Afghan Detainees Allege U.S. Prison Abuse

By: Tucker Reals
Topics: World Watch

(CBS/AP)

Twenty-five former prisoners at the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan have told the British Broadcasting Corp. they were abused and neglected while in custody.

The BBC investigation interviewed 27 former terror detainees across Afghanistan who were detained and then released without charge from the Bagram Air Base. All but two claimed abuse.

All but two of the former prisoners, held at Bagram between 2002 and 2008, alleged abuse and neglect. Many claimed they were subjected to beatings, stress positions, over-exposure to heat or cold, loud noise, being forced to remove clothes in front of female soldiers, sleep deprivation and threats with dogs. Four said their lives were threatened at gunpoint during interrogations.

"They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans," one former inmate told the network.

Lt Col Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, denied the accusations made to the BBC. He insisted that conditions at the military base "meet international standards for care and custody."

Wright told the network that the Pentagon has a policy of treating detainees humanely, but he acknowledged instances in the past when those principles had been violated.

"There have been well-documented instances where that policy was not followed, and service members have been held accountable for their actions in those cases," he told the BBC.

President Obama has banned the use of torture by U.S. military and intelligence personnel. He ordered an investigation into the treatment of terrorism detainees, and a report is due from that probe in July.

Tucker Reals
Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.

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by ttinsly June 24, 2009 2:54 PM EDT

"As Harry S. Truman suggested, "Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." Due to this fear, are we, then, to all conform with lock-step in perverse obedience to the State's dictates, outlooks and agendas in an increasingly Orwellian milieu? If not, then we must constantly remind ourselves and each other of US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas's vision: "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.""

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by hower4 June 24, 2009 3:14 PM EDT: Dear ttinsly
Do you have any opinions of your own, or are you only capable to copying and pasting? Still, I suppose that's an achievement for most Americans!

by babooph June 24, 2009 10:18 AM EDT

I thought the US vote was for "change"?

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by hower4 June 24, 2009 11:10 AM EDT: It was a change of color, not policies. The policies can't change until the American mentality changes.


by earth562 June 24, 2009 11:20 AM EDT: and hower is good at blaming America first. The Lib professors have done a good job of having another useful idiot join their ranks.

by OneStaticHorizon June 24, 2009 10:15 AM EDT

It's pretty obvious there are way too many ignorant Americans who either don't know right from wrong or simply don't care.

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by hower4 June 24, 2009 12:56 PM EDT: Sadly, it's the "don't care" option. To almost all Americans, if it doesn't affect them personally then they don't care.

Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis - DON'T CARE!
Five cents on a gallon of gas - WE NEED TO INVADE SOMEWHERE!

by ReallyMeanIt June 24, 2009 10:13 AM EDT

I guess these idiots claimed abuse when they found out that it's not quite the Ritz-Carlton!
Regardless, they'll always say there are abuse no matter how they are treated. Only the feeble minded would fall for it.

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by dynamited777 June 24, 2009 11:26 AM EDT: Here's the deal, the BBC, the conservative media of the UK, interviewed these people individually, without each other knowing the others story. They described the techniques the same way. Conclusion, they are telling the truth. That is why in US Courts, witnesses are not allowed to be in the courtroom during testimony. This blog is populated mostly by people with an eighth grade education. That would be you ReallyMeanIt.


by ReallyMeanIt June 24, 2009 11:47 AM EDT: dynamited777, so you're one of the feeble minded.
I guess it's never occurred to you that they got their story together long before hand, even before they got captured.
You claimed to be smarter than anyone else so at least show some evidence of it. Gulible is not a good trait to have!!


by hungry1968-15 June 24, 2009 9:10 AM EDT: by IThoughtItWasFunnyAsIs June 24, 2009 4:34 AM PDT
Good! If these THUGS had been home where they belonged taking care of their families instead of trying to blow up the world, I guess they wouldn't have been in a war prison, now would they?

Brilliant.

These guys were swept up and detained against their will, but you believe they went there voluntarily, is that it?

You might also notice that they were released WITHOUT being charged with any crimes. Do we normally release terrorists that are capable of attacking our troops, or those that have attacked our troops in the past?; Reply to this comment


by jacklfuller June 24, 2009 8:48 AM EDT: Of course they allege mistreatment. Its the smart thing to do. Just look at how quickly the anti-American leftists scramble to jump on the wagon with them. There iasn't anything that drives the anti-American's more than a good "hate America" opportunity. Its a knee jerk reaction. Just watch the Code Pinkers and the left wing Democrats run like rats when they hear such things. It really is fresh-meat time for them. It reminds me of Alfonso Bedoya in Treasure of Sierra Madre when he said ""Badges?... We don't need no... stinkin' badges!" In this case just substitute TRUTH for the hardware. Oh, and don't worry about the Democrats - it isn't a big deal to them.; Reply to this comment

by hower4 June 24, 2009 5:56 AM EDT

Is anyone other than the US Defense Department seriously going to dispute this?

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by jacklfuller June 24, 2009 9:09 AM EDT: You are absolutely right however4! But the message is missing some keywords. You forgot to include proletariat, bourgeoisie, means of production, capitalist pigs and exploitation in your remarks. No good Marxist ever says anything with them. Try harder next time, will ya?


by hower4 June 24, 2009 10:11 AM EDT: Apparently I was right, or are you going to actually dispute it?

By the way, you don't seem to be aware that 'communists' are not the bad guys any more. America has changed to 'terrorists/Muslims' now (note that the terms are interchangeable). If you want to know the latest details you should watch Fox News more carefully!