UNAMA found sufficiently credible and reliable evidence that more than half of 635 detainees interviewed (326 detainees) experienced torture and ill-treatment in numerous facilities of the Afghan National Police (ANP), National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan Local Police (ALP) between October 2011 and October 2012. This finding is similar to UNAMA’s findings for October 2010-11 which determined that almost half of the detainees interviewed who had been held in NDS facilities and one third of detainees interviewed who had been held in ANP facilities experienced torture or ill-treatment at the hands of ANP or NDS officials. (See Map 2).

UNAMA’s new study noted that while the incidence of torture in ANP or ANBP facilities increased compared to the previous period, detainees interviewed in NDS custody experienced torture and ill-treatment at a rate that was slightly lower than the previous period. UNAMA observed that of the 105 child detainees interviewed, 80 children (76 percent) experienced torture or ill-treatment, an increase of 14 percent compared to UNAMA’s previous findings.