Abuses at Bagram Must Be Part of Wider Inquiry, Says Amnesty International

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Interviews with former Bagram
detainees by the BBC are a timely reminder of the continuing need for
accountability, transparency and for the human rights of those held by the
United States in Afghanistan to be fully protected, said Amnesty International
today. The organization reiterated its call on the U.S. authorities to
establish a full independent commission of inquiry into all aspects of the
United States' detention and interrogation regime in what the Bush
administration dubbed the "war on terror."

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/AILOGO )

The former detainees, held in Bagram at various times between 2002 and 2008,
told the BBC they had been subjected to abuse in U.S. custody, including
beatings, stress positions, extremes of temperature, stripping, sleep
deprivation, and death threats.

Findings by the BBC are consistent with Amnesty International's own research,
including interviews with former Bagram detainees.

"The allegations are familiar. So, too, is the absence of accountability and
remedy for such abuses," said Rob Freer, U.S. researcher at Amnesty
International. "The United States continues to fail to meet its international
obligation to fully investigate all such allegations and bring to account all
those responsible for authorizing and carrying out human rights violations."

Amnesty International regrets that the new government has so far adopted
wholesale the approach of its predecessor on the legal rights of the Bagram
detainees. The organization has been calling on President Obama and his
government to recognize the right of the detainees to challenge the lawfulness
of their detention in an independent and impartial court.

In a letter last month, the Pentagon told Amnesty International that there
were "approximately 565" detainees held in Bagram. Little is known about who
they are, the circumstances of their arrests or their current treatment and
conditions of detention. None has access to legal counsel or the courts.

In response to the organization's concerns about child detainees, the Pentagon
stated that since 2002, U.S. forces had detained "approximately 100 juveniles
in Afghanistan," of whom "fewer than five" were still held. The letter gave no
other details on the Bagram detentions, saying that the information Amnesty
International had requested was either classified or the subject of ongoing
litigation in federal court.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist
organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers
in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The
organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the
public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and
dignity are denied.

For more information on Amnesty International's investigations regarding human
rights abuses against Bagram detainees, please see:

Out of sight, out of mind, out of court? The right of Bagram detainees to
judicial review, February 2009,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/021/2009/en

USA: Obama administration must take new approach on Bagram detentions,
February 2009, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/024/2009/en

Urgent need for transparency on Bagram detentions, March 2009,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/031/2009/en

Administration opts for secrecy on Bagram detainee details, March 2009,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/034/2009/en

Federal judge rules that three Bagram detainees can challenge their detention
in US court, April 2009,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/048/2009/en

SOURCE Amnesty International

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