NEW YORK (SW): The Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns for the safety of the witnesses who testified against former warlord Commander Sarwar Zardad Faryadi in his 2005 conviction for torture and hostage taking.
In a statement released on Thursday, the HRW has urged upon the UK government to take immediate measures to protect witnesses, including by expediting asylum procedures and relocation outside Afghanistan. Zardad was transferred from the UK to Afghanistan on December 14 upon completion of his detention there. The Afghan government should impose parole restrictions on Zardad, and the UK and Afghan authorities should scrupulously monitor his compliance in order to protect those witnesses who remain in Afghanistan, the HRW added.
“Zardad’s trial and conviction in the UK was a landmark case – demonstrating that torturers cannot find safe haven by fleeing to another country,” said Patricia Gossman, senior researcher on Afghanistan. “But, by failing to take measures to protect witnesses, the UK government risks betraying those who made that conviction possible”, she added.
Zardad, who was prosecuted by UK authorities under English law implementing the Convention against Torture, for the crimes of hostage taking and torture committed in Afghanistan in the 1990s, was recently paroled after serving 11 years of a 20-year prison sentence.
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