Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody One Year On” and Changing the Determined Deadline for Presentation of the Response on the Said Report
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Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody One Year On United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights January 2013 Kabul, Afghanistan Contents Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................... i UNAMA’s Mandate ......................................................................................................................................ii Access and Methodology ..........................................................................................................................ii Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................... 1 Map 1: Detention Facilities Visited by UNAMA.............................................................................. 26 Map 2: Detention Facilities where Incidents Occurred .............................................................. 27 Map 3: Detainee Accounts of Treatment in ALP, ANA, ANP and NDS Locations ................ 28 Treatment of Detainees by the National Directorate of Security ........................................... 29 Map 4: Multiple Incidents in NDS Custody in Ten Provinces ................................................... 42 Map 5: Systematic and Sufficiently Credible and Reliable Incidents in NDS Custody ..... 45 Treatment of Detainees by the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Border Police ............................................................................................................................................................ 46 Map 6: Multiple Incidents in ANP Custody in Seven Provinces ............................................... 55 Map 7: Systematic and Sufficiently Credible and Reliable Incidents in ANP Custody ..... 60 Treatment of Detainees by the Afghan National Army .............................................................. 61 Treatment of Detainees by Afghan Local Police ........................................................................... 61 Treatment of Detainees Transferred to NDS and ANP by International Military Forces63 Measures Taken by the Government of Afghanistan to Address Torture and Ill- Treatment ................................................................................................................................................... 65 Due Process and the Criminal Justice System’s Response ........................................................ 72 ISAF’s Detainee Facility Inspection Programme .......................................................................... 76 International Support to the NDS and the Ministry of Interior ............................................... 81 Way Forward: Proposal for Future Detention Monitoring ....................................................... 83 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................... 85 ANNEX I: UNAMA’s Detention Observation Programme 2010-12 .......................................... 91 ANNEX II: Status of Implementation of UNAMA’s Recommendations from October 2011 Report .......................................................................................................................................................... 93 ANNEX III: Applicable Law .................................................................................................................... 97 ANNEX IV: Response of the Government of Afghanistan, National Directorate of Security and Ministry of Interior to this Report dated 14 January 2013 ............................................103 ANNEX V: Letter of Commander ISAF to UNAMA dated 11 January 2013 ..........................125 Glossary Acronyms AIHRC Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission ALP Afghan Local Police ANA Afghanistan National Army ANBP Afghanistan National Border Police ANP Afghanistan National Police ANSF Afghanistan National Security Forces CID Criminal Investigations Department CoP Chief of Police CPD Central Prisons Directorate CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child HQ Headquarters ICPC Interim Criminal Procedure Code ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ISAF International Security Assistance Force JRC Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre MoI Ministry of Interior MoJ Ministry of Justice MoU Memorandum of Understanding NDS National Directorate of Security NPMs National Preventive Mechanisms OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan UNDP United Nations Development Programme Arabic, Dari and Pashto words Hawza Cadastral zone within a city Shura Consultation or council of community elders Taliban Armed opposition group fighting against the Government of Afghanistan and International Military Forces Taqnin MoJ Department of Legislative Drafting i UNAMA’s Mandate Since 2004, the United Nations Security Council has mandated the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to support the establishment of a fair and transparent justice system, including the reconstruction and reform of the prison sector, and to work towards strengthening the rule of law. UNAMA includes a Human Rights Unit with field staff across the country, supported technically by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). UN Security Council Resolution 2041 (2012) 1 mandates UNAMA to improve respect for human rights in the justice and prisons sectors as follows: 37. Reiterates the importance of the full, sequenced, timely and coordinated implementation of the National Priority Programme on Law and Justice for All, by all the relevant Afghan institutions and other actors in view of accelerating the establishment of a fair and transparent justice system, eliminating impunity and contributing to the affirmation of the rule of law throughout the country; 38. Stresses in this context the importance of further progress in the reconstruction and reform of the prison sector in Afghanistan, in order to improve the respect for the rule of law and human rights therein, emphasizes the importance of ensuring access for relevant organizations, as applicable, to all prisons and places of detention in Afghanistan, and calls for full respect for relevant international law including humanitarian law and human rights law, noting the recommendations contained in the report of the Assistance Mission dated 10 October 2011. OHCHR in Afghanistan The UN Human Rights Council in decision 2/113 of 27 November 2006 mandates OHCHR to address the human rights situation in Afghanistan, and urges its continued cooperation as follows: The Council requests the High Commissioner to continue, in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan, provide and expand advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights and the rule of law, and report regularly to the Council on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. 2 Access and Methodology From October 2010 to August 2011, in response to repeated concerns and reports about torture and ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees from communities across Afghanistan and in consultation with the Government of Afghanistan, UNAMA conducted an intensive programme of observation of conflict-related detainees throughout Afghanistan. UNAMA produced a public report on its findings with 25 recommendations to relevant authorities entitled Treatment of Conflict-Related 1 UN Security Council Resolution 2041, S/RES/2041 (2012) was adopted on 22 March 2012. 2 Report of the Human Rights Council to the 62 nd Session of the General Assembly , Supplement No. 53, A/62/53, Decision 2/113, 28 November 2006. ii Detainees in Afghan Custody released in October 2011. 3 See Annex 1 of this report for a summary of the findings and Annex II for information on the status of implementation of recommendations from UNAMA’s October 2011 report. Current Report This report presents findings from UNAMA’s observation of conflict-related detention for the period October 2011 to October 2012. Government officials from the ANP, Afghan National Border Police, NDS, Ministry of Interior (MoI) and other departments cooperated with UNAMA during the period of detention observation. From October 2011 to October 2012, NDS provided access to detainees at NDS facilities throughout Afghanistan, except the national detention facility of NDS Counter- Terrorism Department 124 (formerly known as Department 90) in Kabul to which UNAMA has not been permitted access. The Ministry of Interior provided access to all ANP and ANBP lock-ups and detention facilities. The transfer of responsibility for prisons through the Central Prisons Directorate (CPD) from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Interior on 10 January 2012 caused some obstacles for UNAMA in accessing several CPD prisons and in interviewing detainees. 4 Sample of Detainees Between October 2011-2012, UNAMA interviewed 635 pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners detained by the ANP, ANBP, Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan Local Police (ALP) and/or by NDS. Detainees were interviewed at ANP or ANBP lock- ups or ANP provincial centers or at NDS provincial headquarters, a Central Prisons Directorate (CPD) prison or a juvenile rehabilitation centre (JRC). UNAMA’s interviews covered treatment of detainees