USA hands back Afghans for makeshift trials
Friday, April 11th, 2008David Rohde & Tim Golden;11/4/08
Dozens of Afghan men held by the United States at Bagram Air Base and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being tried here in secretive Afghan criminal proceedings, based mainly on allegations forwarded by the US military. The prisoners are being convicted and sentenced to as much as 20 years in jail in trials that typically run between half an hour and an hour, said human rights investigators who have observed them. One early trial was reported to have lasted barely 10 minutes, an investigator said. Witnesses do not appear in court and cannot be cross-examined. There are no sworn statements of their testimony.
