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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| New rights for Afghan prisoners | New rights for Afghan prisoners |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| Some of the 600 prisoners held by the US at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan are to be given the right to challenge their detention, the Pentagon says. | Some of the 600 prisoners held by the US at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan are to be given the right to challenge their detention, the Pentagon says. |
| US defence department spokesman Bryan Whitman said inmates would be allowed to go before a panel "periodically" to contest their detention, reports AFP. | US defence department spokesman Bryan Whitman said inmates would be allowed to go before a panel "periodically" to contest their detention, reports AFP. |
| He told reporters they would be helped by a "personal representative" to guide them through the process. | |
| The Obama administration has been reviewing US detention policies. | The Obama administration has been reviewing US detention policies. |
| Upon taking office in January, the US president vowed to close the Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba. | Upon taking office in January, the US president vowed to close the Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba. |
| "It's basically a review procedure that ensures people go in front of a panel periodically to give them the opportunity to contest their detention," Mr Whitman said, according to AFP. | |
| He said the uniformed personal representative would guide the inmate "through this administrative process, to help gather witness statements". | |
| Mr Whitman added that it was a process the US had used in Iraq. | |
| It helped US officials there "manage the detainee population and ultimately reduce the detainee population by ensuring that we are only holding those that are the most dangerous threats," he said. | |
| Prisoners in Bagram have been protesting since July over their legal and humanitarian situation by refusing to leave cells or meet family members and Red Cross officials. |