Prisoners at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have
been beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed, terrorized by attack dogs
and forced to take drugs, an Australian detainee said in an affidavit
released Thursday. David Hicks, 29, was one of the first prisoners to
arrive at the camp in eastern Cuba in January 2002. He is one of only
four terror suspects who have been formally charged among 550 detainees
there accused of links to Afghanistan's ousted
Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network. "At one point, a group
of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit
over an eight-hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded," Hicks
said in an affidavit sealed in August and released by his attorneys
Thursday. "I have been struck with hands, fists, and other objects,
including rifle butts. I have also been kicked." The government
maintains prisoners are treated in accordance with the Geneva
Conventions. U.S. policy condemns and prohibits torture. "When we have
credible allegations of detainee abuse we take those very seriously and
investigate them," Pentagon spokesman Maj. Michael
Shavers said. Some of the allegations made by Hicks and others would be
investigated, he said. The release of the affidavit comes the same week
as the publication of several documents that show FBI agents sent to Guantanamo Bay warned the government of abuse and
mistreatment as early as the start of the detention mission. One
letter, written by a senior Justice Department official and obtained by
The Associated Press, suggested the Pentagon did not act on the FBI
complaints. [more]
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