AFGHANISTAN: Arbitrary arrests and beatings of detainees in Afghanistan are among the accusations levelled at US military forces in a report published today by the New York-based organisation, Human Rights Watch. Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The 60-page report claims that the US-administered system of arrest and detention in Afghanistan "exists outside the rule of law". The US has military detention facilities in Bagram, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Asadabad.
"The US is setting a terrible example in Afghanistan on detention practices," said a Human Rights Watch spokesman. "Civilians are being held in a legal black hole - with no tribunals, no legal counsel, no family visits and no basic legal protections."
The report, "Enduring Freedom": Abuses by US Forces in Afghanistan, is based on research conducted in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2003 and early 2004. Its main conclusions are:
US forces regularly use military means and methods during arrest operations in residential areas where law enforcement techniques would be more appropriate. This has resulted in unnecessary civilian casualties and may in some cases have involved indiscriminate or disproportionate force in violation of international humanitarian law.
Members of the US armed forces have arrested numerous civilians not directly participating in the hostilities.
Those detained by US forces are held without regard to the requirements of international humanitarian law or human rights law. They are not given reasons for their arrest or detention. They are held virtually incommunicado without any legal basis for challenging their detention or seeking their release. They are held at the apparent whim of US authorities, in some cases for more than a year.
The US is acting outside the rule of law. There are no judicial processes restraining their actions in arresting persons in Afghanistan.
There are serious concerns regarding the treatment of detainees at Bagram airbase, particularly in light of the failure of the US to investigate and publicly report on several unexplained deaths in detention. There is credible evidence of beatings and other physical assaults of detainees, as well as evidence that the US has used prolonged shackling, exposure to cold, and sleep deprivation amounting to torture.
The report also notes that armed groups opposing US forces, including Taliban and al-Qaeda elements, "have shown little willingness to abide by international humanitarian law or human rights standards" and carried out abductions of civilians as well as bombings in bazaars and other civilian areas.