Abuse of Detainees Remains Widespread in Afghanistan, U.N. Says

KABUL, Afghanistan — The torture and mistreatment of people arrested for conflict-related activities remain widespread in Afghan prisons, a United Nations report released on Wednesday found, pointing to a continued challenge for the nation’s new government.

The report said that 35 percent of the 790 detainees interviewed between February 2013 and December 2014 claimed to have been subjected to mistreatment, including beatings with pipes, electrical shocks and near asphyxiation. There has been just one criminal prosecution for torture since 2010, oversight within security organizations is lacking and many officials with those organizations do not appear to view torture as illegal, the report said.

“Torture is a very serious crime for which there is no justification,” said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

But the Americans apparently do not detain these targets. It is unclear whether that means the captives are simply killed or whether the Afghans take immediate custody of suspects during the joint operations.

“Coalition forces, to include the United States, no longer conduct detention operations in Afghanistan and no longer operate detention facilities in Afghanistan,” according to a statement issued on Wednesday by international military headquarters in Kabul.

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The New York Times