Afghanis Released in Kabul Affirmed They Were Tortured

Aljazeera.net
April 20, 2004                                                                                                                   Get Arabic original here.

Seventeen Afghanis have been released from the American Guantanamo base in Cuba after they were proven innocent of charges of terrorism. They were exposed to torture during the period of their imprisonment, which lasted three and a half years.

One of those released, named Abd al-Rahim Muslim Dost, said “They faced torture that cannot be described” in the detention facility. Dost, who was first imprisoned in Northern Afghanistan in November of 2001, after the fall of the Talaban, reported that he was not able to speak about the torture that he experienced “because it was truly horrible.”

From another perspective, Nasib Allah Khan, who was taken prisoner as police chief in Shinkai, in the state of Zabul (Southeastern Afghanistan), said that he doesn’t know why he was imprisoned.

These former prisoners, all of whom are ethnic Pashtuns -- who constitute the majority in Afghanistan and who control much of the south of the country -- returned to their country after appearing on Tuesday at Baghram, the largest American base in Afghanistan, about 30 kilometers north of Kabul.

Immediately upon their arrival they were moved to the High Court of Afghanistan in the capital, where judges brought them to journalists. An official in the court stated “They will not be subjected to any further enquires. They have been freed.”

Get original here.