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December 4, 2008 5:40:47 PM CST

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

Posted Mar 14, 08 5:10 AM CDT in Arts & Living,  Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – 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.

Sources Reuters, BBC

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Amnesty International activists demonstrate in Washington, DC against the treatment of detainees by the US.   ((c) takomabibelot)
Swiss senator Dick Marty, who is heading the investigation into alleged CIA prisons in Europe, gestures as he speaks during a press conference.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
An unidentified detainee standing on a box with a bag on his head and wires attached to him in this late 2003 file photo at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.   (AP Photo/File)
An Amnesty International activist displays posters as he is placed in a mock jail during a rally in front of the US embassy in Manila.   (AP Photo/Pat Roque)
Amnesty International is using a case study of a Yemeni man who was held in secret prisons for years as an example of the US breaking international laws.   ((c) ViciousV)
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Iraq • George W. Bush • War on Terror • CIA • torture • Yemen • Abu Ghraib • Amnesty International • secret prisons


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