KABUL — Brutality allegations against Vice President Abdurrashid Dostum have thrown the Afghan government into an uproar, with President Ashraf Ghani facing intense international pressure to investigate the case and aides to the powerful former warlord claiming the charges are part of a political plot against him.
Ghani met with a group of foreign ambassadors at his palace Wednesday to discuss their concerns. Sources familiar with the meeting said there were hints that some foreign aid might be withheld unless swift action is taken, but they also said Ghani was furious at Dostum and reassured the group that he wanted him brought to justice.
Dostum, a mercurial former general and ethnic Uzbek militia leader who has previously been accused of human rights abuses, allegedly beat and stomped on Ahmad Ishchi, a former provincial governor and political rival, in front of hundreds of people at a polo match several weeks ago.
From there, Ishchi said in a TV interview Tuesday, he was taken prisoner in Dostum’s compound in northern Afghanistan, where Dostum allegedly brutalized him and ordered his guards to rape the white-bearded man. Ishchi was released after five days through negotiations with local elders.
