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Afghanistan

PHR has been investigating human rights violations in Afghanistan since 1998, when it first focused on the abuses of women under the rule of the Taliban. Today, PHR continues to call for a full investigation into an alleged massacre of as many as 2,000 Taliban prisoners who surrendered in November 2001 to US and Afghan forces and are believed to have been buried in the desert of Dasht-e-Leili.

PHR has also investigated the abuses of detainees captured in Afghanistan during the war on terror and continues to call for accountability of those who authorized and carried out the abuse.

Our expertise in forensics is helping the government of Afghanistan and civil society work together to investigate mass atrocities in order to heal the nation and create a more stable society.

President Obama Called to Act on Promise to Investigate Dasht-e-Leili Massacre (December 13, 2011)

In a letter dated December 9, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) asked President Obama to make good on his promise to investigate the massacre of prisoners by the Northern Alliance, US allies.

Dasht-e-Leili, Ten Years Later (December 13, 2011)

In December 2001, Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, with strong US backing consisting of special-forces units and CIA paramilitary operatives, were close to consolidating their control over the country. Then, in the north, as many as 2,000 prisoners who had surrendered to the Alliance or their American supporters were apparently shot to death or suffocated in sealed metal truck containers while being transferred to Afghanistan’s Sheberghan prison.

Physicians Call on Obama to Investigate Massacre of 2,000 Taliban Prisoners (December 13, 2011)

PHR is calling on President Obama to act on his promise to investigate the massacre of at least 2,000 suspected Taliban prisoners of war that occurred 10 years ago in Afghanistan. The prisoners were allegedly shot to death or suffocated in sealed metal truck containers at Dasht-e-Leili while being held by the US-backed Afghan Northern Alliance.

President Obama Must Investigate Reports of Detainee Abuse at Bagram Air Base (May 11, 2010)

Cambridge, MA — Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today called on President Obama to investigate BBC News reports that detainees being held by US forces at an undisclosed second detention facility at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan are allegedly being subjected to prolonged isolation, temperature manipulation, and sleep deprivation.

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On 10 Year Anniversary of ‘Convoy of Death’, President Obama Must Keep His Promise to Investigate (December 20, 2011)

This December marks the 10-year anniversary of the “Convoy of Death.” During Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, 2,000 prisoners who had surrendered to the US and the Afghan Northern Alliance were shot or suffocated to death in sealed truck containers while being transferred by Northern Alliance forces. The dead prisoners – some of who had been tortured - were then buried in a mass grave in a northern Afghanistan desert at Dasht-e-Leili.

Obama’s Attempt to Prevent Mass Atrocities is Positive First Step (August 16, 2011)

Recently the Obama Administration unveiled landmark legislation which has the potential to strengthen how the US deals with the prevention of mass atrocities and serious human rights violations. The inter-agency Atrocities Prevention Board (PSD-10) aims to close existing gaps in US law and provide new economic, diplomatic, and political deterrents to ensure that the US responds swiftly and unequivocally to all manner of human rights violators.

Afghan Panel on Human Rights and Transitional Justice (August 12, 2011)

International Forensic Program (IFP) Director Stefan Schmitt and Program Consultant Zabi Mazoori participated on July 21, 2011, in the 79th “Guftegu”, a public discussion with expert panelists, on “Truth Seeking and Justice in Afghanistan” at the French Cultural Center in Kabul.

Truth Seeking and the Role of Forensic Science: Conference in Kabul, October 12-14 (October 12, 2010)

Participants are anticipated to come from the different provinces in Afghanistan with a participation of approximately 100 persons representing civil society, governmental and other local and regional authorities.

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Report on Conditions at Afghanistan's Shebarghan Prison (January 2002)

On the basis of direct observation, contact with the prisoners, and interviews prior to and subsequent to this inspection, PHR's 3-member team reported that conditions at Shebarghan were in grave violation of international standards for those held in detention or as prisoners of war. The facilities were entirely inadequate for the care of the number of people held there, the food insufficient in quantity and nutrition, the water supply unclean, sanitation virtually absent, clothing meager, and barred walls open to the elements exposed the inhabitants to winter conditions.

Physicians for Human Rights Letter to President Barack Obama (July 2009)

PHR calls on President Obama launch a probe into the alleged Dasht-e-Leili massacre and its cover-up by the Bush Administration.

Broken Laws, Broken Lives (June 2008)

PHR's report details for the first time medical evidence confirming first-hand accounts of men who endured torture by US personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. These men were never charged with any crime.

Afghanistan Support Project July 2007 (October 2007)

In July 2007, PHR sent a two-person team to Afghanistan to assess continuing need for forensic assistance in establishing accountability for serious war crimes and crimes against humanity, with a view to ending impunity and to establish the truth of what happened in the past. An expected outcome is to undertake forensic investigations relating to mass graves.

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