- AFP) -- An Afghan village elder described how he was
detained by coalition forces and flown to a US military base in Cuba on
suspicion of being a Taliban or al-Qaeda fighter as he visited his local
doctor.
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- Haji Faiz Mohammad, who claims to be 105 years old, was
one of a group of three Afghans handed over to local authorities Sunday
after being flown back home from the naval base on Guantanamo Bay after
US authorities deemed them innocent of links to terrorist groups.
-
- A United Nations human rights expert is now calling for
an inquiry into their treatment after their release Tuesday from a military
hospital in Kabul.
-
- "Imprisoning me was unjust and cruel, I didn't do
anything wrong," said Haji Faiz Mohammad, who was arrested in the
village of Dehrawad in Uruzgan province, some 400 kilometers southwest
of Kabul.
-
- "The day when I was arrested, I was sick so I went
to see the doctor in town. Then some helicopters landed, they arrested
everybody and questioned us," Haji Faiz told AFP from a bed in the
hospital.
-
- "I told them the truth, then they covered my eyes."
-
- The elder, whose age was impossible to verify, said that
he had been treated well during his time in US custody in Guantanamo.
-
- "In Guantanamo their behaviour was good. We had
enough food and clothing and a shower every six days."
-
- His fellow detainee, Jon Mohammad, who was taken prisoner
during a battle in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, said he had been forced
to join the Taliban before the militia's ouster under a US-led bombing
campaign late last year.
-
- "I didn't commit a single crime. The Taliban forced
me to join their ranks. I was never truly a Taliban fighter," the
34-year-old said from his hospital bed.
-
- "In each village a number of people had to join,
so I went along with them then surrendered. They (coalition forces) took
me to Kandahar (in southern Afghanistan), questioned me, put something
over my eyes and then took me to Guantanamo Bay."
-
- Mohammad also said he had been treated well during his
time in Cuba.
-
- "Their behaviour was good, some Americans were even
more friendly than Afghans. During the last 15 days we even played football
together and they were sad when we left."
-
- Washington regards about 600 other captives from around
40 countries who are currently held in Guantanamo as unlawful combatants
who can be held without trial for the duration of its self-declared war
on terrorism.
-
- The UN's special rapporteur on human rights for Afghanistan
Kamal Hossain, currently on a brief tour of the country, said the treatment
of the prisoners at the hands of the US military should be investigated.
-
- "I have clearly said in my last report that all
such cases should be inquired into," he told reporters Tuesday.
-
- "Those cases which become available, they should
be subject to a matter of inquiry to see the circumstances in which they
may or may not have suffered."
-
- Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy to Afghanistan
who is also currently on a brief visit to the country, has confirmed that
those released had been cleared of any links with al-Qaeda and would receive
"some assistance".
-
- Mohammad said he had received 100 dollars from the US
military, describing the sum as "an insult".
-
- The third prisoner, Haji Mohammad Sidiq, who claimed
to be 90, said he was too tired to be interviewed.
-
- After being discharged from hospital, all three were
taken to the Afghan government's interior ministry in Kabul.
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