Red Cross pays first visit to prisoners held by Taliban

Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross have been allowed to visit prisoners held by Taliban militants in Afghanistan for the first time since a US-led invasion in 2001, the organisation said in a statement.

AFP - The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday it has carried out its first visits to prisoners held by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.
   
The ICRC said in a statement that it had been able to twice visit three members of the Afghan security forces detained by the Taliban in Badghis province at the end of November.
   
"This is the first time since the beginning of the current conflict that the ICRC has visited people detained by the armed opposition," said Reto Stocker, the ICRC head of delegation in Kabul.
   
"We welcome this breakthrough. We plan to conduct and repeat visits in other regions, and hope to visit people held by other armed opposition groups, with the aim of ensuring that everyone detained in relation to the armed conflict is treated humanely."
   
The ICRC said it currently visits 136 places of detention in Afghanistan and has registered more than 16,000 people since the beginning of the current conflict in 2001 when US-led forces ousted the Taliban from power.
   
"International humanitarian law grants the same protection to everyone held in connection with the armed conflict, whether the detaining party is the international or Afghan security forces or the armed opposition," explained Stocker.
   
The ICRC said it had been active in Afghanistan since 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded the country.

Date created : 2009-12-15