Boy flogged to death by Afghan police

A 17-year old boy was reported whipped to death in custody of "police" in the northern Afghan province of Faryab. Anarchy and warlordism rules in the province, which was 'taken over' in April 2004 by US-ally General Abdul Rashin Dostum. There has been turmoil ever since. (The Province was site of fighting been Tajik Warlord Atta and Dostum in 2003.) Radio Free Europe reported in April this year that frustrated Kabul-appointed Governor Abdul Latif Ebrahimi complained that "local warlords" had been illegally occupying houses and shops in the Province. The international media gives little attention to the general political anarchy and detention practices of US "allies" in remote Afghanistan. According to the independent Afghan daily Arman-e-Milli:

A 17-year-old boy died in a detention centre in Faryab on June 24. More than 200 people attended a protest in Maimana to condemn the death of the boy, named as Mohammad Sadiq. He had been arrested in Maimana - the provincial capital of the northwestern province of Faryab - and was later lashed to death. The demonstrators lodged a complaint with the government and asked that those responsible be punished. The protesters said that the people now serving as policemen are actually yesterday's gunmen who served the warlords. They joined the police force and wear uniforms, but they are as unruly as they were under private commanders.