STEVE INSKEEEP, HOST:
Afghanistan has suffered from years of bombings and insurgent attacks. And a United Nations report examines how the government has tried to ward off the threat. The U.N. describes systematic torture of terror suspects by the country's intelligence service and national police.
In a search for information, Afghan authorities allegedly hung detainees by their wrists in chains, beat them with hoses or sticks, and also delivered electric shocks, among other things. Investigators issued those findings after interviewing almost 400 prisoners at detention facilities around the country.
Knowing that this report was coming, NATO has already acted, refusing to transfer prisoners from NATO custody to 16 Afghan detention facilities. Afghan authorities have acknowledged some problems, saying, quote, "we do not claim perfection." Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.