Afghanistan’s vice president leaves under cloud for Turkey

Allegations of rape and torture follow Dostum abroad

KABUL // Afghanistan’s embattled vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum left for Turkey, officials said yesterday, in what could be another long exile for the former warlord who faces allegations that he ordered the rape and torture of a political rival.

Mr Dostum, an Uzbek warlord linked to a catalogue of war crimes, departed on Friday in the middle of a criminal investigation that has drawn attention to a culture of impunity in Afghanistan.

Officials declined to say whether his departure was linked to any investigation by the Afghan authorities, but speculation is rife that he has sought temporary exile in Turkey in a bid to escape prosecution.

He has not been charged with any offence and the status of the government’s investigation is unclear.

However, his spokesman said he had gone to Turkey for medical check-ups.

Mr Dostum, 63, is accused of abducting rival Ahmad Ishchi last year in northern Jowzjan province. Mr Ischi was allegedly held hostage in Mr Dostum’s private compound for five days, where he was tortured and sexually assaulted – allegations Mr Dostum denies.

No one was arrested despite reports that medical evidence supported Mr Ishchi’s claims that he was abused.

Afghanistan’s western allies initially piled pressure on president Ashraf Ghani’s government to prosecute Mr Dostum, who retreated to his palace in Kabul, guarded by militiamen.

In the public standoff it was clear the government favoured exile rather than a criminal trial against Mr Dostum, which could trigger violence from his Uzbek support base.

It would not be the first period of exile in Turkey for Mr Dos- tum. In 2008, he left for Turkey amid similar accusations that his men had abducted, beaten and sexually abused a political rival in Kabul, then fired on police responding to the incident. Former president Hamid Karzai called him back and Mr Dostum re-entered Afghan politics, becoming vice president to Mr Ghani in the 2014 elections.

“It’s a stunning example of what has become standard practice in Afghanistan, not just for Dostum but for anyone in a position of power: having promised to deliver justice the government has shown itself ultimately unwilling to do so,” said Patricia Gossman, Afghanistan researcher with Human Rights Watch. This month another former warlord, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who shelled Kabul during the civil war in the 1990s, returned to Kabul as part of a peace deal granting him immunity.