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Guantanamo prisoners complain of maltreatment

Guantanamo Bay: A group of 18 Afghans released from a US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Tuesday told how they were kept in tiny cages and subjected to interrogations for more than a year to prove their innocence.

In an impromptu press conference in Kabul, some of the 18 described how they suffered brutal treatment at the hands of Afghan jailers before being transferred to Guantanamo as suspected Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters.

The men, who returned to Afghanistan last week, were only the second batch of prisoners released from the controversial US detention centre, which holds hundreds captured during an international coalition campaign in Afghanistan.

Dressed in traditional Afghan shalwar kameez baggy trousers and overshirt, topped with US-issue blue sweatshirts, the heavily-bearded men said they were unfairly arrested and forced to suffer an arduous journey to regain freedom.

“I am innocent, I had nothing to do with the Taliban,” said Salaiman Shah, who said he was working as a used car trader when he was seized by troops who accused him of fighting alongside the hardline militia.

He said he was initially detained in the notorious Sherberghan prison in northern Afghanistan by troops loyal to US-allied warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostam.

“At Sherberghan life was inhuman, all the prisoners had diarrhoea, some had tuberculosis, there was no food for days at a time and we were subjected to beatings and torture.”

Shah said he and the others were transferred to US control at Kandahar air base in southern Afghanistan before being taken to Guantanamo, where he said treatment was harsh but better.

Fellow prisoner Murtaza, who like many Afghans has only one name, described being cooped up in cages in Guantanamo, sometimes hooded and handcuffed, during a seemingly interminable detention.

“Initially they told us it would take one month for the investigation and we would be released immediately if we were proven innocent.”

“We spent two months in Sherberghan, five months in Kandahar, and more than one year in Guantanamo and finally now they release us because we are innocent.” —AFP

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