Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Q&A: US abuses in Afghan jails

Q&A: US abuses in Afghan jails  
 
Policeman Siddiqui's allegations helped spur a US investigation 
The United States has come under intense pressure over new details of the
alleged abuse of prisoners by its soldiers in US-run detention centres in
Afghanistan. 
BBC News examines the background to the allegations - and the US
investigation into them. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What abuses are US soldiers in Afghanistan accused of? 
The main allegations centre on the deaths of two Afghan prisoners at the
US-run detention centre at Bagram, near the capital Kabul. The men, a taxi
driver called Dilawar and a man called Habibullah, died in December 2002. 
There has been a long-standing and much-delayed US military investigation
into the deaths and other abuses at Bagram and other detention centres.
However, there is now increased anger within the Afghan government and the
UN following graphic details carried in the New York Times, which obtained
a 2,000-page report leaked by a source close to the US investigation. 
Q: What does this leaked report say? 
It says that Dilawar was chained to a ceiling by his wrists for four days,
and then beaten on his legs more than 100 times during a 24-hour period.
Other reported abuses included: 
A prisoner being forced to kiss the boots of interrogators 
Another prisoner being forced to pick plastic bottle tops out of a drum
filled with excrement and water 
A female interrogator stepping on a man's neck and kicking another in the
genitals 
A prisoner who cried out "Allah" when he was struck being subjected to
beatings by a number of soldiers over 24 hours as a "running joke" to hear
him cry "Allah" 
Q: When did the abuse allegations start? 
The first allegations about prisoner torture surfaced in the Washington
Times in December 2002. It said interrogators from the CIA had been
subjecting Taleban and al-Qaeda suspects to "stress and duress" techniques
of dubious legality, including sleep deprivation. 
In February 2003, human rights groups echoed the torture allegations,
prompting the US State Department to label them "ridiculous". But a month
later, a military coroner concluded Dilawar and Habibullah had been killed
as a result of "blunt force trauma". US military spokesman, Col Roger
King, at the time vehemently denied the prisoners had been mistreated. 
Q: How did the US investigation come about? 
In March 2004, the US-based Human Rights Watch published a report called
Entitled Enduring Freedom - Abuses by US Forces in Afghanistan, in which
it accused US personnel of using excessive force, carrying out arbitrary
detentions and mistreating people in custody. 
Human Rights Watch said the Pentagon had not adequately explained the
deaths of Dilawar and Habibullah and it feared "appropriate criminal and
disciplinary action may never take place". A US military spokesman, Lt Col
Bryan Hilferty, said the report showed "a lack of understanding of the
laws of war and of the environment we are facing in Afghanistan". 
Then in May 2004, the New York Times published allegations by an Afghan
police officer, Sayed Nabi Siddiqui, that he was stripped naked, beaten
and photographed at a US base in Afghanistan. This prompted Human Rights
Watch to say it had documented "numerous cases of mistreatment of
detainees". 
Soon after, on 19 May 2004, the US in Afghanistan announced it was
carrying out a "top-to-bottom" review of all 20 of its detention centres
in Afghanistan. One major impetus for the inquiry was the photographs and
subsequent investigation relating to the abuse of prisoners at the Abu
Ghraib jail in Baghdad, Iraq. 
Q: Who was to carry out the report? 
It was put in the hands of US Brig Gen Charles Jacoby. He was to report
back to the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Barno, by
mid-June 2004. The US said "portions" of the review would be made public. 
The publication of the report, however, was delayed. In December 2004,
Human Rights Watch said it had evidence that three more prisoners had died
in US detention in Afghanistan and said the US was continuing to fail to
investigate abuses or punish the guilty. The US said its investigation was
continuing and that no date had been set for publishing the report because
its findings were still being reviewed in Washington. 
However, Lt Col Pamela Keeton, a spokeswoman for the US military in
Afghanistan, said Gen Jacoby had "found no evidence of abuse taking
place... nor was there any evidence of leaders authorising or condoning
abuse". 
Q: Has anyone been charged over the abuses? 
In October 2004, the US said up to 28 of its soldiers could face criminal
charges in connection with the deaths of the two prisoners but that only
one man, a sergeant, had actually been charged - with assault and
dereliction of duty. The latest New York Times report said seven soldiers
had now been charged but no-one had yet been convicted. The US has now
admitted that at least eight detainees have died in its custody in
Afghanistan. 
Q: How have Afghans reacted to the allegations? 
Anger rose quickly in 2004 following the claims made by the Afghan police
officer and Human Rights Watch. The Afghan media doubted the independence
of the US inquiry, condemned the Afghan government for weakness and said
the only beneficiaries would be the Taleban and al-Qaeda. 
The latest details have increased anger in Afghanistan, coming on the back
of allegations in Newsweek magazine - since retracted - that US
interrogators in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a Koran down the
toilet. Those claims sparked protests in the eastern Afghan city of
Jalalabad that left at least seven dead. 
Q: What are the implications for President Hamid Karzai? 
President Karzai has said he will make clear his shock over the
allegations during his meetings with US President George W Bush. 
The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says the Afghan leader is taking a much
more forceful stand than he has in the past towards the US. Our
correspondent says his comments are a reflection of concern in Kabul at
the impact on Afghan public opinion of the allegations. 
President Karzai has said he wants a long-term strategic relationship with
the US and at a recent national tribal council meeting says he won
widespread support for this. However, he and the 18,000 US-led coalition
forces are still battling a Taleban insurgency and cannot afford an
increase in anti-US feelings. Publication of the abuse report might help
to draw a line under the issue - but there is still no word on when that
will be. 
 
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.sergio. ha scritto:

Molto commovente, era meglio prima quando i talebani ammazzavano una
donna se portava scarpe con i tacchi o se sapeva leggere

 ..sergio. ha scritto:


credi che sotto questo punto di vista siano cambiate davvero le cose
nell'afghanistan del fantoccio USA Karzai? 
Ad esempio e' oggi ho sentito per radio che Karzai ha ripristinato la
polizia religiosa.


.sergio. ha scritto:

Purtroppo è vero ma invece di fare una politica antiamericana perchè
la sinistra non fa delle proposte di interventi seri in questi paesi.
E' facile criticare dopo ma prima chi si era posto il problema dei
talebani e dei loro crimini?

 talebani e dei loro crimini?
Essenzialmente nessuno, come nessuno se lo è posto dopo l'11 settembre.
Quello che è stato fatto in Afghanistan è stato togliere gran parte del 
territorio ai talebani e darlo ai signori della guerra.
Kabul è stata concessa dai s.d.g. come vetrina per i media mondiali, per 
il resto il controllo sul paese è inesistente, i talebani sono 
tutt'altro che cancellati e Bin Laden ed il Mullah Omar sono uccel di bosco.
Sull'utilità di mandare altre truppe a combattere una guerra che in 
effetti nessuno vuole ho dei grossi dubbi, sul fatto che la guerra 
porterà dei veri cambiamenti in un paese che neppure l'URSS è riuscita a 
piegare invece di dubbi ne ho pochi.
Riot, l'elitista ademocratico