US 'Buried' Tortured Yemeni in Jail for Years: Rights Group

Prisoner finally freed without charge was hung upside down, beaten
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 14, 2008 5:10 AM CDT
US 'Buried' Tortured Yemeni in Jail for Years: Rights Group
Amnesty International activists demonstrate in Washington, DC against the treatment of detainees by the US.   ((c) takomabibelot)

A Yemeni man was held by the US in secret prisons for nearly three years and subjected to torture after his capture in Iraq, a human rights group has charged in a condemnation of America's "cruel" defiance of international law. The man, Khaled al-Maqtari, was held in Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, secret jails in Afghanistan, and a CIA prison in an unknown location, where he was hung upside down by a chain, beaten and drenched with icy water, Reuters reports.

Amnesty International blasted President Bush's claim that the CIA's "high-value detainee" program is legal. "The USA is interpreting its international obligations in a way that renders them meaningless," said an organization spokesman, who added that the very nature of secret detentions violates international law.  American authorities released al-Maqtari without charge in 2006, and Amnesty is urging the US to investigate the case and compensate him. (More CIA stories.)

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