KABUL (AFP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai told police Tuesday to stop torturing suspects, including those involved in a Taliban-led insurgency marked by acts of brutality.
Speaking to more than 100 senior police officials in Kabul, Karzai said people were still being tortured despite improvements in his US-backed government's prison system.
"Thank God our government is 1,000 times better than it was in the past, but... there are still cases where people are threatened, even tortured," Karzai said.
"Our first task is to eliminate these tyrants, terrorists, but even if we capture such criminals, after they are captured we must treat them humanely. I repeat: respect humans and your acts must be bound to laws," he said.
Canadian rights groups have repeatedly alleged that prisoners transferred to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops based in the south, where the Taliban's insurgency is the fiercest, are being tortured.
Canada's federal court on Monday ruled that rights groups' bid to halt the transfer of Taliban fighters captured by Canadian troops to Afghan jails could proceed.
Karzai told the police officials even "blood-sucking tyrants" should not be physically abused, and Taliban rebels must be treated humanely once they are captured.
"I want to have you promise me that we as guardians of people's security... should make the necessary efforts (so) that... the people of Afghanistan are not afraid of the government," he said.
Karzai also had praise for the country's fledgling police force, which is on the front line of the insurgency and forced to fight extremist rebels.
He said the government had to improve the care it offered the families of the roughly 700 policemen who had been killed this year.
Karzai also said improvements were needed in the payment of police salaries, which he had been told were not paid on time and were subject to irregular cuts.
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