Medieval torture systems, including a stretching rack, uncovered in Afghan jails

Nato stops sending prisoners to Afghan jails over torture fears 06 Sep 2011 Nato has suspended the transfer of detainees to some Afghan jails after fears they were being subjected to systematic torture, British defence officials have said. The directive, issued this week, comes ahead of the imminent release of a UN report into detainees prisoners that is expected to be highly critical of the Afghan police... The report is understood to outline how prisoners are routinely beaten, given electric shocks and subjected to other human rights violations, some within private jails run by police commanders. Separate research by human rights observers has uncovered medieval-like torture systems, including a stretching rack. [Yes, this must be the 'change we can believe in' - rack-stretching instead of waterboarding!]