'Torture common in US secret prisons'

A series of United Nations investigations indicate that the use of torture and inhumane practices against prisoners are common in US secret detention centers around the world.


The US security forces hold a large number of suspects in secret detention centers run by the Central Intelligence Agency around the world, particularly in Afghanistan. The detainees are denied access to lawyers and are not allowed to visit their families, Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.

American interrogators force their captives to take off their clothes and remain naked for indefinite periods. They also gag detainees and shut their eyes while hanging them from the cell ceiling for long hours.

According to the Human Rights First, there are now more than 2,000 detainees being held at the US-run Bagram Air Base secret jails without any charge or due legal process, and the number of detainees have been tripled since the end of the Bush administration.

Some 27,000 prisoners are suspected to have been held by the US in secret detention centers around the world including in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Island of Diego Garcia (Indian Ocean), Jordan and aboard US amphibious assault ships.

According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, numerous cases of torture ordered by US officials and perpetrated by US authorities are well documented.

Since October 2001, when the war on Afghanistan began, almost 800 detainees have been brought to Guantanamo.

In 2008, during his Presidential campaign, Barack Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and promised to close down the prison in 2009.

In January 2009, Obama signed a number of executive orders purporting to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and end Bush's abusive practices. However, Guantanamo still remains open and many say Obama's orders still permit inhumane interrogation practices due to its loopholes.

The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the US since 9/11 has resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in US custody.