Torture and ill-treatment of terrorism-related detainees remain high in Afghan government-run detention centres, the United Nations (UN) Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a report on Wednesday.
The report included interviews with 656 detainees in 24 Afghan provinces, the majority of whom told the UNAMA team they were beaten, kicked, suffocated, not introduced to lawyers or verbally abused.
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The number of torture cases was particularly high in police detention centres in southern Kandahar, western Herat, and south-eastern Paktika, according to the report, which covered the period between January 2019 and March 2020.
The overall level of torture stood at 30.3 per cent of detainees, down from 31.9 per cent in the previous monitoring period between 2017 and 2018.
The level of torture employed by the country’s intelligence forces decreased to 16 per cent from 19 per cent, the report said. (dpa/NAN)
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