JURIST - Paper Chase: Gitmo detainees allege torture in Afghan prison

[JURIST] Eight detainees held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] have told their lawyers that they were tortured at a secret prison in Afghanistan, according to report released Sunday by the New York-based Human Rights Watch [advocacy website]. The detainees separately provided "consistent accounts" of being flown to Afghanistan in 2002-2004 following arrests in Asian and Middle Eastern countries and being held in a facility where they were chained to walls and deprived of food and water. Prison guards included Afghans and Americans in civilian clothes, and HRW has suggested that the facility "may have been operated" by Central Intelligence Agency [official website] personnel. US military officials have refused to comment, saying they had no details of the report and Afghan officials have denied any knowledge of a secret prison in Afghanistan. Last month, the CIA was accused of operating secret prisons in Eastern Europe [JURIST report] and several European countries are investigating those allegations as well as reports that the CIA has transported detainees using European airports. The EU's justice commissioner has said that there is no evidence of covert CIA prisons in Europe [JURIST report], though the continent's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe has said that it has gathered information that reinforces the credibility [JURIST report] of the allegations. The New York Times has more.

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