New jail to replace notorious Bagram

Sun Nov 15, 2009

The US military in Afghanistan has unveiled a refurbished detention facility at Bagram, which will replace the controversial prison at the US' largest airbase in the country.

The new 60-million-dollar Afghan prison is expected to promote openness and better conditions for detainees, Brigadier General Mark Martins, the interim commander for US detainee operations said on Sunday.

"The new facility ... provides improved detainee living conditions ... as well as vocational, technical, and other programs to assist with peaceful reintegration of released detainees," Martins told reporters at the base north of Kabul.

"This facility, and these reintegration program ... will promote transparency and legitimacy," Reuters reported.

The new detention facility that could hold 1,000 prisoners, has sparked controversy among rights activists — who maintain that despite a change in environment, there is no change in the legal status of the detainees.

There are many prisoners kept at the US detention centers, including the notorious Bagram, without even being charged.

So far none of the detainees at Bagram prison have been allowed to have a civilian lawyer.

The US military official says the 700 detainees currently held at Bagram will be gradually transferred to the new prison by the year's end.

In 2002 the old Bagram detention facility saw the death of two detainees and drew international outrage. No reporters have so far been allowed into the old prison.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/111359.html.