A/HRC/19/47 36. Arbitrary detention and abuse in custody have long been factors exacerbating the conflict; efforts to reduce such abuses have been recognized as key confidence-building measures in efforts to promote reconciliation. In early June, the HPC, within the APRP framework and through its working group on prisoner release, began reviewing cases of conflict-related detainees held without evidence or access to courts. OHCHR/UNAMA facilitated discussions between this working group and national and international legal aid organizations to assist the process of reviewing case files of political detainees whose cases fit these basic criteria. The working group agreed to involve legal aid organizations in cases where detainees’ families have petitioned provincial governors to help with the release of their relatives. Legal aid groups have approached the courts to speed up the processing of pending cases. 37. OHCHR/UNAMA continued to work closely with human rights and women’s groups to promote transitional justice, accountability and inclusiveness in peace, reintegration and reconciliation processes ongoing in the country. Although the programme envisioned inclusive participation and involvement, including from women and civil society, in the provincial peace committees (PPCs) of the APRP, many provincial governors have neither invited their participation nor consulted with them. 38. In an effort to promote an inclusive peace and reconciliation process, OHCHR/UNAMA facilitated the Afghan People’s Dialogue on Peace, comprised of 13 civil society organizations and AIHRC. This initiative consisted of discussions by over 78 focus groups with over 1,500 Afghans throughout the country, to elicit their views on peace, security, transition, rule of law, impunity and the international community’s role in the country after the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan security forces. Most participants in the Dialogue noted that the discussions were the first time that anyone from the international community or Government had ever solicited their views on peace and issues that affect their daily lives. A report on the findings of the Dialogue was distributed during the Bonn Conference as a means of promoting the voice of ordinary Afghans in the discussions on the future direction of peace. 39. Civil society organizations and AIHRC continue to document human rights violations and abuses committed during the conflict, in the hope that their data will be used to establish accountability for past violations. AIHRC has continued to make progress in finalizing their mapping report on human rights violations in Afghanistan during the conflict, which should be a major landmark in the transitional justice debate, and will support efforts in establishing truth and creating a record for use in future accountability mechanisms. V. Protection from arbitrary detention and respect for fair trial rights 40. Arbitrary detention and mistreatment of detainees, particularly conflict-related detainees, remain major concerns in the country. Official figures from November 2011 reveal that the Central Prison Department is housing more than 18,000 sentenced prisoners and detainees who have not yet been tried or had their cases finalized in the courts. These numbers do not include the number of persons detained by the NDS and ANP, neither of which keeps regular public statistics of their detainee populations. These numbers continue to increase with the intensification of the conflict and security operations that result in arrests of persons on suspicion of national security crimes. This increase in the prison population has put a strain on the already overcrowded system that was designed for about 10,000 prisoners. Widespread arbitrary detention has long been a consequence of this situation with lengthy pre-trial detention which routinely can stretch up to three months or longer for a detainee without charge, indictment or trial. The situation has been a 12