US Afghan Prison Dwarfs Gitmo

(NEWSER) - A federal judge overruled both the Bush and the Obama administrations today, declaring that prisoners held at a military base in Afghanistan can challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the New York Times reports. The prisoners deserve the same right that the Supreme Court granted to Gitmo detainees last year, the judge ruled. More»

New Bagram complex marks intention to hold prisoners abroad for years to come

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon is planning to build a huge new detention complex in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times, acknowledging that the US expects to hold prisoners there for many years to come. The 40-acre, $60-million facility at Bagram Air Force Base will replace the existing makeshift prison in a converted aircraft hangar, where more than 600 prisoners are held in wire pens; some have been in the deteriorating facility as long as five years. More»

They'll get just one a year, along with censored letters

(NEWSER) - "Unlawful enemy combatants" detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will be allowed to phone their families one a year, Reuters reports. But the military task force in charge of managing the prison has yet to work out the details. As it stands, Gitmo inmates can send and receive letters—subject to military censorship—but otherwise are permitted no contact with the outside world. More»

(NEWSER) - The U.S. prison at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan is as bad as Guantanamo, reports Eliza Griswold in the New Republic. Prisoners are kept in barbed-wire cages, beaten, tortured, raped, and held without promise of trial. But unlike Gitmo, Bagram has no visiting congressional delegations. More»

But it will retain veto power on those released

(NEWSER) - The US has agreed to hand over all of its Afghan detainees to the country's government, on the condition that it will retain the right to veto any releases, officials announced today. Officially, the agreement is effective immediately, but it allows for a six-month transition to full Afghan control, and in reality the US is likely to maintain day-to-day control over the prisoners for a while, the New York Times reports. More»