Fears build as CIA’s ‘ghost prisoners’ vanish into Afghan jails - The observer

A CIA prisoner whose treatment set the torture template in the agency’s notorious Salt Pit jail outside Kabul, and another known as a “ghost prisoner” – held in such secrecy that for years even his name was classified information – have disappeared into Afghanistan’s prison system, where they are once more at risk of torture.

The US military handed the two men to the Afghan government earlier this month, along with several other unidentified foreign captives who are believed to be citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, when they closed a notorious jail on Bagram airbase.

“They are in the custody of the Afghan security forces and there is reason to believe there is a very real risk of torture,” said Tina Foster of the International Justice Network, which had been representing men held inside the shadowy prison for over eight years.

The prisoners at Bagram did not enjoy even the meagre protections offered those in Guantánamo, access to a lawyer or to be named, which is why many were dubbed “ghost captives” and remain unidentified even after their release.

The prison’s closure was expected to end more than a decade of controversy about mistreatment and a years-long legal battle over the prisoners’ rights, but for men now languishing in Afghan jails the nightmare goes on. Although Afghanistanshould give the men more rights, including visits from their lawyers, there have been repeated reports of abuse in the country’s jails, from beatings to interrogators ripping out toenails and twisting prisoners’ genitals.

United Nations reports raised such serious concerns in recent years that Nato forces twice halted all prisoner transfers. Despite government promises of a crackdown since then, there have been credible reports that torture has persisted under some commanders.

The US authorities did not respond to repeated requests about who was holding the men, where they were imprisoned, or if safeguards were in place to protect them from torture.

“The fact that you are holding people without identities makes it hard to protect them,” said Kate Clark, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, who has written extensively about detentions and abuse. “Torture is illegal but it continues to be deployed.”  Read More at Guardian