|
Us accused of rights abuses in afghanistan { March 8 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=471481§ion=newshttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=471481§ion=news
U.S accused of rights abuses in Afghanistan
Mon 8 March, 2004 11:39
By Mike Collett-White
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Afghanistan used excessive force during arrests of suspected Islamic militants, resulting in avoidable civilian deaths and possibly violating international law, Human Rights Watch says.
A report by the U.S.-based group said that at least 1,000 Afghans and foreigners had been detained from 2002 by U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, some of them subjected to torture and denied the right to challenge their detention.
While many have been released, some remain in detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan said the report indicated a "lack of understanding" of armed conflict laws.
"We are very careful on how we use force," said Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty. "We follow very strict rules of engagement and we follow the law of war.
"Afghanistan is currently a combat zone, and forces here are engaged in combat operations against determined enemy forces. We apply appropriate rules of engagement for combat operations and are in full compliance with the law of armed conflict."
In criticisms echoing international condemnation of Guantanamo Bay, the report said detainees in U.S. detention centres at Bagram air base and elsewhere in Afghanistan were denied access to families, lawyers and journalists.
It also said three people had died while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, and criticised the U.S. military for failing to investigate the deaths properly and make public its findings.
"We are currently investigating the deaths of persons under custody," said the military's Hilferty.
Around 13,000 U.S.-led troops are hunting remnants of the ousted Taliban and al Qaeda network.
Afghans accuse them of heavy-handedness. The U.S. military admits causing civilian deaths in botched operations but rejects some of the local allegations.
"ALMOST TOTAL IMPUNITY"
Little is known about U.S. detention centres in the country, which the report said the Americans operated "in a climate of almost total impunity".
Hilferty said several temporary detention centres existed around the country, but the main centre was at Bagram, just north of Kabul, where around 150 people are being held.
Human Rights Watch quoted a U.N. official who collected complaints about U.S. operations in 2002 as saying U.S. forces used "cowboy-like excessive force" against Afghans, most of whom turned out to be law-abiding citizens.
It detailed the case of Ahmed Khan, a resident of Zormat district in the eastern province of Paktia, whose house was rocketed and hit by helicopter machine guns in July 2002 before Khan was arrested with two teenage sons.
Hoods were put over their heads and they were flown to Bagram from where they were later released. During the raid a farmer was killed by gunfire and a woman hurt.
The report criticised "suppressing", or indiscriminate fire used during arrest operations to immobilise possible enemy forces. It also said U.S. troops sometimes detained all men of a military age found in the vicinity of an operation.
Former detainees complained of being photographed naked, deprived of sleep for several weeks, beaten unconscious, held in solitary confinement and shackled.
Five men held for 16 days in 2002 and later released were given the equivalent of 70 U.S. cents each by a local interpreter after an American apologised to them and promised compensation.
Human Rights Watch called on the United States to declare where the military and the CIA were holding suspects, to ensure detainees were treated according to international law and to allow families and lawyers to see them.
Hilferty said that while militants in Afghanistan did not come under the Geneva Convention, since they were not in uniform and did not represent a state, they were treated with respect.
"We do have them see the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), they get three meals a day, they do get prayer opportunity, they do get medical attention."
|
|
