Afghans tell of US prison ordeals

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Afghans tell of US prison ordeals


By Kate Clark
BBC News, Afghanistan


"At first, they took all our clothes off and told us to stand up. When they were interrogating me, I was naked."

Haji Mirza Mohammed was arrested from his home and accused of working with the Taleban in the autumn of 2004.

He was taken to the nearby infantry base of the US-led coalition at Gardez in south-east Afghanistan.

"For four days, I had my hands cuffed behind me," he says. "They stopped giving me food and I wasn't allowed to sleep."

Haji Mirza's testimony forms part of a new set of allegations of abuses at coalition bases in Afghanistan.

Former detainees have told the BBC they were deprived of sleep and food, put in stress positions and beaten.

A former interpreter has said he witnessed interrogators withholding water as a punishment and using sexual taunts to try to break down prisoners.

A US military spokesman in Afghanistan said he could not deny abuses had taken place, but allegations of misconduct were taken seriously.

more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4648959.stm