CAT/C/AFG/CO/2
(d)
Women;
The adoption in August 2009 of the Law on Elimination of Violence against
(e)
The issuance in February 2013 of Presidential Decree 129 to implement the
Afghan fact-finding delegation’s recommendations regarding the presence of torture and
ill-treatment in detention centres.
6.
The Committee further welcomes the following measures taken by the State party to
implement the Convention, including:
(a)
The establishment in 2002 of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission, whose activities include monitoring conditions in places of detention;
(b)
torture.
C.
The adoption in February 2015 of the national plan on the elimination of
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Culture of impunity
7.
While welcoming the delegation’s assurances and the governmental measures that
indicate that the fight against impunity is a priority of the State party, the Committee
remains gravely concerned about the general climate and culture of impunity in
Afghanistan, as evidenced by the large number of cases of alleged human rights violations
involving senior State officials. The Committee is deeply concerned that the National
Reconciliation, General Amnesty, and National Stability Law, passed in 2007, prevents the
prosecution of individuals responsible for gross human rights violations, including acts of
torture, committed before December 2001. In that connection, and while noting the
establishment of the high-level commission to evaluate candidates for senior and mid-level
appointments, the Committee is deeply concerned about the various reports alleging that
perpetrators of war crimes and gross human rights violations, including acts of torture, are
still holding, or have been nominated for, official executive positions, some of them in
government. Consequently, the Committee is concerned that such a situation fosters a
general climate of impunity and contributes to creating widespread acceptance and
legitimation of torture in Afghan society (arts. 1, 2, 12 and 16).
8.
The Committee urges the State party:
(a)
To repeal provisions from the National Reconciliation, General Amnesty,
and National Stability Law preventing the prosecutions of perpetrators of gross
human rights violations, including acts of torture;
(b)
To effectively investigate and prosecute all perpetrators of past gross
human rights violations, including acts of torture;
(c)
To ensure that all candidates for official executive positions have not
perpetrated any human rights violations and, if found responsible for past human
rights violations, including torture, are not nominated.
Allegations of widespread use of torture and ill-treatment
9.
While noting the delegation’s affirmations and commitment to fighting the practice
of torture in Afghanistan and the State party’s concerns about protecting its population from
terrorist groups and attacks, the Committee remains deeply concerned by the specific
situation of national security-related detainees, or conflict-related detainees, who are most
at risk of being subjected to acts of torture or ill-treatment. The Committee is further
concerned by the numerous reports, including those of the United Nations Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Office of the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court (Report on Preliminary Examination Activities, 2016) and the Afghanistan
Independent Human Rights Commission and those from civil society, that beatings, electric
shocks, suspensions, threats, sexual abuse, and other forms of mental and physical abuse
are widely and increasingly practised on detainees in custody in facilities run by the
National Directorate of Security, the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police
2