UN to build women's prison

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with funding from Canada, Italy and Austria, is to build a special jail to house female prisoners, UN spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters in Kabul on December 6. He said that 170 female prisoners are currently being held in very poor conditions in Kabul’s old jail. Edwards said the new building will have three sections for different age categories, it will be up to international standards, and will be completed in December 2006. According to the director of Afghanistan’s prison system, General Abdul Salam Bakhshi, there are more than 6,640 people in prisons across the country.