was incorporated into Afghan criminal law and whether the new regime in power
considered itself bound by the international conventions ratified by the
previous regime. Members of the Committee also sought clarification on the
structure of the judiciary, its independence and its relation with Islamic
courts. With regard to the report under consideration, members of the Committee
took note of the fact that it did not reflect the point of view of the present
Government and they agreed that a new comprehensive report was necessary to
understand how the Convention was applied in Afghanistan.
53. With reference to article 2 of the Convention, members of the Committee
requested more detailed information on the rights of persons under arrest,
including the right to be informed of charges against them, the right to remain
silent, the right to have their relatives informed of their whereabouts, the
right to communicate with a lawyer and to be examined by a doctor of their
choosing. It was also asked whether there was in Afghanistan a code of conduct
for methods of interrogation, whether a register was kept of persons under
arrest, whether the accused was responsible for obtaining and paying a lawyer
and whether the State provided such services. In addition, information was
requested on the length and conditions of police custody and the procedure
through which a person held in custody was brought before a judicial official.
It was asked, in this connection, whether there had been any cases of torture in
Afghanistan and whether representatives of the International Committee of the
Red Cross were authorized to visit detention centres in the country. It was
further observed that a recent trial in Afghanistan, in which four persons had
been sentenced to death, had been held in camera and that no appeal or review
had been allowed and it was asked whether trials were open to the public under
the new legal system and whether provision had been made for review or clemency
in the case of persons convicted for serious offences.
54. With reference to article 4 of the Convention, clarification was sought as
to what criminal penalties could be applied to those found guilty of practising
torture.
55. In connection with article 8 of the Convention, it was observed that the
constitutional provisions prohibiting the extradition of Afghan citizens to
another State might not comply with the requirements of that article, unless
provision was also made domestically for the prosecution of such citizens. It
was pointed out that article 8 implied that even Afghan citizens must be
extradited, for example, when they are accused of having committed torture in
another State.
56. In connection with articles 10 and 14 of the Convention, it was asked
whether education regarding the prohibition of torture was provided to various
categories of medical personnel other than doctors, whether any medical
rehabilitation programmes had been set up in Afghanistan, how victims of
wrongful acts committed by agents of the State were compensated and whether
there were statistics showing that any citizen had ever received such
compensation.
57. With reference to article 15 of the Convention, clarification was requested
about the sentences in the report which stated that confessions or statements
obtained by compulsion were not "valid".
58. In connection with article 16 of the Convention, it was pointed out that,
according to information received from Amnesty International, three persons had
been publicly hanged in Kabul on 7 September 1992 and it was observed that
public hangings could be regarded as cruel and degrading punishment. It was
also noted that, according to the same source of information, a person in
Afghanistan could be stoned to death for adultery or could be mutilated and
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