Afghan commission alleges U.S. detainee abuse
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan investigative commission on Saturday accused the American military of abuse at its main prison in the country, repeating President Hamid Karzai’s demand that the U.S. turn over all detainees to Afghan custody.
The demands put the U.S. and the Afghan governments on a collision course in an issue that will decide the fate of hundreds of suspected Taliban and al-Qaida operators captured by American forces.
The head of the Afghan investigation said U.S. officials told him many of those militant suspects were taken based on intelligence that cannot be used in Afghan courts.
The dispute recreates many of the thorny issues surrounding the controversial U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. There, as at the prison in Afghanistan, American forces are holding many detainees without charging them with a specific crime.
Detainees interviewed during two visits to the U.S.-run portion of the prison outside Bagram Air Base north of Kabul complained of freezing cold, humiliating strip searches and being deprived of light, according to Gul Rahman Qazi, who led the investigation ordered by Karzai.
