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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > U.N. STUDY SHOWS LIFE PRETTY TOUGH AT AFGHAN PRISONS
U.N. STUDY SHOWS LIFE PRETTY TOUGH AT AFGHAN PRISONS
October 13 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan – Life behind bars isn’t easy even at the best of times. Even in white collar prisons with day passes, prisoners ultimately have to return to their cells, removed of their freedom. Freedom is, after all, one of the defining characteristics of the human animal no matter how illusionary it might actually be. For prisoners of any description that illusion simply doesn’t exist.
That life can be made much more difficult when the conditions at the prison aren’t great. According to a new U.N. report, that is exactly the case in Afghanistan. That report states that Afghan police and intelligence forces have been systematically torturing prisoners, using brutal techniques such as electrocution and toenail pulling in an effort to get information. That information has highlighted for many the instability inherent in the new Afghan government, but also highlighted the treacherous conditions outside prison with most of the inmates happy to be inside with clean drinking water and regular meals, despite the torture.
“Torture methods such as electric shock, threat of rape, twisting of sexual organs etc. are methods that are absolutely non-existent in the NDS (National Directorate of Security),” the government said in a statement. “Reference has been made to some issues that are not in conformity with work principles of the NDS. It is evident that the outcome of the report cannot be totally rejected/denied due to some existing problems.”
Still, the government has insisted that the prisoners often receive better treatment than people on the outside and go back into that world better prepared, despite missing toenails.
Prior to the U.S. war in the country there were no prisons of any kind which many have speculated may lead to misuse and abuse.
“The simple fact of the matter is that there is no prison culture, no set of rules that has evolved over hundreds of years like in the West and so anything can happen, whether that be surprise rape or surprise electrocution. That really doesn’t happen very much in the West because of our years of experience, but that is at least part of the issue here,” said Scrape TV International analyst Gustav Hander. “Still, it’s got to be better than living on the outside. I mean they have four walls and that is about the only place in the country you are going to see that. I don’t think that even the President has four walls so that says something.”
President Hamid Karzai does in fact have four walls at his office, but only two at his home. A third is slated for installation later this year at a cost of ten million USD.
“Life in Afghanistan is intrinsically unfair, that is just the reality of it. The people of that country have very much been left behind by the rest of the world and that really sucks for them. At least now, as imperfect as it might be, they do have prisons. That at least is a step forward,” continued Hander. “Prior to the American invasion criminals wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be tortured and as strange as it seems, that is really a step forward, a positive one for the people of the country.”
Estimates put at least 30 percent of the prison population incarcerated because of wall theft.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
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