Group: 2 More Detainees Die in Afghanistan

[maddezmom]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Human Rights Watch said Monday it had uncovered two more cases of prisoners dying in American custody in Afghanistan (news - web sites), and it accused the Bush administration of "dragging its feet" on investigations that could have prevented the abuse of prisoners in Iraq (news - web sites).


In an open letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the New York-based rights group said it had new evidence of "an alleged murder of a detainee by four U.S. military personnel" in Afghanistan in 2002. More recently, it said a man picked up on Sept. 24, 2004, died the next day at an American base, but it did not specify the cause of death.


"It's time for the United States to come clean about crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia division director. "The United States has to get serious about prosecuting people implicated in prisoner deaths and mistreatment."


U.S. military officials in Afghanistan had no immediate comment on the alleged new cases highlighted in the letter.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=6&u=/ap/20041213/ap_on_re_as/afghan_prisoner_abuse