A delegation appointed by President Hamid Karzai to investigate a United Nations report that torture was systemic in Afghanistan's prisons confirmed Monday it has found evidence of detainee torture, but it denied the abuse was systemic.
The delegation investigated prisons and detention centers in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat provinces after Karzai ordered an inquiry into the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan's (Unama) findings of nationwide abuse in the penal system.
"Members of the delegation did not find systemic torture in Afghan detention centers and prisons which was reported in the UN report and it also did not find any private detention centers nor cases of rape," delegation head Abdul Qadir Adalatkhwa told TOLOnews Monday.
"But members of the delegation confirm there are cases of torture and ill treatment -- beatings which occurred in the first stage of arrest," he added.
The delegation has recommended the Attorney General take serious action against those found guilty of abusing prisoners in this way.
Its findings were based on interviews with 284 prisoners. Just under half – or 148 prisoners – claimed that they were tortured in the first stage of arrest, although the delegation said it believed only 136 prisoners and considered the other 12 claims as "suspicious".
Apart from this initial torture and ill-treatment, the delegation found that almost 48 percent of prisoners experienced lack of access to health services, their cases not being addressed by relevant judicial organs and some even remaining in prison for a time after their official release or completion of prison term.
Furthermore, 66 percent of the prisoners had no access to adequate legal representation. And in Kandahar province alone, 10 districts had no court or attorney general.
The delegation said that Unama did not disclose any names of the prisoners interviewed for its own report, nor did it participate in the government investigation.
"We had a panel of impartial people. If they [the UN] had been with us we would have worked on their report, but we are neither denying their report nor are we accepting it," delegation member Abdul Aqrar Wasel told TOLOnews.
The government delegations comments are in stark contrast to previous claims from officials including the National Directorate of Security (NDS) that denied any kind of abuse in detention centers.
However, the delegation's probe included prisons belonging to NDS departments 40 and 124 where prisoners claimed they were subjected to abuse.
A legal adviser to the NDS still maintained Monday that the reports are not true.
"We saw the UN report about the rape or other issues which are not true at all and we are still denying that," Sayed Zahor Rasooli told TOLOnews.
The delegation submitted 11 proposals to the government to improve the prisons and address the torture, including calling for the release of the aged prisoners, release those whose prison term is complete, and to address the lack of attorney generals and courts in some districts.
Unama released a statement Monday evening welcoming the findings as announced by the delegation, although it noted that it has not yet read the report.