U.N. report finds torture still widespread in Afghan jails

(Reuters) - Afghan authorities tortured or mistreated more than a third of nearly 800 suspected Taliban-linked detainees who human rights investigators were able to interview, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

"The government of Afghanistan's efforts to prevent torture and ill-treatment have shown some progress over the last two years," the top U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, said in a statement.

Torture is prohibited by Afghan law but widely used as a tool for extracting information, theUnited Nations said, adding that the judiciary was over reliant on confessions as the basis for prosecution

There were "credible reports" of secret detention sites operated by Afghan authorities in several regions, which the United Nations said should be urgently identified and closed.  Read More

U.N. report finds torture still widespread in Afghan jails

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