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Bagram ex-detainees allege abuse at US facility: BBC

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Several former detainees held at the US detention facility at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan have alleged abuse while in custody, BBC News reported Wednesday. Interviews conducted over a two-month period with 25 people detained on suspicion of belonging to al Qaeda or the Taliban revealed allegations that prisoners were subjected to physical abuse, death threats, "stress positions," extreme temperatures, and forced nudity. Amnesty International responded to the allegations by saying that they "were a timely reminder of the continuing need for accountability, transparency and for the human rights of those" detained in Afghanistan. Speaking for the US Department of Defense (DOD), Lt. Col. Mark Wright said that the conditions at Bagram were in line with international standards, and that service members who violated the rules had been held accountable. Concern over the treatment of detainees held at US facilities, including Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and Bagram Air Base, has accelerated after the April release of four CIA interrogation memos. Earlier this month, Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia stayed an April ruling which would have allowed habeas corpus challenges initiated by current Bagram detainees to proceed while the government appeals the decision. In May, the DOD announced plans to build a new prison in Afghanistan to replace Bagram, which became infamous in 2002 when two detainees died after being abused by US soldiers.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 24, 2009 (boomark / email).