Afghan government responds to torture charges

Al Jazeera visits detention facilities accused of torture by UN and rights agencies.

The government of Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, has asked a commission to investigate recent UN allegations that the detention centres of the nation’s spy agency regularly practices torture.

The commission, including advisors from the National Directorate of Security and the Ministry of Interior, both implicated in the UN report released earlier this month, has been highly criticised by rights agencies.

Accused of at least 14 abusive practices, including threats of rape, hanging prisoners by their arms for hours at a time and sleep deprivation, the NDS and MOI have both denied the charges against them.

This is not, however, the first time that NDS has faced charges of torture and forced confessions. Reports released by the UN and Human Rights Watch last year found similar results.

Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse reports from Kabul, where she was given exclusive access to prisoners in an NDS facility.

Source: Al Jazeera