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Govt vows to peruse detainee torturers

Govt vows to peruse detainee torturers

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14 Feb 2013 - 17:31
Govt vows to peruse detainee torturers
author avatar
14 Feb 2013 - 17:31

KABUL): A high-level meeting, involving President Hamid Karzai and Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi, endorsed the findings of an inquiry into UN allegations of detainee torture and ill-treatment, the Presidential Palace said on Thursday.

Constitutional oversight commission head Gul Rahman Qazi, National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Attorney General Noor Habib Jalal, acting justice minister, Syed Yousuf Halim, and Nasrullah Stanikzai were also in attendance.

A statement from the Presidential Palace said the meeting resolved to peruse those who committed torture and ill-treatment to detainees until they were brought to justice. 

Last month, Karzai appointed a delegation to investigate the UNAMA report that said police and intelligence men continued to torture and abuse inmates in jails.

Adalat Khwah, who led the panel, presented his findings to participants. The panel also floated a number of suggestions on how to overcome the problem.

Adalat Khwah recently told a press conference they had suggested the AGO be tasked with acting on the panel’s findings to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The panel also sought protection and other facilities for defence lawyers pleading cases of prisoners, asking interior and public health ministries to look into complaints of diseases by inmates.

The findings said many inmates remained in jails, despite having completed their terms and winning court verdicts for their release.

The panel that spoke to 140 inmates in Kandahar, Herat and other provinces, said some courts and prosecutor offices in 10 districts of Kandahar had not been created so far.

The delegation suggested the appointment of professional judges and attorneys in remote districts.

It said the Ministry of Interior and the National Directorate of Security (NDS) be tasked with arranging effective training programmes for jail officials on human rights and ways of investigating detainees.

mm/ma/mud

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