Abuse of Afghan prisoners ‘systemic’

KABUL – Prisoners in US custody in Afghanistan suffer “systemic” mistreatment, Human Rights Watch said yesterday, calling for a network of secretive jails dogged by allegations of assault and sexual abuse to be opened to outside scrutiny.

In light of the widening scandal over prisoner abuse in Iraq, the rights group also urged the United States to finally clear up the deaths of three Afghans in custody since late 2002. “The United States has shown that it can’t police its own prisons,” John Sifton, New York-based Human Rights Watch’s Afghanistan expert, said in a statement.Sayed Nabi Siddiqui told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was punched, stripped naked and had objects inserted into his anus in three US holding facilities – before being released without charge.Human Rights Watch said his case fitted a pattern, citing earlier prisoner accounts of beatings, sleep deprivation and exposure to extreme cold.”Mistreatment of prisoners by US military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan is a systemic problem and not limited to a few isolated cases,” it said.Human Rights Watch also criticised the silence surrounding the slow-moving investigation into the deaths of two prisoners at Bagram in December 2002.Military autopsies ruled both deaths were homicides.US military spokesman Tucker Mansager said Wednesday the probe is still ongoing.But Human Rights Watch said it had information that preliminary results were complete in early 2003, and that some soldiers were disciplined.Very little is also known about the death of a third prisoner in eastern Kunar province in June 2003.”It’s time now for the United States to publicise the results of its investigations of abuse, fully prosecute those responsible, and provide access to independent monitors,” Human Rights Watch said.- Nampa-AP”The United States has shown that it can’t police its own prisons,” John Sifton, New York-based Human Rights Watch’s Afghanistan expert, said in a statement.Sayed Nabi Siddiqui told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was punched, stripped naked and had objects inserted into his anus in three US holding facilities – before being released without charge.Human Rights Watch said his case fitted a pattern, citing earlier prisoner accounts of beatings, sleep deprivation and exposure to extreme cold.”Mistreatment of prisoners by US military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan is a systemic problem and not limited to a few isolated cases,” it said.Human Rights Watch also criticised the silence surrounding the slow-moving investigation into the deaths of two prisoners at Bagram in December 2002.Military autopsies ruled both deaths were homicides.US military spokesman Tucker Mansager said Wednesday the probe is still ongoing.But Human Rights Watch said it had information that preliminary results were complete in early 2003, and that some soldiers were disciplined.Very little is also known about the death of a third prisoner in eastern Kunar province in June 2003.”It’s time now for the United States to publicise the results of its investigations of abuse, fully prosecute those responsible, and provide access to independent monitors,” Human Rights Watch said.- Nampa-AP