Prevention of Torture What NHRIs Can do The 20th Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference of the APF Ulaanbaatar 28 August 2015

Torture prevention mechanism in Afghanistan, the AIHRC work and achievements Afghanistan’s context before Law and policy before AIHRC intervention Findings, Verification mechanism Establishment of a baseline Achievements Current state of affairs Work to do Lessons learned

Afghanistan’s Context A very fragile state No functioning government institutions Absence of rule of law and justice The prevalence culture of impunity Systemic practice of torture Torture as a tool and as an effective instrument to get suspects confession No awareness raising program on torture No mechanism to prevent torture

Law and Policies before the AIHRC Intervention Afghanistan signed and become party to the UN convention on prevention of torture on 1987 with some reservation on article 20 and paragraph 1 of article 30. No major domestic legislation on torture Provision of constitution and penal code very general not very specific and adequate No policy to prevent torture

The AIHRC intervention Monitoring mechanism Reporting mechanism Centrally maintained database Complain handling and case management procedure Research and reports Public statement and media conferences Strong advocacy for law and policy changes Education, training to police and NDS

The AIHRC verification A strong verification mechanism, Intensive interviews, review of cases, documents Investigation of all allegations thoroughly Corroboration of testimonies and allegations Verification of documents

The AIHRC findings Torture was practiced systematically Torture was accepted as a tool and instrument to get confession No legal provision sufficient to deter perpetrator of tortures No government policy to prevent torture Cases of torture in all provinces No legal and court mechanism to prosecute perpetrators

No education for police on torture prevention No accountability mechanism, rather culture of reward and authority

The AIHRC baseline Conducted a survey, produced a report in 2005 Created a baseline Reported regularly

The AIHRC Acheivements Attention to UNCAT, robust law changes The government has prepared the first report to treaty body, UNCAT, yet to be submitted The government drafted a law on prevention of torture and a stronger provision on the new Afghan Criminal procedural code The government prepared a national action plan on prevention of torture, yet to be implemented Courts have become more sensitive to cases of torture Two officers have been prosecuted and tried in court Several officers were investigated, demoted or under investigation Torture victims are protected, provided with relieve

The current state of affairs Torture cases have decreased substantially More access to detention centers, improvement in the NDS centers No systematic torture taking place Law has been drafted and accountability mechanism is in place Sensitivity toward torture has increased More cooperation from the government More high ranking officials under investigation( Najibullah Case) Regular monitoring of NDS and Police custodies

Work To do The AIHRC has urged the GoIRA To sign the optional protocol To bring more transparency and more access to detention centers Facilitate Education to its personal Adopt the law on prevention of torture Implement the action plan on prevention of torture Implement and comply with the UNCAT including signing the optional protocols

Lessons Learned NHRIs could play as a national mechanism on prevention of torture Robust monitoring of police costudy and national security directorate is essential Education and training is very important Sensitivity of judges, politician, media and CSOs is very important Reporting and press conference could put pressure on the government Verification of cases of torture Assistance to the victims