Afghans say were beaten by Afghan authories - Dutch govt

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Three Afghan prisoners have told Dutch authorities they were beaten by Afghanistan's intelligence services last year, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

Three men said they were beaten while in custody of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) after Dutch forces in Afghanistan had handed over the men to Afghan authorities, a spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

A fourth man said he had been beaten during an interrogation by Dutch forces. The incident was reported to Dutch prosecutors. An investigation has been started, the spokesman said.

Human rights group Amnesty International in November urged NATO troops in Afghanistan to suspend transfers of detainees to Afghan authorities, saying that prisoners faced the risk of being tortured, but NATO said there was no evidence of systematic Afghan torture.

"He has been beaten on the head three times by the NDS," the Dutch embassy in Kabul said about a visit to an Afghan detainee in documents released by the Dutch ministries of defence and foreign affairs.

Two other Afghan prisoners held by the NDS told Dutch officials they were also beaten, said the documents, which were published on the website of Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, and confirmed by the Dutch Foreign Affairs spokesman.

He said every complaint by prisoners was one too many but there was no evidence of serious abuses in Afghan prisons and Dutch forces would continue to hand over detainees to Afghan authorities.

The Netherlands, like some other countries whose soldiers operate in Afghanistan, has an agreement with Afghanistan to safeguard fair treatment of prisoners, and can visit detainees after they are handed over to Afghan authorities, the spokesman said.