A/HRC/28/48
interrogators and detention staff on human rights principles and non-coercive interrogation
techniques, and mentoring. In 2014, UNAMA/OHCHR did not document incidents in
which detainees arrested by international forces were tortured following their transfer to an
Afghan facility. UNAMA/OHCHR did, however, record incidents in which detainees were
arrested by Afghan security forces in operation that had international military support, and
were subsequently tortured by Afghan detaining authorities. The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) Resolute Support Mission, due to start in 2015 as a successor
mission to ISAF, does not include a detention monitoring component. In 2014, the
Government of Afghanistan continued to invest attention and resources into the
development of the State party report to the Committee Against Torture. Between
September 2013 and November 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted one
conference at the provincial level and three at the national level to engage government
officials from 13 institutions, including security, judiciary and civil society, in the reporting
process. In November 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a compilation of
written works on torture in Afghanistan by celebrated academics. In October 2014,
President Ghani visited the Kabul central prison and directed authorities to continually
monitor and report on the situation of detainees.
37.
Five men convicted of armed robbery and gang rape in Paghman were executed on 8
October. Prior to their executions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights wrote to President Ghani, requesting him to stay the carrying out of the death
sentences, in order to allow time for a judicial review to ensure that the rights to fair trial of
the accused individuals had been upheld. There was no question this had been an appalling
crime. However, the High Commissioner expressed grave concerns that the legal process
that had led to the convictions had failed to comply with national and international fair trial
standards. UNAMA/OHCHR had received credible allegations that the convicted men had
been ill-treated while in pretrial detention, denied adequate legal representation and, during
the legal proceedings, the legal basis for the prosecution had been unclear. The High
Commissioner urged the Government to establish a moratorium on executions and to ratify
the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. In mid-October, President Ghani announced
that the Government would review all the cases where the convict had been sentenced to
death by the courts.
IV. Violence against women and promotion of women’s rights
38.
The prevalence of violence against women
accountability continued to be of serious concern during
and victims’ fears of retaliation or stigmatization led
incidents of violence against women, a major obstacle
trends.
and a corresponding lack of
2014. Insecurity, cultural beliefs
to continued underreporting of
to a comprehensive analysis of
39.
Building on the findings and recommendations of the December 2013
UNAMA/OHCHR report entitled “A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law
on the Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan”, 2 UNAMA/OHCHR
continued to monitor, report and advocate on issues related to violence against Afghan
women and girls. From January to November 2014, field teams documented 302 alleged
cases of violence against women across the country, including 91 murders, 29 cases of
forced immolation, 27 rapes, 135 cases of battery and laceration, and 52 forced and 21
2
Available from http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/UNAMA/Documents/UNAMA%20REPORT
%20on%20EVAW%20LAW_8%20December%202013.pdf.
11
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