International

United Nations: Afghan Government Torturing Prisoners

For years, civil libertarians have objected to the United States losing lives of our military personnel and hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan as the country imposed rigid religious laws, suppresses minority groups, and denies women basic freedoms and protections. Now the United Nations has found Afghans returning to another prior habit: torture.

According to a new 74-page report, prisoners at Afghan-run detention facilities have been beaten and tortured in 24 provinces run by the Afghan National Police and the Directorate of Security.

Torture is so bad that NATO has had to delay the continued transfer of additional facilities to the government. Afghan officials are particularly fond of “suspending people by their wrists, beatings to the soles of their feet, electric shocks, twisting detainees’ genitals, removing toe nails and being put in stress positions.”

In the meantime, the Obama Administration is supporting a move to turn over whole areas to militias previously denounced as extremist and abusive. There is no longer any claims that we have produced the democratic utopia described by Bush officials. Instead, we have an inherently unstable country composed of the same militias with the same religious extremism and abusive practices.

Of course, the Obama Administration would be laughed out of the room if they seriously object to the lack of investigation or prosecution of torture. As soon as he came into power, Obama promised no CIA official would be investigated or prosecuted for torture.

Source: Washington Post

34 thoughts on “United Nations: Afghan Government Torturing Prisoners”

  1. Every functioning adult had weak teachers who taught their neurotic repressive hang ups as the way they thought a true proper society should be. Happily, most children , even future adults in the prehistoric cave era , knew there was a big world outside the constricted world of the self deifying , small minded bullies . Total suppression of moderate hormonal impulses makes a mockery of what every society should accept as adult choice – divorce , living together , pursuing a course of study . On the other hand, there has been far too much self congratulatory smirking while the excessive trends and advantages taken by a experimental controlling group continue . ” Emotional Aggravation ” and “Looking Back Where the Moral Integrity Is and Was ” would be appropriate name game response to this tyrannical nonsensical monopoly . How do adults in the West teach Afghans what we love about democracies if we can’t remember we were not born prison guards ?

  2. LK,

    There is a time and place for everything…gummers… Think Springer …lol

  3. AY, the only thing about ‘partisan bite’ is that one is likely to be bit back. Some are biters by nature, some are biters by training, some are back-biters and some are, like me, biters by somewhat restrained inclination. If ghod hadn’t wanted us to be biters she wouldn’t have given us teeth, we’d all be gum-ers. Who needs that?

    🙂

  4. SM, thank you but you did well and got me to thinking about how far back torture goes in that region. Old civilizations didn’t have jails, they had painful death or lesser painful punishments for various infractions. The code of Hammurabi was what passed for justice a couple of thousand years BCE, it was just measured brutality as justice. Tormenting people in pursuit of justice, conquest, pacification or god is all but genetic in origin IMO. I don’t think it had to be taught at all.

    (wow, my spell checker has “Hammaurabi”! That’s one word I never would have thought I’d call on it to correct.)

  5. And LK….You are entitled to your opinion and posts….and post…and postings….expressing your views…Free thought is openly encourage…well…most of the time…unless it has too much of a partisan bite to it….and yes…that cuts both ways….either Democratic or Republican….

    I subscribe to Moveon…..as well as a few other similar sounds…Take care and enjoy…

  6. Ay, yes, I saw that article and frankly, there are articles that I simply have no worthwhile comment for. I end up at the same place if I give it any sustained thought: ‘that s**t’s f***ed up’. That’s the least dark of my thoughts about it. On occasion public pressure helps and that should always be tried but these people are stuck in antiquity.

    Torture as a political toll can be understood and countered, internal terrorism (against civilians) has a twisted logic to it. But the kind of torment the chosen speakers-for-god bring with them is simply insanity raised to public policy. How would civilized people deal with a gang of torturers that did it for fun? They would be locked away, forever if the ended up killing someone. In any light that wasn’t founded on a religious belief they would be deemed mad and become pariahs. It’s infuriating that at the national level such deluded sadists are not vilified daily as a matter of standard operating procedure. Bah, humbug.

    (Now you know why I try not to get started commenting on such articles. I could just rant on and on, non-constructively.)

  7. Lk,

    Those are great points…Did you see the Iran Thread of this morning…It specifically addresses a woman….It said something about the “Actress” and her husband the director…but says nothing about him being punished for filming her….

    I think and maybe I am wrong but I took the original question here to mean…who taught them to torture….

  10. Good post, lottakatz. I was trying to say that but you did it much better as usual.

  11. Muslim fundamentalists have been torturing their women for centuries under color of law, I don’t think anyone had to teach them to torture. That it moves from the domestic to the political arena is a small step and knowing human nature, it was nothing ushered in in Afghanistan or most any other country during the Bush or Obama years. What is newsworthy is the movement away from torture.

    I do wonder how Bradley Manning is doing though….

  14. Blouise,

    In the US its called investigations….and depending on the part of the country you live in and who your Daddy is….depends on exactly what types of al la cart (enhancement) techniques they use….

  16. No, no Blouise. We enhancingly interrogate humanely. Just ask Big Brother … er … George Bush .. er … Obama … er Holder. Oh, forget it.

  18. The Soviets tortured the Afghans. The Taliban tortured and is still doing so. It is a sad situation.

  20. Lead by example…….They are just following what we showed them….what better person to do this than has experienced this type of abuse….I think they have learned well…..

    “As soon as he came into power, Obama promised no CIA official would be investigated or prosecuted for torture.”

    Another promise kept…..

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