Investigators: Illegal detention & torture continues under Obama

U.S. soldiers at Bagram Detention Center

Debunking the myth that President Obama has stopped (or even opposes) torture and indefinite detention in obscure U.S.-operated prisons, take #62442:

Only one in 10 of the prisoners held at the US prison camp at Bagram airbase have been charged and many are being abused and tortured, Afghan investigators revealed on Saturday.

Gul Rahman Qazi of the government's constitution watchdog said that just 300 of the 3,000 detainees had legal cases against them and Nato forces don't have enough evidence against the rest.

Inmates say they are kept in dark, freezing cells and humiliated with body cavity searches.

Mr Qazi said one elderly man had been locked in a pitch-black room and lost a tooth when punched by a guard.

Fellow investigator Sayed Noorullah said: "If there is no evidence they have the right to be freed," and the Afghan government should take control of the prisoners "as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald writes about the evil of indefinite detention and those who want the public to forget all about it as if it were naught but a bad dream.

It’s hard to tell if President Obama is really any better at all than his disastrous predecessor, at least on the more crucial issues of human rights and executive power safeguards. Ed Brayton’s accusation of him being a liar, fraud and a total disaster in these areas only grows more substantiated as time passes.

Tags: Bagram Detention Center • Bagram • Barack Obama • Obama administration • indefinite detention