US forces accused of looting, torture and death in Afghanistan

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

American forces in Afghanistan have been accused of flouting international law with arbitrary arrests, torture and killing of prisoners in a report by a civil rights watchdog.

Soldiers are accused of using unprovoked deadly force in capturing civilians, some of whom were then allegedly subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment leading to deaths in custody. It is also alleged that looting has taken place during searches of homes.

The report, by Human Rights Watch, says the situation at Guantanamo Bay is being replicated many times in Afghanistan, with detainees being held in even worse conditions at the military bases of Bagram, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Asadabad.

At least three prisoners are known to have died during interrogation, with two of the deaths being ruled homicide by American military pathologists after post-mortem examinations. US officials have refused to explain what happened in any of the cases.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=499002

(note: I can't find the report on the HRW website, so I guess it's going to published later today)

[Malva Zebrina]

1. Sad

[yardwork]

2. Maybe this is the result

of young soldiers being sent into a wasteland and then forgotten, as the military moves on to the next big target.

Imagine what serving in these conditions is doing to thousands of young people. I saw it during Vietnam and I never thought my country would do the same horrible stupid thing again.

I never thought we'd elect a president as bad as W.

[thebigidea]

3. sure, I guess - but, uh - what about sympathy for the victims?

[yardwork]

4. Everybody involved is suffering.

[thebigidea]

5. Dick and the Dork look pretty happy these days

[pennylane100]

6. I can't believe I am saying this, but these acts of violence

are the sole responsibility of the perpetrators, not the person who
sent them there. They should be held accountable.

If we had tried a few more of them for war crimes in Vietnam they would not think they are above the law.

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. It's called individual moral responsibility, and it's what many parents

teach their kids.

When little Binky comes home with pockets stuffed with stolen candy, Mom and Dad do not give Binky a pass because all the other kids were doing it, or because the president of the local treehouse club told them to do it.

Binky and Binky alone made the decision to stuff HIS pockets, just as did each of the other children.

This does not absolve the treehouse club president, he is responsible for telling them to steal the candy.

But each individual person has the free will to decide what he or she will or will not do.

[primavera]

12. If the perps were there as private citizens...

... then, yes, I'd agree, they and they alone bear responsibility for their actions. But when it's US troops who have undergone years of rigorous brainwashing to unquestioningly obey any and all orders, who are then sent to Afghanistan under a set of orders which either explicitly condones or negligently disregards the indiscriminate use of violence against a civilian population, then the ones who sent them there do share responsibility. By your reasoning, the mafia boss who orders a hit would bear no responsibility for the actions of the assassin he employed, and that's not the case.

[pennylane100]

13. I don't think that serving one's country

is the same as working for the Mafia. There are laws, both national and international, that forbid the intentional harming of civilians in war. These are the rules they broke. This is what they should be punished for.

[DuctapeFatwa]

14. Each is responsible for his part. He who gave the order, and he who

chose to obey it.

That would be my answer if Afghan or Iraqi troops were sent to your home with orders to harm your family. I don't care if they have been trained to obey orders, they are still human beings, and if they are classic sociopaths with no concept of right and wrong, they have no business doing any job that involves weapons.

[primavera]

15. No argument

I'm not letting them off the hook either, I just don't think the buck should be stopping with them: the ones who gave the orders share culpability.

[DuctapeFatwa]

16. Hey, if it were up to me, the Hague would have to build an annex

just to hold the entire bush and sharon regimes, most of congress, and on down the line.

[Rex]

17. I served in the Army

Just what is this brainwashing you're talking about? They fill your head full of hype, but dam, not to the point of being a barbarian! If troops are truly looting etc, then the chain-of-command has completely broken down, anarchy has taken hold, and we are all going to be in a world of shit.

[nodehopper]

18. We didn't elect him.

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Why should they care?

What with the Article 98 Bilateral Immunity agreement we have with Afghanistan and 30-40 other nations, not to mention the American Servicemembers Protection Act (aka the Hague Invasion Act), which states that the US military can use whatever force neccessary to free a US citizen brought before the International Criminal Court, our soldiers are free to commit any atrocity they see fit. Good ol Chimpy and his cabal have seen to that, unfortunately for the rest of the world. :-(

[leesa]

8. That's right. Our country WANTS them to behave this way. When

we demanded immunity from war crimes did Americans believe the standard GOP line "these charges might be used against US soldiers for political reasons". They have been given a blank check to behave like thugs and no one can stop them. It's the American way. Of course, we will be stopped economically and finally militarily, but these oafes are too short-sighted to realize this.

[ze_dscherman]

9. Link to HRW news and report

News: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/03/08/afghan8073.htm

Report: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/afghanistan0304/

[Judi Lynn]

10. Good grief, ze_dscherman. This is horrendous.

Look at the hypocrisy!

From the appendix within the report you linked:

Appendix: U.S. Criticisms of Mistreatment and Torture Practices
The U.S. State Department has condemned as torture or other inhuman treatment many of the treatments and techniques described in this report and used by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. Listed below are reports from 2000, 2001, and 2002 in the U.S. State Department’s annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.”

Country
Methods Used:

Burma
According to a State Department country report, the Burmese military “routinely subjected detainees to harsh interrogation techniques designed to intimidate and disorient.”131 Techniques listed include being forced to squat or remain in uncomfortable periods for long periods of time, sleep and food deprivation, confinement in leg clamps, and prolonged questioning under bright lights.132

Cambodia
The State Department reported that “torture, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment of persons held in police or military custody continued to be a serious problem throughout the country.”133 In particular, the State Department noted that “there were credible reports that both military police and police officials used physical and psychological torture and severely beat criminal detainees, particularly during interrogation.”134 It also noted reports of shackling of prisoners.

Cameroon
The State Department reported that “security forces continued to subject prisoners and detainees to degrading treatment,” which included stripping of inmates.135

China
The State Department reported that “police and other elements of the security apparatus employed torture and degrading treatment in dealing with some detainees and prisoners” including prolonged periods of solitary confinement, incommunicado detention, beatings, and shackling.136 Reports noted that the practice of shackling hands and feet constituted torture.137

Egypt
The State Department noted that “there were numerous, credible reports that security forces tortured and mistreated citizens.”138 The country reports cite the stripping, handcuffing, being doused with cold water, and blindfolding of prisoners among the principal methods of torture used by Egyptian authorities.139

Greece
In a 2002 report, the State Department described kicks, blows the hands, fists, batons or other objects and excessive force at the time of arrest as “ill treatment.”140

Iran
According to the State Department “there were numerous credible reports that security forces and prison personnel continued to torture detainees and prisoners.”141 Common methods of torture include sleep deprivation and “suspension for long periods in contorted positions.”142 The State Department further noted that systematic abuses included “prolonged and incommunicado detention.”143

Iraq
Iraqi security services used extended solitary confinement in small dark compartments as a form of torture, according to 2001 and 2002 reports.144 Reports from 2000, 2001, and 2002 also cite the use of prolonged and incommunicado detention and the continual denial of citizens’ “basic right to due process.”145

Jordan
The State Department reports that Jordanian police and security forces were alleged to engage in acts of torture, including the use of sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, and prolonged suspension with ropes in contorted positions.146

North Korea
The State Department stated that methods of torture “routinely” employed in North Korea include “severe beatings . . . prolonged periods of exposure, humiliations such as public nakedness, and confinement to small ‘punishment cells’, in which prisoners were unable to stand upright or lie down, where they could be held for several weeks.”147 The State Department characterized the use of leg irons, metal collars, and shackles as “harsh”.148

Kuwait
According to the State Department reports, “there continued to be credible reports that some police and members of the security forces abused detainees during interrogation.”149 Abusive treatment included blindfolding and verbal threats.150

Laos
The State Department reported that prisoners were subjected to “torture and other abuses” including “beatings, long-term solitary confinement in completely darkened rooms . . . . In some cases detainees were held in leg chains or wooden stocks”.151

Libya
According to the State Department, Libyan authorities commonly chain detainees to a wall or hang them by their wrists for hours and deprive them of food and water.152 The State Department stated that “he Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses,” examples of which included holding prisoners incommunicado.153

Pakistan
The State Department reports that prolonged isolation, being chained to a cell wall, and denial of food or sleep are common torture methods.154

Philippines
The State Department reported that “members of the security forces and police continued to use torture and to abuse suspects and detainees.” The State Department cited reports by a non-governmental organization stating that “torture remained an ingrained part of the arrest and detention process.” The State Department noted that common forms of torture and abuse reported during the arrest and detention process included striking detainees and threatening them with guns. The State Department also cited reports of detainees being tied up, blindfolded and punched during interrogations as cases of torture.155

Russia
The State Department described forms of “torture” by police officers including beating with fists, batons or other objects.156

Saudi Arabia
The State Department noted that Ministry of Interior officials use sleep deprivation and suspension from bars with handcuffs as interrogation tactics.157

Sri Lanka
According to State Department reports, “torture continues with relative impunity.”158 Reported methods of torture include suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted positions and being forced to remain in unnatural positions for extended periods.159

Tunisia
Tactics such as food and sleep deprivation or confinement to a tiny, unlit cell are commonly used in Tunisia.160 In addition, the State Department notes that despite the shortening by Tunisian government of the maximum allowable period of pre-arraignment incommunicado detention from 10 to 6 days, “credible sources claimed that the Government rarely enforces the new provisions and that appeals to the court for enforcement are routinely denied.”161

Turkey
According to the 2001 and 2002 country reports, some of the many methods of torture employed by Turkish security forces and recognized by the State Department included repeated beatings; forced prolonged standing; isolation; exposure to loud music; stripping and blindfolding; food and sleep deprivation; and psychological torture including verbal threats and deception of a detainee, for example, instilling a false belief that the detainee is to be killed.162

Yemen
According to the State Department, detainees in Yemen have been confined in leg irons and shackles despite a 1998 law banning the practice.163

http://hrw.org/reports/2004/afghanistan0304/7.htm#_Toc64778179

Thank you so much. Hope a LOT of actual DU'ers will see the report.