Afghan Spy Chief: 'I Told MI5 That Prisoners Were Being Tortured' ('Fresh Claims'/Memo)

[Hissyspit]

Source: Guardian UK

Afghan spy chief: 'I told MI5 that prisoners were being tortured'

UK forces are accused of handing over Taliban detainees to Kandahar interrogators despite claims of ill-treatment

The Observer, Sunday 25 April 2010

Fresh claims have emerged that MI5 was aware of allegations that Afghan detainees were being mistreated by the country's security service during the period UK forces were handing prisoners over to the Afghan authorities.

Last week the high court heard details of torture allegedly suffered by prisoners handed over to the Afghan domestic security service. A memo, seen by the Observer, reveals that the head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency indicated to UK officials in March 2007 that he was aware of ill-treatment claims involving prisoners.

- snip -

The court heard how six Afghan detainees – Taliban suspects – handed over by British troops to NDS prisons were allegedly deprived of sleep, whipped with rubber cables and subjected to electric shocks. Backed by law firm Public Interest Lawyers, Evans argues Britain has breached the Human Rights Act by handing over prisoners to a country known to participate in torture. The lawyers claim the NDS had a notorious reputation for mistreating prisoners and British officers should have known of the risks.

Saleh's admission is contained in a memo written a month before allegations surfaced in the Canadian press that the country's soldiers deliberately transferred prisoners to be tortured. The allegations provoked uproar in Canada with pressure still building on the government to launch a public inquiry into the claims.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/25/afghan-mi5-prisoners-tortured

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