogation techniques that constituted torture under international and Afghan law. But it added that the abuse was not the result of government policy.
The Nato-led international military coalition announced last month that it had stopped transferring detainees to 16 of the facilities. Nato was taking action to help solve the problem before resuming the transfers, the report said.
The report said Afghan security ministries co-operated with the investigation and have taken measures to stop the abuse after being presented with the report. Although Afghan security officials have long been suspected of torturing detainees to elicit information and confessions, the report for the first time confirms the practice.
The report said most of the detainees were "suspected of being Taliban fighters, suicide attack facilitators, producers of improvised explosive devices, and others implicated in crimes associated with the armed conflict in Afghanistan". It said torture methods included suspending people by their wrists, beating the soles of the feet, electric shocks, twisting detainees' genitals, removing toe nails and being put in stress positions. AP
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments