Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a Kabul-based group that aims to spotlight corruption, said on Sunday that the conditions of the country's prisons remain inhuman.
Poor state of building, lack of fire prevention measures, poor healthcare services, lack of clean drinking water and food for the prisoners, shortage of power and air were found as the group visited three prison facilities namely Pol-i-Charkhi, Baghlan and Wardak.
In a 54-page report, IWA also cited the problem of overcrowding, which it said has an adverse impact not only on operations and functioning of the prisons but it severely violates rights of inmates.
“Corruption and embezzlement are the key factors behind the poor condition of the prisons facilities and its mismanagement,” said Ikram Afzali, the executive director of IWA. ”There is a high risk of corruption in the construction of prison facilities. 1030 items and portions of the building in the prison have not been installed or constructed despite being explicit in the contracts.”
He said that the contracted companies, monitors of the U.S. government and the Afghan government officials are key players in having a role in corruption and embezzlement in the mentioned prisons.
Based on the report, 28 percent of facilities and equipment in prisons are dysfunctional. It also said that the management of the prisons was not able to build separate spaces for the inmates according to their crime category.
Lack of separate areas for prisoners with different crime category could be a major factor preventing correction of the prisoners, according to Muhiburrahman Rahmani, the head of Afghanistan Independent Bar Association.
Najib Danish, the acting spokesman for Interior Ministry, confirmed overcrowding of inmates, but rejected other findings in thereport.