New Evidence of Abuse at Bagram Underscores Need for Full Disclosure About Prison,...

New Evidence of Abuse at Bagram Underscores Need for Full Disclosure About
Prison, Says ACLU

NEW YORK, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former detainees have alleged
they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram
Airfield in Afghanistan, according to a new BBC report based on interviews
with former detainees held at Bagram between 2002 and 2006. Hundreds of
detainees are still being held in U.S. custody at the Bagram prison without
charge or trial.

"When prisoners are in American custody and under American control, no matter
the location, our values and commitment to the rule of law are at stake," said
Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union
National Security Project. "Torture and abuse at Bagram is further evidence
that prisoner abuse in U.S. custody was systemic, not aberrational, and
originated at the highest levels of government. We must learn the truth about
what went wrong, hold the proper people accountable and make sure these failed
policies are not continued or repeated."

In April, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for
records pertaining to the detention and treatment of prisoners held at Bagram,
including the number of people currently detained, their names, citizenship,
place of capture and length of detention. The ACLU is also seeking records
pertaining to the process afforded those prisoners to challenge their
detention and designation as "enemy combatants."

"The U.S. government's detention of hundreds of prisoners at Bagram has been
shrouded in complete secrecy," said Melissa Goodman, staff attorney with the
ACLU National Security Project. "The American people have a right to know
what's happening at Bagram and whether prisoners have been tortured there."

In a related case, the ACLU is representing former Bagram prisoner Mohammed
Jawad in a habeas corpus challenge to his indefinite detention at Guantanamo
Bay. The Afghan government recently sent a letter to the U.S. government
suggesting Jawad was as young as 12 when he was captured in Afghanistan and
taken to Bagram, where he was tortured. Despite the fact that the primary
evidence against Jawad was thrown out in his military commission case at
Guantanamo because it was derived through torture, the U.S. government
continues to rely on such evidence - including evidence obtained during
interrogations at Bagram - in Jawad's current habeas case to justify holding
him indefinitely.

The ACLU's FOIA request, including a complete list of documents being
requested, is available online at:
www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/39441lgl20090423.html

More about Jawad's case is online at: www.aclu.org/jawad

SOURCE American Civil Liberties Union

Rachel Myers of ACLU, +1-212-549-2689 or 2666, media@aclu.org