Nearly a third of all detainees held in Afghan detention centers say they have suffered some form of torture or ill-treatment, a new U.N. report said Wednesday.
According to the “Torture Report,” more than half of the allegations are from southern Kandahar province, a Taliban heartland. The United Nations expressed serious concerns about the claims, including allegations of “enforced disappearances.”
For the report, conducted jointly by the U.N. mission to Afghanistan and the U.N. Human Rights Office, U.N. officials interviewed a total of 656 detainees, held in 63 government facilities across the country, between January 2019 and March 2020.
The alleged torture included beatings, suffocation, and electric shocks. The U.N. says 30% of those interviewed provided “credible and reliable” accounts of abuse and mistreatment.
Afghan officials did not immediately respond to Associated Press calls for comment on the U.N. report. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, U.N. visits to the detention facilities were suspended last March.
The U.S.-backed Afghan government is holding thousands of detainees, many of them captured as part of the ongoing war with the Taliban, who are mainly ethnic Pashtun.
The Taliban have stepped up their offensive, making major gains in recent years, and now effectively control over half the country. Separately, widespread corruption and distrust of the government has undermined efforts to combat the Taliban.
The insurgents, meanwhile, have been demanding the release of thousand more Taliban prisoners, under a deal signed between the Taliban and the U.S. government last year that saw 5,000 insurgents freed. The U.S.-Taliban deal aims to end the decades-long war and facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. and international troops from Afghanistan. The Biden administration has said it plans to review the U.S.-Taliban deal.
The report said 30.3% of detainees reported torture or mistreatment, down from 31.9 % during the previous reporting period, from 2017 to 2018.
“Perpetrators must be held accountable,” said Deborah Lyons, the U.N.'s special representative for Afghanistan. “This would increase confidence in the rule of law and can be a contributing factor towards peace,” said Lyons.
“Torture can never be justified. It has lasting consequences for victims, their families, and society,” she added.
In Kandahar, 57.7% of detainees held in a police facility reported abuse. Nearly 50% of all prisoners detained by Afghan forces claim that they were asked to sign or thumbprint a document without knowing its content, said the report.
The U.N. mission does not have access to Taliban detention facilities or those of other antigovernment elements. The report only includes accusations from prisoners in detention centers of the Afghan government.
MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano spewed more hot clouds on Wednesday after an eruption the previous day forced the closure of schools and airports, pelted villages with volcanic debris and prompted hundreds of people to flee.
Seven airports, including Sam Ratulangi international airport in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, remained closed after Tuesday's eruption, the second in two weeks. Schools were shut to protect children from volcanic ash.
The volcano is on tiny Ruang Island, part of the Sitaro islands chain.
The Indonesian geological agency urged people to stay at least 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the volcano’s crater. It warned people on nearby Tagulandang Island, the closest to the volcano, of possible super-heated volcanic clouds from a further eruption and a tsunami if the mountain's volcanic dome collapses into the sea.
Video released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed about a hundred villagers from Tagulandang Island being evacuated on a navy ship. Hundreds of others were waiting at a local port to be evacuated.
Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said 11,000 to 12,000 people living within a 7-kilometer danger zone would be taken to government shelters.
Tuesday’s eruption darkened the sky and peppered several villages with ash, grit and rocks. No casualties were reported.
After Mount Ruang's April 17 eruption, authorities warned that a subsequent eruption might collapse part of the volcano into the sea.
Ruang is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a series of fault lines stretching from the western coast of the Americas through Japan and Southeast Asia.
In this photo released by the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials during its eruption on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris. (PVMBG via AP Photo)
In this photo provided by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), residents of Tagulandang island sit on a ship of National Search and Rescue Agency to evacuate after Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials in Sulawesi island, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris.(Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency via AP)
In this photo released by the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials during its eruption, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris. (PVMBG via AP Photo)
Mount Ruang volcano is seen during the eruption from Tagulandang island, Indonesia, Wednesday, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris.(AP Photo/ Hendra Ambalao)
