The shadow of Bagram. The torture continues.

moon · #1 (**permalink**) 08-21-2009, 03:21 AM

Quote:

The Bagram Theatre Internment Facility lies on a sprawling US military complex, 40km northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul. It holds almost three times as many prisoners as Guantanamo and, as its better-known Cuban counterpart prepares to close, the Bagram prison is about to double in size.

You could be forgiven for never having heard of the prison at Bagram. After all, Barack Obama, the US president, does not like to mention it, preferring to concentrate on his flagship policy of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility.

It was often used as a holding site for those on their way to Guantanamo Bay. Omar Deghayes was held in Bagram in 2002 before he was transferred to Cuba. He says it was a terrifying experience.

"Lying on the floor of the compound, all night I would hear the screams of others in the rooms above us as they were tortured and interrogated," he says.

"My number would be called out, and I would have to go to the gate. They chained me and put a bag over my head, dragging me off for my own turn. They would force me to my knees for questioning, and threaten me with more torture."

In the US, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act in a bid to obtain details about the inmates. The requests have been refused.

"There are serious concerns that Bagram is another Guantanamo – except with many more prisoners, less due process, no access to lawyers or courts and reportedly worse conditions," says Melissa Goodman, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project.

"As long as the Bagram prison is shrouded in secrecy, there is no way to know the truth or begin to address the problems that exist there."

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2...114632353.html

Americans have to address the very serious problems bequeathed by Guantanamo George. Nobody wants America to be associated with torture and human rights abuses, not least because it negates America's voice when other States engage in foul practices. The spotlight must be shone on Bagram and Bagram's defenders. Those who facilitated Abu Ghraib must also be investigated further and prosecuted openly. These two infamous torture facilities do not exist in isolation. It's widely believed that America tortured/is torturing in many obscure facilities. All this puss didn't simply drain from the White House along with Bush and the Boys.

moon · #2 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Prisoners held by the US military in Afghanistan will for the first time have the right to challenge their indefinite detention and call witnesses in their defence, according to published reports.

The new system, due to come into effect this week, would allow more than 600 Afghan prisoners held at the Bagram military base to submit evidence in their defence, The New York Times said on Saturday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...298432436.html

Too little, too late for America's reputation.

moon · #3 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 11:58 PM

Quote:

The Obama administration is establishing new procedures for holding detainees at the Bagram military base. And while they are a step in the right direction, they fail to create a fair and effective detention system that will be credible in the eyes of the Afghan government, the Afghan people, and human rights groups.

On the plus side, the procedures will allow U.S.-held detainees to contest their detention, call witnesses, and get advice from "personal representatives." But on the down side, detainees will continue to not have access to lawyers. There are also concerns that the procedures won't be implemented with rigor. In Guantanamo, detainees requested witnesses who the government never sought out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonath..._b_291091.html

Prisoner Abuse Continues at Bagram Prison in Afghanistan

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...650242,00.html

Human Rights Lawyer on Bagram Prison
'The Obama Administration Has Completely Failed'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...650324,00.html

When it comes to mindless brutality, the excesses of the indigenous Iraqi extremists and those of the invading extremists were about even. Heads were sawed off, schoolgirls were raped , murdered and burned, etc., etc. Now the same mistakes are being made in Afghanistan and will have the same result; NATO troops, and in particular American troops, will he hated and attacked until , like in Iraq, there was simply no justifiable route to keeping them there.
Another moral failure. Shove' democracy '.

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