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Journalists Witness American Torture

cpan | 24.06.2007 21:52 | Terror War | World

Two German journalists have stated that they witnessed prisoner abuse while on patrol with troops from the North Carolina based 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan.

By Mick Meaney
RINF Alternative News

Two German journalists have stated that they witnessed prisoner abuse while on patrol with troops from the North Carolina based 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan.

Reporter Wolfgang Bauer and photographer Karsten Schoene were embedded with the troops during a village search for Taliban fighters, when a platoon leader suspected a man in one of the houses.

According to Bauer and Schoene the suspect refused to talk so the platoon leader tied one end of a rope to his foot and the other end to a vehicle and threatened to use the vehicle to drag the man unless he “told the truth”.

This is not a unique incident as the reporters also witnessed a “secret service man” punching a suspect and hitting him with the butt of his gun in an attempt to “obtain information”.

Bauer said: “The U.S. soldier, a fighter against terrorism, is suddenly, according to international law, a criminal. He carried out a fake execution. He tortured.”

A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan said that he was unware of the allegations and would need to investigate further before being able to comment.

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