Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


          UN: Afghanistan Makes 'Some Progress' in Preventing Torture

   by Ayaz Gul

   The United Nations says Afghanistan has made "some progress" in efforts
   over the last two years to prevent torture and ill-treatment at
   government detention facilities, but more than one third of those
   detained still report being mistreated.

   "More remains to be done, however, and I welcome the new
   administration's immediate attention to end these practices," said the
   United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) chief Nicholas
   Haysom in a report issued Wednesday. He cited President Ashram Ghani's
   national unity government's commitment to implement a new national plan
   to eliminate of torture.

   The U.N. report shows a 14 percent decrease in the number of detainees
   tortured or ill-treated compared to the previous reporting period, with
   more than one-third of all detainees interviewed found to have endured
   ill-treatment or torture.

   It says the decrease is due to new government policies and directives
   banning torture, increased inspection visits to detention facilities,
   focused training on alternative interrogation techniques and other
   measures following a Presidential Decree issued two years ago.

   The U.N. report released Wednesday is the third report on the treatment
   of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody and its findings are
   based on interviews with 790 conflict-related detainees between
   February 2013 and December 2014.

   The 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.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-afghanistan-makes-some-progress-pr
   eventing-torture/2657981.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-afghanistan-makes-some-progress-preventing-torture/2657981.html