Norway's involvement in NATO's military operation in Afghanistan remained very much in the news this week, as debate continued over whether Norwegian soldiers should be withdrawn. Norwegians have suddenly become aware that they're directly involved in a war in Afghanistan.
Kristoffer Sørli Jørgensen, age 22, became one of its latest victims on Thursday. He was killed, and a fellow Norwegian soldier severely injured, when a road bomb was detonated under their unarmoured vehicle near Maymaneh in northern Afghanistan.
The military aircraft carrying his body flew low over his hometown of Stange before landing at Oslo's main airport at Gardermoen. Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen was waiting in the airport's military portion, along with Sørli Jørgensen's family, for a special memorial ceremony that was closed to the media.
The condition of the soldier who was riding with Sørli Jørgensen remained serious. He was flown home to Norway over the weekend and is undergoing treatment at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo.
Questioned in Geneva
Norwegian officials, meanwhile, faced questioning at the United Nations in Geneva on Monday because Norwegian soldiers routinely turn prisoners taken in Afghanistan over to Afghan authorities. That may subject the prisoners to torture at the hands of the Afghan police, according to human rights organizations.
Amnesty International told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that Afghan authorities torture and abuse prisoners turned over by NATO forces in the country.
Afghan prisoners have reported being tortured, and Knut Rognlien of an attorney group's human rights division told NRK that "we have no guarantee that this doesn't happen to those taken prisoner by Norwegian soldiers."
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre rejected the complaints. Norway, he said, has "detailed agreements" with Afghan authorities that rule out torture, and he noted that Norwegian authorities "follow up" the situation of Afghan prisoners and have the right to visit them in Afghan jails.
