-Caveat Lector- Guardian Unlimited Briton tells of ordeal in Bush's torture jail
Al-Qaeda suspect 'is starved of food and sleep' at army base where two have died Paul Harris and Burhan Wazir Sunday December 29, 2002 The Observer The letter contained only hints of what Moazzam Begg's interrogators may have done to him. He wrote of hunger and being kept awake by bright lights. 'I still don't know what will happen with me,' he lamented to his wife back home in Birmingham. Begg, 35, was writing from Bagram military base just outside Kabul. He is the only British prisoner inside a cluster of metal shipping containers at the heart of the United States army part of the base, which serves as a 'jail' for al-Qaeda suspects. Now the camp is at the centre of a furious row over US behaviour in the war on terror. Evidence is growing that prisoners inside the containers are being tortured by American soldiers and CIA agents. Begg may have written of more damaging details of his own treatment, but many of his previous letters were never delivered. It appears the US soldiers at Bagram have much to hide. Human rights groups are calling for an inquiry into the methods used by American interrogators at Bagram and other bases in Afghanistan. US officials have admitted that suspects captured in the region are 'softened up' on their way to detention by brutal beatings from US military police and special forces soldiers. They are confined to tiny rooms, blindfolded and thrown into walls. They are tied up in painful positions, subjected to loud noises and deprived of sleep by having lights shone on them all day and night. Sometimes they are forced to stand for long periods in black hoods or wearing goggles which have been spray-painted so as to render them blind. The aim is to disorientate and confuse the suspects, as they face a barrage of questions about their activities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It is believed that some, who had battle wounds when captured, are denied painkillers as a further way of coaxing information from them. 'Pain control is a very subjective thing,' one US official said, deadpan, to the Washington Post last week. Those who do not crack, or perhaps have nothing to tell, are often handed over to foreign intelligence services such as those of Morocco or Saudi Arabia, where less sophisticated and bloodier torture techniques are regularly employed. Critics point out that the US forces have picked up innocent men before. In October three Afghan men were released without charge after they had been held for a year at the American base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. They were given $500 compensation between them. So far the US has admitted that two men held at Bagram have died in custody - one from a heart attack and the other from a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot on the lung. A criminal investigation is now under way, but no reason has been given of what caused the men's injuries. In the case of Begg, who grew up in the Moseley area of Birmingham, the Americans have been equally silent. Foreign Office officials admit that after 11 months of asking they have still not been able to see him to check on his health. 'We are still pressing the Americans, but as yet we have not been allowed access,' said a spokesman. Begg has not seen a lawyer, a Red Cross official or any member of his family either since he was arrested in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad last February. Just why the Briton was sought by the Americans is also a mystery. But they wanted him badly. When the US bombing began in November 2001, Begg closed down the school he had opened in Kabul and moved to Pakistan. It was there that he was arrested, bundled into a car and smuggled back over the border into Afghanistan, first to Kandahar and then to Bagram. The last time his father, Azmat Begg, heard Moazzam's voice was in a call from a mobile phone as his son lay in the boot of his captors' vehicle. After a few panicky moments the call suddenly ended. Despite being a devout Muslim, Moazzam Begg attended a Jewish primary school in the West Midlands. He studied law at a Birmingham college but dropped out in 1994 to join a charity delivering aid to Muslims in Bosnia. His family portray him as a family man who worked as a translator and took his wife and three young children with him to Afghanistan. 'I am worried like a father who would worry about his son,' said Azmat Begg, 64. 'He is a lovely and bright boy and obedient. He never tells lies and always does the right thing. He told me he wanted to start a school in Afghanistan to improve the literacy rates there.' Certainly his letter to his wife showed a man anguished about his family. 'The most difficult thing in my life is being away from you and the kids,' he wrote. However, security sources point to raids on Begg's British home by anti-terrorist police. The first was several years ago and the second was carried out last summer, when a computer, five floppy disks and two CD-roms were taken. Neither raid resulted in any charges. But human rights activists say suspects at Bagram - whether innocent or guilty - should not be tortured. This, they say, undermines the war on terror. 'How can the US descend to the level of using terror in the war on terror? What sort of victory is that? This is illegal and it is appalling,' said Jamie Felner, a US director of Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International has also condemned the treatment of detainees such as Begg. 'The US must ensure that its actions in relation to those in custody comply with international law and standards,' said a spokesperson. 'This is crucial if justice is to be done.' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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