JURIST - Paper Chase: Former Guantanamo detainees allege Koran desecration

[JURIST] Six Pakistanis formerly held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] told reporters Monday after their release from subsequent detention in a Pakistani prison in Lahore that US personnel at the camp had abused the Koran in their presence. After being greeted by their families the men alleged that American interrogators threw, tore, and otherwise desecrated the holy book as part of their interrogation techniques. A Pentagon spokesman dismissed the charges by stating that claims of mistreatment are "standard operating procedure in al-Qaida training manuals". In May, a later-retracted [JURIST report] story of Koran abuse in Newsweek magazine sparked deadly anti-US rioting in Afghanistan, and helped prompt Senate Judiciary Committee hearings [JURIST report] on the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo. Human Rights Watch has an overview of the religious abuse allegations. AP has more.

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