Human Rights Watch: The clock is ticking for President Ashraf Ghani to protect the rights of the Afghanistan’s many torture victims. In March, the government finally enacted the Anti-Torture Law after years of political and bureaucratic battles. However, the law left out a system for “restitution, rehabilitation, and compensation” for victims of torture by state security forces. This
Khaama Press: The lawmakers in the Lower House of the Parliament, Wolesi Jirga, reacted at the remarks of the US embassy Charge d’Affaires regarding the controversial case of the first vice president General Abdul Rashid Dostum and former Jawzjan governor Ahmad Khan Ishchi. A member of the parliament, Nasrullah Sadiqizada, said the case has nothing to
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 12, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Authorities in Afghanistan confirmed Wednesday that an alleged torture and sexual assault case against the country’s first-vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, has been sent to court for further action. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office in Kabul told VOA the charges were investigated with “complete impartiality”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 9, 2017 The Canadian prime minister defended the government’s apology and multimillion-dollar payment to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Justin Trudeau on July 8 said the deal was not about the merits of the case against Canadian-born Omar Khadr but
AP: The Canadian government is going to apologize and give millions of dollars to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, with Canada’s Supreme Court later ruling that officials had interrogated him under “oppressive circumstances.” Click here to read more (external link).
Human Rights Watch: When the United Nations Committee against Torture grilled Afghanistan’s delegation last month about government efforts to curb torture, members asked about one person in particular: Gen. Abdul Raziq. That was no accident. Raziq, the Afghan National Police chief for the southern city of Kandahar, has become synonymous with systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, and
Tolo News: A number of lawmakers at Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) on Sunday lent their support to Kandahar Police Chief General Abdul Raziq following a report by the United Nations Committee against Torture, calling Raziq a “patriotic and champion” police officer. The UN committee alleged that Gen. Raziq had used different methods of torture
Lawfare: For more than a decade, the ICC (International Criminal Court) has maintained a preliminary examination of various alleged crimes in that country, mostly by the Taliban but also allegations of torture by U.S. personnel. In its latest update on the examination, the prosecutor’s office even expanded the enquiry into U.S. activities to cover potential torture
Human Rights Watch: It has been two years since Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, vowed to end torture. Instead, it’s on the rise, with 39 percent of detainees subjected to beatings, electric shocks, or near suffocation by the Afghan police and intelligence agents, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). Click here to read
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 24, 2017 A UN report says cases of torture and mistreatment of detainees in Afghanistan have increased despite promises from President Ashraf Ghani and new laws enacted to curb the widespread practice. At least 39 percent of the conflict-related detainees interviewed by UN investigators “gave credible and reliable accounts” of