Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 15, 2008 By Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press
Kabul, Afghanistan--The Red Cross has criticized the way the U.S. handles prisoners at its highly secretive Bagram military base, urging reforms Monday that would allow detainees to introduce testimony in their defense.
The criticism of the prison, which few outsiders have seen, goes to the heart of the system the Bush administration uses to justify holding detainees outside the U.S.
Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said many of the 600-plus detainees at Bagram complain they do not even know why they are being held. Kellenberger spent a half-day at the prison during a one-week visit to Afghanistan that ended Monday.
"They do not know what the future brings, how long will they be there and under which conditions will they be released," he told a news conference.
While his comments were aimed specifically at Bagram, Red Cross chief spokesman Florian Westphal said there was "a strong parallel" with the U.S. military detention centers in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"We've talked about the absence of a clear legal framework and of sufficient procedural safeguards with regard to Guantanamo, in particular, as we have done for Bagram," Westphal said in Geneva, Switzerland.
In Iraq, the U.S. military currently holds about 23,000 detainees and schedules review hearings every six months to decide on release or continued custody. But new evidence is rarely--if ever--introduced, and the panel mostly assesses a detainee's conduct and statements while in custody.
U.S. military officials at Bagram declined comment Monday. The prison does not reveal who is detained there or what their alleged offenses are.
April 15, 2008 By Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press
Kabul, Afghanistan--The Red Cross has criticized the way the U.S. handles prisoners at its highly secretive Bagram military base, urging reforms Monday that would allow detainees to introduce testimony in their defense.
The criticism of the prison, which few outsiders have seen, goes to the heart of the system the Bush administration uses to justify holding detainees outside the U.S.
Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said many of the 600-plus detainees at Bagram complain they do not even know why they are being held. Kellenberger spent a half-day at the prison during a one-week visit to Afghanistan that ended Monday.
"They do not know what the future brings, how long will they be there and under which conditions will they be released," he told a news conference.
While his comments were aimed specifically at Bagram, Red Cross chief spokesman Florian Westphal said there was "a strong parallel" with the U.S. military detention centers in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"We've talked about the absence of a clear legal framework and of sufficient procedural safeguards with regard to Guantanamo, in particular, as we have done for Bagram," Westphal said in Geneva, Switzerland.
In Iraq, the U.S. military currently holds about 23,000 detainees and schedules review hearings every six months to decide on release or continued custody. But new evidence is rarely--if ever--introduced, and the panel mostly assesses a detainee's conduct and statements while in custody.
U.S. military officials at Bagram declined comment Monday. The prison does not reveal who is detained there or what their alleged offenses are.