American soldiers from the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, march to the ramp of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in this September 4, 2003 handout photo. Coming on the heels of claims of CIA torture chambers in Europe, similar allegations have surfaced in Afghanistan. - REUTERS
KABUL (AP):
FRESH ALLEGATIONS have indicated the United States operated a secret prison in Afghanistan as recently as last year, torturing detainees with sleep deprivation, chaining them to the walls and forcing them to listen to loud music in darkness for days.
A human rights group alleged late yesterday that the prison was run near Kab. The detainees were kept in total darkness - they called the facility the 'Dark Prison' - and were tortured and mistreated by American and Afghan guards in civilian clothes, an indication the facility may have been operated by the CIA.
CHAINED TO WALLS
"They were chained to walls, deprived of food and drinking water, because the United States has not allowed rights organisations to visit detainees at Guantanamo or other overseas detention sites," the group said.
The detainees' accounts stated that they were forced to listen to Eminem and Dr. Dre for 20 days.
DETAINEES TRANSFERRED
The report said the prison was closed after several detainees were transferred to a U.S. military detention centre near Bagram, just north of Kabul, late last year.
U.S. Secretary of State Con-doleezza Rice, recently said the United States acts within the law and argued that Europeans were safer because of tough U.S. tactics, but she refused to discuss intelligence operations or address questions about clandestine CIA detention centres.
