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