Bagram Air Base torture allegations re-surface

By Aasiya I Versi

According to recent reports the British Government is refusing to name two Pakistani prisoners that were rendered to Afghanistan after being handed over into the custody of the US in Iraq. These two individuals were previously in British custody and are currently believed to be detained in the notorious Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The then Defence Secretary, John Hutton, told the Parliament on February 26 that two Pakistani prisoners previously in British
custody in Iraq were handed over to US authorities and were currently held at Bagram Air base “in humane conditions in compliance with international standards.”
In a seeming coincidence the prisoners were transferred out of Iraq just as the Abu Ghuraib in Iraq scandal had broken.

Last month the BBC unearthed allegations of continuing abuse at Bagram Air Base including sleep deprivation, stress positions, beatings, degrading treatment, religious and racial abuse. They interviewed about 23 former inmates held there between 2002 -2008, of which none had been charged and some have received apologies after their release.

Moazzam Begg, a former prisoner at Guantánamo Bay who was held at Bagram Air Base between 2002 and 2004 told The Muslim News, “Little seems to have changed with regards to treatment of prisoners…On a personal level though, I can’t help wonder if British intelligence services are still involved.”

This is not the only instance where Bagram Air base has come under the spotlight for practices of torture and in many cases murder. In 2005 the US Army released a report on the murder of two unarmed Afghan civilians, Habibullah and Dilawer, who were chained to the ceiling and beaten to death by members of the US armed forces.

Seven members of US Forces were charged for their deaths with sentences ranging from a letter of reprimand to three months imprisonment.

Begg added, “At the time, I was being held captive there by the US military and, amongst other alphabet intelligence agencies, was being interrogated by MI5, who were aware that torture, abusive and degrading treatment was being meted out to prisoners – including British citizens.”

A spokesperson from the Foreign Office denied the accusations and told The Muslim News, “It is vital that all detainees are treated humanely. It is right that the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) have access to those detained at the Bagram detention facility. Our position on torture is clear. We do not torture people and we do not ask others to do so, on our behalf.

We have set this out clearly and repeatedly.”

The ICRC in a recent leaked confidential report - given to the prison authorities only - have raised serious concerns about the welfare of detainees at Bagram Air Base. It has cited prisoner overcrowding, ‘harsh’ conditions, ambiguity regarding the legal basis of their detention and “sometimes subjected to cruel treatment in violation of the Geneva Conventions.” The Red Cross went on to say that dozens of inmates were held in isolation hidden away from prison inspectors.

Unlike Guantánamo Bay, prisoners at Bagram Air Base are not allowed to see a lawyer or challenge their detention making their detainment a legal and moral void the British Government needs to address urgently. Under the Obama Administration actions have been set in place to close down Guantánamo Bay but no mention has been made of Bagram Air Base where equally horrifying accounts of inhumane torture are said to be carried out on a regular basis.
Clive Stafford Smith, who has assisted in filing cases for 128 detainees in Guantánamo Bay, and the legal director of Reprieve said, “The legal black hole in Bagram underlines the British Government’s moral black hole when it comes to rendering two Pakistani prisoners there in 2004.”

The British Government has refused to release the names of the Pakistani prisoners as requested by Reprieve citing exemption in section number 40 in the Freedom of Information Act due to data protection concerns.