Fresh claims US is running secret prison in Afghanistan

**dirtydog** · 16-10-2010, 10:30 PM

Fresh claims US is running secret prison in Afghanistan

There have been repeated allegations of prisoner abuse at Bagram airbase

Prisoners are being abused at a "secret jail" in the main American military base in Afghanistan, according to a report from a US policy think tank.

Ex-detainees said they were deprived of sleep and held in cold isolation cells in the site at Bagram, says New York-based Open Society Foundations.

A BBC investigation in April uncovered similar allegations of prisoner abuse at a hidden facility in Bagram airbase.

The US military repeated its denial that it was operating a secret jail.

'Very troubling pattern'

Open Society Foundations, which is funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, says 18 detainees claim they were held at a secret site, dubbed the "black jail", during 2009 and 2010.

“Start Quote

The Department of Defence does not operate any secret prisons”

End Quote Capt Pamela Kunze US military spokeswoman

The inmates said they were exposed to excessive cold and light, not given enough food or blankets, deprived of sleep, stripped naked for medical examinations and not allowed to practise their religion.

"Given the consistency of the accounts, the Open Society Foundations believes these are genuine areas of concern, and not outliers, that run counter to US rules on detainee treatment," the report says.

"We're not talking about being threatened to death in interrogation with drills to their head, we're talking about run-of-the-mill detention conditions that when seen as a whole create a very troubling pattern," report author Jonathan Horowitz said.

The US military said its detention centres complied with US and international laws.

"The Department of Defence does not operate any secret prisons," Capt Pamela Kunze, a spokeswoman for the US military task force overseeing detentions in Afghanistan, told Associated Press news agency.

In April, the BBC spoke to nine former detainees who said they had been held at a secret jail.

The prisoners said that they had been prevented from sleeping and that a light had been kept on in their small, cold concrete cells so they could not tell if it was night or day.

In June last year, the BBC spoke to a number of other former detainees who had been held at Bagram airbase, and they claimed they had been beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs.

BBC News - Fresh claims US is running secret prison in Afghanistan

**Boon Mee** · 17-10-2010, 12:33 AM

No sleep & cold cells!

What's next? 24/7 Wayne Newton at 110db?

**Thormaturge** · 17-10-2010, 01:24 AM

They're just annoyed that the US didn't send then to Guantanamo.

**chitown** · 17-10-2010, 02:45 AM

They need to force feed em pulled pork sandwiches.....

**RPETER65** · 17-10-2010, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by chitown

They need to force feed em pulled pork sandwiches.....

And wrap them in pig skins if they are to cold

**Agent_Smith** · 17-10-2010, 05:10 AM

It's still better than a Thai jail.

**Mid** · 10-09-2012, 06:42 PM

US transfers notorious jail to Afghan officials
Michael Edwards
Posted 2 hours 12 minutes ago

The United States military has begun handing over control of the notorious Bagram prison to Afghan authorities.

The move is part of a deal to transfer all prisons back to Afghan control ahead of the NATO withdrawal at the end of 2014.

While Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai has welcomed the handover, there are still areas of disagreement with the US.

Major questions remain over the immediate and long-term fate of more than 3,100 inmates, which include Taliban fighters and terror suspects, held at Bagram, sometimes referred to as the Guantanamo Bay of Afghanistan.

There have been a number of allegations of prisoner abuse at the prison.

Around 50 foreigners are not covered by the agreement, and hundreds of other Afghans arrested since the transfer deal was signed on March 9 are also being held at the Parwan Detention Facility, outside the Bagram US airbase north of Kabul.

Afghan officials presided over a small handover ceremony, which was marked by a low attendance among US and NATO officers.

"I'm happy that today we are witnessing a glorious ceremony that marks the handing over of responsibilities of Afghan prisoners to Afghans themselves," acting defence minister Enayatullah Nazari said.

Afghan military police commander Safiullah Safi said 3,182 prisoners had been formally handed over to the police following a six-month transition.

Mr Karzai demanded authority over the prison as conditional to addressing long-term Afghan-US relations and possible legal immunity for US troops, the key to troops remaining in the country after 2014.

In March, Afghanistan's human rights commission detailed torture in prisons run by the Afghanistan's intelligence service and police force.

The National Directorate of Security Intelligence Service spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri rejected the claims, saying rights activists regularly visit detention centres.

In January, Afghan investigators said inmates at Bagram had been tortured, although a report made public gave few details of the allegations made by prisoners.

Former inmates and relatives of detainees currently at the prison have expressed concern that conditions may worsen.

xxx.xxx.xx

**taxexile** · 10-09-2012, 08:00 PM

Handing the gaols back to afghani control.

the bastards will soon be wishing the americans were still in charge.

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