Minister of Defence Wayne Mapp cannot entirely rule out the possibility that New Zealand SAS troops in Afghanistan handed prisoners over to Afghan authorities to be tortured.
A United Nations report that was released yesterday said that there was “systematic torture” at prisons in Afghanistan, especially one prison called ‘Department 90/124”.
Political reporter Patrick Gower talked to Dr Mapp today about whether New Zealand’s SAS played a role in handing prisoners over to the Afghan authorities for torture.
Dr Mapp says he has received “no information that any of them have been mistreated”.
“I have asked that question directly and it is my understanding based on the information I have received that it actually hasn’t happened,” he says.
Patrick asked the Minister, “So you can absolutely rule it out that none of those 58 people have ended up in department 90”.
Dr Mapp replied, “The information that I have is that they have not but obviously that will have to be more fully checked but that is the information I have”.
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