U.S. Military Investigates Allegations of Detainee Abuse in Afghanistan

U.S. military investigates allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan
By Joshua Partlow | Washington Post

The U.S. military has begun investigating allegations that two Afghan teenagers were beaten and humiliated by guards while in American custody last year at a secret detention center at Bagram air base, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.

U.S. military officials took statements from the teenagers last month and are contacting others who say they were held at what Afghans call Bagram's "black prison," a detention center run by U.S. Special Operations forces. This classified facility is separate from the main prison at Bagram, which holds about 700 detainees.

The two teenagers -- Issa Mohammad, then 17, and Abdul Rashid, who said he was younger than 16 -- described austere living conditions and rough treatment while undergoing extensive daily interrogations about their alleged links to the Taliban.

Mohammad and Rashid said that during their incarceration in early 2009, they were punched and slapped in the face, photographed naked and deprived of sleep while being held in solitary confinement. In addition, Rashid said interrogators forced him to look at pornography, which the young Muslim described as deeply humiliating. The Pentagon prohibits such treatment of detainees. Read more.