The number of Afghan civilians killed and wounded in the last half of 2012 rose sharply compared with the similar period in 2011 as insurgents took advantage of warmer weather to carry out more attacks, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The United Nations said Sunday that Afghan authorities were still torturing prisoners, such as hanging them by their wrists and beating them with cables, a year after the U.N. first documented the abuse and the Afghan government promised detention reform.
Girls and women in Afghanistan still suffer shocking abuse. But the public outrage and the government's response to it also show that the country is slowly changing.
"The situation for civilians is still very difficult in many communities and many thousands of Afghans are still affected by the armed conflict, so we are again calling on all concerned to redouble their efforts, increase their efforts to protect civilians," said Georgette Gagnon, the head of human rights for UNAMA.
"I think it's being dealt with in the appropriate way. Maybe we don't need to do it publicly," Ms. Gagnon said, noting that there have been plenty of discussions with the
