Kuwaiti Prisoners Claim U.S. Soldiers Abused Them
Six released Kuwaiti prisoners, held in Afghanistan, have made serious abuse allegations against U.S. soldiers:
Six Kuwaiti prisoners said they were severely beaten, given electric shocks and sodomized by U.S. forces in Afghanistan before they confessed to fighting with the Taliban and were sent to the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, their lawyer said Monday.
Captured in Pakistan or Afghanistan about three years ago, the Kuwaiti men were taken to U.S. bases in Afghanistan where they were hung by their wrists, beaten with chains and subjected to electric shock, said Tom Wilner, who represents a dozen Kuwaiti captives.
...At Guantanamo, two detainees said they had crosses shaved into their scalp or body hair. The group said they were stripped naked and kept hooded for long periods of time, and female guards taunted them, Wilner said..... "You told them what they wanted to hear to make them stop," one detainee told Wilner. The men said that after torture they admitted they had joined the Taliban or met with al-Qaida members.
There are so many instances of torture by U.S. troops now, in so many locales, that the "few bad apples" theory is just pathethic. This abuse is systemic, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld needs to admit he's accountable and that the buck stops with him.
Where are the Congressional hearings into the abuse? Why is the only investigation being done by the Army and the Justice Department Inspector General's office? Once again, the Executive Branch investigates itself. We need an independent investigation. Those being held for three years without charges should be returned to their home countries and granted freedom, now.
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