New Evidence that Bush Administration Impeded 3 Investigations into Alleged Massacre...

New Evidence that Bush Administration Impeded 3 Investigations into Alleged
Massacre of Up to 2,000 Prisoners in Afghanistan
Human rights group that discovered the mass grave and sued for release of
government documents is available for comment

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
has issued a call for a criminal probe in the wake of a major New York Times
story with new evidence that the Bush Administration impeded at least three
federal investigations into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan in 2002.

PHR is calling for the Department of Justice to investigate why the Bush
Administration impeded an FBI criminal probe of the alleged Dasht-e-Leili
massacre.

According to US government documents obtained by PHR, as many as 2,000
surrendered Taliban fighters were reportedly suffocated in container trucks by
Afghan forces operating jointly with the US in November 2001. The bodies were
reportedly buried in mass graves in the Dasht-e-Leili desert near Sheberghan,
Afghanistan. Notorious Afghan warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who was
reportedly on the CIA payroll, is allegedly responsible for the massacre.

Physicians for Human Rights, which shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, first
documented the existence of the alleged mass grave in January 2002 and since
then:
-- Advocated for witnesses to be protected, the mass grave site to be
secured, and for a full and impartial investigation;
-- Conducted preliminary forensic investigations -- including exposing 15
remains and conducting three autopsies -- under UN auspices at
Dasht-e-Leili;
-- Successfully sued for compliance with a PHR Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request for the release of US government documents that reveal
US
intelligence knowledge of the magnitude of the alleged crime and
awareness of the execution and torture of witnesses to the incidents;
-- Helped identify the US chain of command likely responsible for
impeding
federal investigations into the alleged massacre;
-- Discovered and reported on alleged tampering of the site; and

-- Requested satellite image analysis by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) that appears to demonstrate that
tampering
occurred soon after PHR filed its FOIA request in June 2006.

"Physicians for Human Rights went to investigate inhumane conditions at a
prison in northern Afghanistan, but what we found was much worse," stated
Susannah Sirkin, PHR Deputy Director. "Our researchers documented an apparent
mass grave site with reportedly thousands of bodies of captured prisoners who
were suffocated to death in trucks. That was 2002; seven years later, we still
seek answers about what exactly happened and who was involved."

Senior Bush Administration officials impeded investigations by the FBI and the
State Department, and the Defense Department apparently never conducted a full
inquiry, the New York Times reports in the story for the July 11 print edition
by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter James Risen.

"The Bush Administration's disregard for the rule of law and the Geneva
Conventions led to torture of prisoners in Guantanamo and many other secret
places," noted Nathaniel Raymond, PHR's lead researcher on Dasht-e-Leili.
"Contrary to the legal opinions of the previous Department of Justice, the
principles of the Geneva Conventions are non-negotiable, as is their
enforcement. President Obama must open a full and transparent criminal probe
and prosecute any US officials found to have broken the law."

"The State Department's statement to the New York Times that suspected war
crimes should be thoroughly investigated indicates a move towards full
accountability," added Raymond. "We stand ready to aid the US government in
investigating this massacre. It is time for the cover-up to end."

Sirkin added, "President Obama must set a different course by signaling
publicly that in all of its operations anywhere in the world, the US and its
allies will respect the Geneva Conventions and safeguard the rights of
prisoners of war, as well as all captured combatants and detainees to be
treated humanely."

PHR reiterated its call on the Government of Afghanistan, which has
jurisdiction over the alleged mass grave site, to:
-- Secure the area with the assistance of ISAF (International Security
Assistance Force-Afghanistan);
-- Protect witnesses to the initial incident and the ensuing tampering;
and

-- Ensure a full investigation of remaining evidence at the site,
including
the tracing of the substantial amount of soil that appears to have
been
removed in 2006.

"Gravesites have been tampered with, evidence has been destroyed, and
witnesses have been tortured and killed," stressed Sirkin. "The Dasht-e-Leili
mass grave site must finally be secured, all surviving witnesses must be
protected, and the Government of Afghanistan, in coordination with the UN and
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), must at last allow a full
investigation to go forward."

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. PHR was
founded in 1986 on the idea that health professionals, with their specialized
skills, ethical commitments, and credible voices, are uniquely positioned to
investigate the health consequences of human rights violations and work to
stop them. PHR mobilizes health professionals to advance health, dignity and
justice and promotes the right to health for all. PHR has documented the
systematic use of psychological and physical torture by US personnel against
detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Bagram airbase and elsewhere.

PHR's International Forensic Program (IFP) has conducted forensic assessments
and investigations of human rights abuses, crimes against humanity and
genocide in many countries. IFP is dedicated to providing independent forensic
expertise to document and collect evidence of human rights violations and of
violations of international humanitarian law. Since the 1980s, PHR has
mobilized forensic scientists and other experts worldwide to respond to
inquiries by governments, organizations, families and individuals.

On the Web:

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org

http://afghanmassgrave.org

SOURCE Physicians for Human Rights

Jonathan Hutson, Cell, +1-857-919-5130, jhutson [at] phrusa [dot] org