- The Pentagon was yesterday confronted with new allegations
of torture at Guantanamo Bay, from a Bosnian inmate who said he was beaten
so severely his face was left partially paralysed.
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- In a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Boston, the
Pentagon was challenged to release medical and psychiatric records for
six Bosnian detainees who say they were tortured at Guantanamo.
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- The six inmates, all Algerians who had been settled in
Bosnia for years, were originally accused of plotting an attack against
the US embassy in Sarajevo. They were eventually cleared of all charges
and released from prison.
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- However, they were seized by the US military in January
2002, hooded, and taken to Guantanamo.
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- One prisoner, Mustafa Aid Idir, a computer technician
who was on the Bosnian national karate team, suffered repeated beatings.
A garden hose, running full blast, was forced into his mouth until he feared
suffocation. His finger and thumb were broken, and his head was driven
into the ground with such force that he suffered facial paralysis. "His
eyes didn't blink, he couldn't eat, food was leaking from his mouth,"
said Melissa Hoffer, his attorney.
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- Civil rights lawyers hope that yesterday's proceedings
will bring further pressure on the Pentagon to comply with court rulings
for the release of detainee records.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2005
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1459013,00.html
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