Isaf has suspended the transfer of detainees to Afghan detention facilities after the United Nations Afghanistan Assistance Mission (Unama) released a report revealing systemic torture and mistreatment of prisoners in the Afghan detention facilities.
Isaf spokesman Gen. Gunter Katz said Monday in a Kabul press conference that Isaf assessed the Unama report and judged it to be credible information.
"We assessed the Unama information as credible information and based on this information we reacted appropriately in suspending the handover of detainees to those certain facilities," Katz said, adding that Isaf respects all the international laws with regard to human rights of detainees.
"Unama's report reveals significant allegations of abuse in the Afghan detention system," he added.
"Isaf takes all reports of human rights violation very seriously and we are committed to humane treatment of detainees in accordance with the Geneva Convention and the Law of Armed Conflict and respect all relevant international laws on detention operations."
Katz said that violence in the country was down 20 percent in the last three months and the enemies are losing the fight as the Isaf mission is on track.
He made these comments at the same time that a Taliban attack was unfolding in the capital and which only ended after eight hours when all insurgents were killed.
Katz repeated the statistic released by Isaf early January that half of all the violent incidents in the country occur in only 17 districts out of 402, leading some people to think that violence has increased.
"Fifty percent of all attacks occur in 17 districts out of 402 so, if you talk to the people in those 17 districts where half of all enemy initiated attacks take place, they actually may feel that the attacks have been accelerated indeed," he said.
His comments follow a New York Times report four days ago that the US army was suspending prisoner transfers to Afghan authorities over torture concerns.
The report said that the transfer of the Bagram military prison detainees will go ahead in line with the agreement struck with the Afghan government; however, future transfers may not be carried out based on the torture assessment.
Afghan control of all prisoners detained in the country has been a key demand repeated by President Hamid Karzai for more than a year since before the strategic long-term agreement was signed between the two countries last March.