RECOMMENDATIONS IN RELATION TO FORUM STATES Afghanistan The ACJ recommends that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) urges its Government to address the following issues: • The need for Afghanistan to become a party to the First Optional Protocol, the OPCAT, and the Refugee Convention. • The existence of torture in detention facilities as identified in the 2003-2004 Annual Report of the AIHRC. • the capacity of of the Government of Afghanistan to submit periodic reports to the UN treaty monitoring bodies; • the necessity for the courts of Afghanistan to recognise customary international law as a source of law applicable in Afghanistan; • the practice of forcing individuals to sell their property, including their houses; • the practice referred to as ‘BAD’ involving the exchange of women and girls to resolve disputes; • the need for the Government of Afghanistan to protect individuals who have been returned to Afghanistan from torture and other ill-treatment. Australia The ACJ recommends that the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) urges its Government to address the following issues: • the necessity to sign and ratify OPCAT; • the restrictions placed on persons who have been detained under the ASIO Amendment Act, including in relation to accessing a lawyer, the communication between a lawyer and 43