Amnesty call for urgent inquiry into Afghanistan prison killings

Ron F | 27.11.2001 23:17

Following an alledged "uprising" by hundreds of Taliban prisoners, US air strikes and anti-Taliban forces killed them all. Amnesty call for an urgent inquiry.

AI Index: ASA 11/036/2001
Publish date: 27/11/2001

Following news reports of hundreds of killings during clashes within the Qala-i-Jhangi, a fort on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, Amnesty International is calling on the United Front, the United States and the United Kingdom to investigate these events.

After negotiating a surrender, hundreds of foreign troops fighting with the Taliban were escorted from Kunduz to the fort by the United Front last weekend. The circumstances surrounding the fighting that followed are still not clear, although initial reports indicate that some prisoners overpowered guards and seized firearms. British and US special forces are reported to have been involved in the fighting, including by directing US air strikes.

An urgent inquiry should look into what triggered this violent incident, including any shortcomings in the holding and processing of the prisoners, and into the proportionality of the response by United Front, US and UK forces. It should make urgent recommendations to ensure that other instances of surrender and holding of prisoners do not lead to similar disorders and loss of life, and that the key role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in overseeing the processing and treatment of prisoners is facilitated. The outcome of this inquiry, and any disciplinary or other measures that may be taken against anyone found responsible for wrongdoing, should be made public.

For the latest information on the the 11 September Crisis visit:

http://web.amnesty.org/11september.htm

More at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1680000/1680072.stm

Ron F

Comments

Hide the following 12 comments

A disgraceful slaughter

27.11.2001 23:48

The captives resorted to resistance because they were being bound up and thought they were going to be killed. So they took over the fort and were killed by american bombing. This remains a disgraceful war with a disgraceful agenda
And so it goes on

Ron Stramonium

What to believe

28.11.2001 00:43

Does anyone else smell a giant rat? The Amnesty posting says that prisoners overpowered the guards and seized the weapons; this moring's paper said that the prisoners had smuggled weapons in; how likely is either? Or is it a case of trying to find a justification to fit the war crime after the event?

Doubting Thomas

Just Some Comments

28.11.2001 00:59

The reports are very hard to believe. The information seems bizarre due to several facts. I have never seen such a poorly guarded prison camp in all of my life. Allegedly, it was guarded by a few CIA agents and a handful of Northern Alliance soldiers. This is a rat! Secondly, this is the first time that I have ever seen the US admit to using CIA to run anything let alone admit to one of the fascists actually being killed. Another rat!
It would clearly be in the US's best interest to totally eliminate any Taliban/al Qa'ida member. This may very well be a product of the newly completed Dept. of Counter-Propaganda. i.e. Bush propaganda.

Carlos Malvado
mail e-mail: Carlos Malvado@hotmail.com

Impotent Amnesty.

28.11.2001 10:40

Amnesty International are very selective of what they consider human rights abuses, and do they ever get a result? The USA is jailing kids, for life, Iraq is spawning monster babies from Bushs' depleted uranium bombs, Afghan children are being slaughtered by illegal cluster bombs. The Nuba and Dinka tribes are being exterminated in Sudan, landmines are maiming millions. Israel shoots to kill little kids, with US weapons and in the UK babies are being placed on police databases and monitored incase they grow up to be criminals. These are all abuses of rights and civil liberties. What is Amnesty actually doing about it? If anything?

Onlooker

Censored media

28.11.2001 11:04

In a brief news item about the prison killings on the 10p.m. BBC news last night, there was about a 3 second clip (apparantly in the vicinity of the prison) showing US military personnel of some sort ordering news crews to turn their cameras off. Accompanying the clip, there was no questioning of these orders. This suggests that the viewers access to news is doubly restricted and censored. First by the military who prohibit direct access to military personnel and who have the priveledge of telling the 'story' afterwards if at all, and then secondly by the media itself who are self censoring. If the pictures that the media show us do not match and fit their commentary, then make your own commentary. Another very worrying trend is the fact that since our so called friends the Northern Alliance have come to the fore in the last 2 weeks, 8 journalists have died. Were these journalist intrusions like the US personnel response suggests, unwelcome?

PBeck

blame the died

28.11.2001 11:38

I think it simple what happened, the northen allace under orders from the US and UK extermination squads sorry eh special forces planted weapons in the prison, I mean come on if you had a prison full of men who were fully trained solders would you have a load of rocket lauchers etc in the same building? I think not. and be very badly armed orginated yourself. BUT luckly they just happen to have a fleet of B52 really to blow the whole lot away. then justify they actions by blaming the died, well the died men were mad terrorist who "fight to the death".

just a throught, Japan use to be FULL of people who would "fight to the death", so that the US could justify dropping the A bombs.

rich

Blair worse than Hitler

28.11.2001 11:42

The massacre of over 500 prisoners of war through aerial bombardments, artillery and gunfire is an astounding breach of the Geneva Convention. The reason why the PoWs got the weapons was due to shoddy organisation by the US/UK/Northern Alliance. The fact that hundreds of PoWs (I'm sure many of them didn't intend to escape anyway) died in this slaughter is testament to the blatant disregard for international convention and human life by this anti-Taliban alliance, including the British and USalians. It was a fundamental assult on international conventions regarding warfare and the treatment of prisoners of war and just shows that the governments of the UK and the US are no different from the terrorists.

Daniel Brett
mail e-mail: dan@danielbrett.co.uk

two birds with one stone

28.11.2001 13:01

9.11 may not have been carried out by the CIA, who knows ?
but it certainly came at the right time for the U.S and world governments. The anti global movement was just taking off and the U. S ecomony was in the process of collapsing.
Now both of the above have been removed from the front pages of the world press and have been repleced by totally controlled press releases so 9.11 killed at least two birds.

This jail break has solved at least two problems for the U.S
one it's removed the problem of what to do with 800 prisoners from various countries, and two it means that all the 800 will never be able to testify about Bin Laden and his links with western intelligence ... or anything else that has been going on between the taleban and the west ect...

smells of large rodent dressed in stars and stripes including top hat ....

Luther blissett

small mercies

28.11.2001 17:00

Amnesty International.. granted, hardly revolutionaries, no analysis of why human rights get abused.

But but but.. they have got a lot of folk out of jail in various countries over the years, and protected many more from torture or death, with their letter-writing etc. If I was banged up for my politics, I'd be glad of em.

internationalist
Homepage: http://www.amnesty.org.uk

I agree with Onlooker here!

28.11.2001 20:59

Hey Onlooker you're right! Amnesty does have a selective methods of deeming human rights abuses and as for Internationalist you can fuck off you prick! It seems Amnesty International never bothers to check the state of its backyard before preaching about humanrights abuses.
What about what happened in Chile by the US backed junta and Greece as well? Numerous humanrights abuses were committed but you did not say a word!
You are nothing but CIA agents which is why you bailed your buddies out of prison! How much are they paying you pricks? Millions that's what! Keep the change you filthy animal!
Onlooker I salute you!

Pegasus

Owning the whole world

28.11.2001 23:35

The war crimes going on in there only demonstrate how care less of human rights, dignity or anything else remotely human the perpetrators of this war and its triggers are. You need to turn your consciousness around and disconnect from the Hollywood scenario, and equally from the Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist debacle, to truly perceive what's going on. Hierarchies within hierarchies, pyramids within pyramids. That's the real story. We're living well on the sufferings of others at the moment. But not for much longer.

Ron Stramonium

nice discussion

29.11.2001 05:51

This is the reason why i avoid IMC's main page discussions

I don't know much about amnesty. My mother mailed stuff for them in the past.. I guess it's helped out many people, but I never hear of it anymore.. I guess it's had organization problems, and probably marginalised.
I also guess the details of the uprising will never be found out, unless some soldier with a conscience speaks up when they come home
I reckon that they couldn't maintain the POW's well enough, and probably either told them that they were going to be killed, or inferred it.. The taliban probably expected to be executed anyway.
It's completely sad. Despite their being hated by the west, these guys fought against all odds, and suffered a complete massacre. The worst part is that their deaths will be forgotten for future atrocities no doubt.

U.S. armed forces will always be known by me to be the cowards of war, hiding behind their technology to despense impersonal bloodshed from the sky.
I can only assume that whatever new enemies arise in the future will facilitate the same type of warfare back at us, through whatever means necessary.
all and all, a lose-lose situation for humanity

anon