US accused of abusing Kuwaiti detainees

A lawyer acting on behalf of several Kuwaiti prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay has claimed his clients were abused by US forces…

A lawyer acting on behalf of several Kuwaiti prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay has claimed his clients were abused by US forces.

Mr Tom Wilner, who represents the 11 Kuwaitis locked up as foreign terrorism suspects at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says US soldiers beat them with chains, sodomised them and gave them electrical shocks.

He described the alleged abuses in notes after meeting with the men last month. The notes - declassified by the US government - detail conversations with six of the men.

A Pentagon spokesman would not offer a point-by-point rebuttal of the allegations but said: "It is important to note that al-Qaeda training manuals emphasise the tactic of making false abuse allegations."

READ MORE

The worst of the abuse, which Mr Wilner labelled torture, took place at the hands of US forces at detention facilities in Afghanistan and Pakistan before the men were taken to Guantanamo, first used to detain terrorism suspects in January 2002, he said.

"All of them were hung from their wrists and beaten, sometimes beaten with chains. At least one was hung upside from his ankles and beaten. They were all beaten, they said, until they would pass out," Mr Wilner said.

"They were stripped naked and kept naked for extended periods of time. They were taunted while naked by female guards. At least one of them was sodomised. At least two of them were subjected to electric shocks while hanging from their wrists," Mr Wilner added, with the shocks applied using metal paddles placed under the men's arms.