A/HRC/22/37 32. In response to its report on the Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody, UNAMA/OHCHR continued its detention observation programme to follow up on the report’s findings. UNAMA human rights teams throughout Afghanistan organized advocacy meetings with authorities, including ANP, NDS and prosecutors, to support the Government in making positive improvements in the treatment of conflict-related detainees. Additionally, UNAMA/OHCHR provided human rights training to NDS and police personnel in 16 provinces and visited over 80 facilities managed by NDS, the Police and the Central Prison Directorate to reassess the treatment of conflict-related detainees. Encouragingly, NDS and the Ministry of Interior continued to provide UNAMA with unimpeded access to almost all detention facilities and detainees. 33. NDS responded to the UNAMA/OHCHR report from October 2011 by conducting their own investigations into allegations of torture and formed the new Human Rights Department reporting directly to the Director of National Security to investigate alleged human rights violations in their detention facilities. Directives were also issued in which NDS and police staff received instructions on protecting detainees’ rights. This Department also conducted refresher training programmes for their personnel, including on human rights and humane treatment of detainees. All of the measures taken to investigate torture, however, were internal and did not lead to any dismissals or prosecutions. Human rights teams also organized interaction between defence lawyers and the detaining authorities to ensure that the detainees had access to a defence lawyer during the interrogation stage. 34. Following the publication of the report, ISAF suspended all transfers of detainees from international military custody to 16 NDS and ANP facilities where UNAMA had found compelling evidence that torture and ill-treatment had taken place. ISAF also designed and rolled out a six-phase detention facility inspection programme to support Afghan authorities in reforming their interrogation and detainee treatment practices prior to resuming transfers. From November 2011 to March 2012, ISAF completed inspections of 16 NDS and ANP detention facilities and re-certified eight for the purposes of transferring detainees. 35. On 17 March, AIHRC released a report, prepared in conjunction with the Open Society Foundation, on the treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan.5 Its findings were based on interviews conducted with over 100 conflict-related detainees held in NDS and Ministry of Interior facilities between February 2011 and January 2012. AIHRC found that torture and mistreatment had occurred in nine NDS and several ANP detention facilities. Four of the NDS facilities where AIHRC found that torture had occurred had also been identified by UNAMA/OHCHR in its report.6 Some of the documented instances of torture occurred after the release of the UNAMA/OHCHR report. In response, ISAF announced suspension of its detainee transfer programme to four facilities identified in the AIHRC report, pending further inspections and interviews of detainees at these facilities. Subsequently, ISAF resumed transfers of detainees from custody to eight fully certified facilities after remedial action by the authorities to prevent mistreatment. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the United States of America with the Government of Afghanistan with regard to tracking detainees transferred into Afghan custody. 5 6 10 See Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process: The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan (2012). http://www.aihrc.org.af/media/files/AIHRC%20OSF%20Detentions%20Report%20English%20Final %2017-3-2012.pdf. See UNAMA/OHCHR, Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees.