Hicks tells of US 'torture'

2004-12-10 13:06

San Juan - Prisoners at the United States detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed, terrorised by attack dogs and forced to take drugs, said an Australian detainee in an affidavit released on Thursday.

David Hicks, 29, was one of the first prisoners to arrive at the camp in eastern Cuba in January of 2002.

He is one of only four terror suspects who have been formally charged among 550 detainees there accused of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or al-Qaeda terror network.

"At one point, a group of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit in an eight-hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded," Hicks said in an affidavit sealed in August and released by his attorneys in Puerto Rico on Thursday.

"I have been struck with hands, fists, and other objects, including rifle butts. I have also been kicked."

FBI memos detail abuses

The release comes the same week as the publication of several documents that show federal bureau of investigation agents sent to Guantanamo Bay warned the government of abuse and mistreatment as early as the start of the detention mission.

One letter, written by a senior justice department official, suggested the Pentagon did not act on the FBI complaints.

The memos document abuses including a female interrogator grabbing a detainee's genitals and bending back his thumbs, most of a prisoner's head being covered with duct tape because he would not stop quoting from the Qu'ran and an attack dog used to intimidate a detainee who later showed "extreme psychological trauma."

The government maintains prisoners are treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and US policy condemns and prohibits torture.

Stone wall of denial

"When we have credible allegations of detainee abuse, we take those very seriously and investigate them," said Major Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesperson who said some of the allegations made by Hicks and others would be investigated.

Hicks is scheduled be tried in a military commission in March.

"They (the government) put up this stone wall of denial and what this shows was not only that they were wrong but they were disingenuous," said Joshua Dratel, Hicks' civilian defense attorney. "They were getting these reports all along."

- AP