Kabul:
Women visiting relatives at a notorious men's prison on the edge of Kabul have in recent weeks been subjected to invasive body-cavity searches at the order of the prison's commandant, who has told guards and American officials that the measure is needed to keep out contraband, Western and Afghan officials said.
Most male visitors get into the American-financed prison with a mere pat down. Almost all female visitors, meanwhile, undergo a vaginal search without reasonable suspicion or recourse.
"It was killing me to go through this disgusting way of body search," said a woman whose husband was imprisoned at the Pul-e-Charki prison, Afghanistan's largest detention centre, and who after dozens of visits is still being searched. "I was telling the female prison guard, 'this is against all human values and dignity.' "
American officials agree, as do some Afghan officials, and they have repeatedly pressed Interior Minster Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and the commandant of the prison, Gen. Muhammad Khan, to stop the practice.
Having been repeatedly rebuffed, the Americans on Thursday tried to use the best lever they have: they cut off all American financing to Pul-e-Charki until they can confirm that the invasive searches have stopped, two Western officials said. The United States has spent about $14.2 million on improvements at the prison since June 2009.
But with no word yet on what impact the latest American move has had, Western officials and rights advocates here are viewing the hard line as a troubling sign: not just of waning Western influence as relations have worsened, but also for of maintaining hard-won gains in rights for women in Afghanistan as the prospect of a speeded-up American withdrawal has become a greater possibility.
This is not an oversimplified case of high-minded Westerners versus conservative Afghans. The West's role in Afghanistan empowered many Afghans to champion women's and minority rights in the past decade, and those home-grown reformers have helped establish most of the social changes that have been seen as encouraging steps here.
Yet the Afghans at the forefront of pressing for those rights are already finding themselves increasingly marginalized as Afghanistan's old guard flexes its muscles. In fact, the official in charge of all Afghanistan's civilian prisons, Gen. Amir Jamshid, has tried and failed to stop the invasive searches of women, his objections overridden by Mr. Mohammadi, the interior minister, Afghan and American officials said. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid offending their Afghan counterparts.
Other worrying signs have appeared. President Hamid Karzai in December removed outspoken members of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which is appointed by the government but acts independently. Then earlier this month, Afghanistan's Ulema Council, the country's highest religious authority, released a "code of conduct" that suggested it was permissible for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. President Karzai endorsed the code last week, in a move seen as part of his efforts to reach out to hard-liners among the Taliban ahead of an American withdrawal.
"There has been important progress made on human rights in the last 10 years largely due to brave Afghans inside and outside the government," said Heather Barr, the Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "But they've needed international support and without it, they may see their work become impossible."
American officials cautioned that trouble at one prison did not herald the overall collapse of Western influence, and that they believed they could still effect change, especially a Pul-e-Charki, which houses about 7,000 convicts.
But they have so far failed to stop the invasive searches, which were first noticed by American mentors at the prison in mid-February, according to multiple American and Western officials.
The Americans have since then twice received assurances the practice would stop - once from General Khan and then later from Mr. Mohammadi, the minister. It has nonetheless continued, and the American Embassy said this week it was still discussing the matter with the Interior Ministry. It is not clear whether women face the same kinds of searches at Afghanistan's other civilian prisons.
Since June 2009, the United States has earmarked $26.8 million for renovations at the prison, and just over half of that has already been spent. "I don't think we'd be facing the same kind of resistance if this was last year or the year before," said one American official in Kabul. "We're going, and they know it."
A request from The New York Times to visit Pul-e-Charki was turned down by the Interior Ministry.
Saturday is the next visiting day at Pul-e-Charki, which is run by civilian authorities. General Khan, who comes from the police force, said in a telephone interview the searches would continue. "Stopping somebody hiding narcotics or mobile phone or banned items, that's not a violation of their rights," he said.
The prison, he said, was thick with Taliban detainees and rife with contraband and needed to be brought under control. He said Taliban commanders held there were plotting attacks in Kabul, a view shared by American officials.
General Khan said the invasive searches would stop once America bought an X-ray machine for the prison - a purchase American officials say they have no plans to make. He added that men suspected of smuggling could also face a similar kind of search. And he insisted that the searches were only conducted on "suspicious" women.
That account was countered by a female guard at the prison and by Western and Afghan officials familiar with the situation.
"We have been strictly ordered to search genital areas of all the women who are visiting the prisoners," said the guard, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job. She added that even the prisoners, all of whom are men, are only patted down after meeting visitors.
She said that the guards sometimes find phones or drugs in some searches, but that she was still uncomfortable with the blanket order to search all women. She said many of her fellow guards felt the same, and they sometimes let women pass without a search when they can.
The Afghan woman who had been subjected to the searches said the practice had been going on since at least last year, though it had gotten stricter in the past few months. "I have been subjected to this humiliating type of body search more than 20 to 25 times," said the woman, who did not want to be identified because she felt ashamed.
Most male visitors get into the American-financed prison with a mere pat down. Almost all female visitors, meanwhile, undergo a vaginal search without reasonable suspicion or recourse.
"It was killing me to go through this disgusting way of body search," said a woman whose husband was imprisoned at the Pul-e-Charki prison, Afghanistan's largest detention centre, and who after dozens of visits is still being searched. "I was telling the female prison guard, 'this is against all human values and dignity.' "
American officials agree, as do some Afghan officials, and they have repeatedly pressed Interior Minster Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and the commandant of the prison, Gen. Muhammad Khan, to stop the practice.
Having been repeatedly rebuffed, the Americans on Thursday tried to use the best lever they have: they cut off all American financing to Pul-e-Charki until they can confirm that the invasive searches have stopped, two Western officials said. The United States has spent about $14.2 million on improvements at the prison since June 2009.
But with no word yet on what impact the latest American move has had, Western officials and rights advocates here are viewing the hard line as a troubling sign: not just of waning Western influence as relations have worsened, but also for of maintaining hard-won gains in rights for women in Afghanistan as the prospect of a speeded-up American withdrawal has become a greater possibility.
This is not an oversimplified case of high-minded Westerners versus conservative Afghans. The West's role in Afghanistan empowered many Afghans to champion women's and minority rights in the past decade, and those home-grown reformers have helped establish most of the social changes that have been seen as encouraging steps here.
Yet the Afghans at the forefront of pressing for those rights are already finding themselves increasingly marginalized as Afghanistan's old guard flexes its muscles. In fact, the official in charge of all Afghanistan's civilian prisons, Gen. Amir Jamshid, has tried and failed to stop the invasive searches of women, his objections overridden by Mr. Mohammadi, the interior minister, Afghan and American officials said. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid offending their Afghan counterparts.
Other worrying signs have appeared. President Hamid Karzai in December removed outspoken members of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which is appointed by the government but acts independently. Then earlier this month, Afghanistan's Ulema Council, the country's highest religious authority, released a "code of conduct" that suggested it was permissible for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. President Karzai endorsed the code last week, in a move seen as part of his efforts to reach out to hard-liners among the Taliban ahead of an American withdrawal.
"There has been important progress made on human rights in the last 10 years largely due to brave Afghans inside and outside the government," said Heather Barr, the Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "But they've needed international support and without it, they may see their work become impossible."
American officials cautioned that trouble at one prison did not herald the overall collapse of Western influence, and that they believed they could still effect change, especially a Pul-e-Charki, which houses about 7,000 convicts.
But they have so far failed to stop the invasive searches, which were first noticed by American mentors at the prison in mid-February, according to multiple American and Western officials.
The Americans have since then twice received assurances the practice would stop - once from General Khan and then later from Mr. Mohammadi, the minister. It has nonetheless continued, and the American Embassy said this week it was still discussing the matter with the Interior Ministry. It is not clear whether women face the same kinds of searches at Afghanistan's other civilian prisons.
Since June 2009, the United States has earmarked $26.8 million for renovations at the prison, and just over half of that has already been spent. "I don't think we'd be facing the same kind of resistance if this was last year or the year before," said one American official in Kabul. "We're going, and they know it."
A request from The New York Times to visit Pul-e-Charki was turned down by the Interior Ministry.
Saturday is the next visiting day at Pul-e-Charki, which is run by civilian authorities. General Khan, who comes from the police force, said in a telephone interview the searches would continue. "Stopping somebody hiding narcotics or mobile phone or banned items, that's not a violation of their rights," he said.
The prison, he said, was thick with Taliban detainees and rife with contraband and needed to be brought under control. He said Taliban commanders held there were plotting attacks in Kabul, a view shared by American officials.
General Khan said the invasive searches would stop once America bought an X-ray machine for the prison - a purchase American officials say they have no plans to make. He added that men suspected of smuggling could also face a similar kind of search. And he insisted that the searches were only conducted on "suspicious" women.
That account was countered by a female guard at the prison and by Western and Afghan officials familiar with the situation.
"We have been strictly ordered to search genital areas of all the women who are visiting the prisoners," said the guard, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job. She added that even the prisoners, all of whom are men, are only patted down after meeting visitors.
She said that the guards sometimes find phones or drugs in some searches, but that she was still uncomfortable with the blanket order to search all women. She said many of her fellow guards felt the same, and they sometimes let women pass without a search when they can.
The Afghan woman who had been subjected to the searches said the practice had been going on since at least last year, though it had gotten stricter in the past few months. "I have been subjected to this humiliating type of body search more than 20 to 25 times," said the woman, who did not want to be identified because she felt ashamed.
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