US probes alleged prisoner abuse in Afghanistan

The US military has opened an investigation into allegations that an Afghan police officer was stripped naked, beaten and photographed at a US base in Afghanistan, the US Embassy in Kabul said today.

The alleged abuse occurred at the base in the eastern town of Gardez in August 2003, an embassy statement said. US officials had learned of the allegations from the media, it said.

“The US military has launched an immediate investigation,” the statement said.

The New York Times quoted the police officer as saying he was subjected to sexual abuse and taunting and sleep deprivation.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the first time anyone in the military chain of command or the United States Embassy has heard of this alleged mistreatment,” US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in the statement.

“We are not aware of the existence of any photos of the alleged incident,” he added.

Khalilzad said he was confident the military’s investigation would be thorough and lead to “appropriate action” if the allegations are true.

Yesterday, the top US general in Afghanistan rejected an Afghan human rights group’s demands for access to the prisoners at US jails in the country to make sure they are not suffering the same kind of abuses alleged in Iraq, saying monitoring by the International Committee of the Red Cross was sufficient.