Ongoing abuse by US in local holding facilities?

In their counter-insurgency operations, US troops in Afghanistan routinely gather all male members of villages, cuff them with plastic, and interrogate them either in public or in private. The US military has admitted "unsubstantiated" claims of physical abuse during these interrogations and operations. (See Taliban Country, or the FOIA releases.)

An article in yesterday's LA Times features testimony from detainees recently released from Bagram who claim that the abuse they endured on the way to or while held in "local holding facilities" was the greatest.

At this point, after the reporting of the horrific homicides in Bagram in 2002, abuse in there appears to be less of a concern, as the Red Cross has regular access to the facility.

Yet in the "local holding facilities," where the Red Cross and neither local human rights NGOs are allowed to enter, there is reason to believe that abuse of detainees (many of whom are civilians caught in the middle) continues with impunity.

This indiscriminate rounding of males for counter-insurgency purposes has repeatedly been shown in history to be a failed strategy.

"Eight months ago, the U.S. military did a sweep of my village in Zabol," said 35-year-old Noorullah. "I am just a farmer, but they didn't care. They couldn't tell the difference, so they took everyone they wanted to."

The father of four said he had not been in contact with his family since December. "They most likely think I am dead," he said.

Another detainee quietly described the way he was treated in the jail.

"We were tortured and beaten up when we were first picked up and taken to local holding facilities," said Mohammed, the detainee. "But later in Kandahar and Bagram prison they were civilized to us."