Prisoners handed over by international forces to Afghan custody are being subjected to “systematic’’ torture by Afghan interrogators seeking intelligence in the war against the Taliban, according to a United Nations report released Monday.
The report portrays prisoner abuse by Afghan authorities on a scale far wider than previously known. It is bound to complicate American efforts to hand over increasing responsibilities to Afghan forces as U.S. troops begin a steady drawdown from Afghanistan.
The findings include the use of brutal beatings and electric shock at several Afghan-run centers to wrest confessions from detainees. The account, based on interviews with detainees conducted as recently as August, raises questions about whether U.S. officials knew or should have known about abuses involving prisoners turned over to the Afghans.
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