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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| New rights for Afghan prisoners | New rights for Afghan prisoners |
| (about 1 hour 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 detainees would be allowed to go before a panel "periodically" to contest their detention, reports AFP. | |
| He told reporters the inmates 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. | "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". | He said the uniformed personal representative would guide the inmate "through this administrative process, to help gather witness statements". |
| Bagram: US base in Afghanistan | |
| Mr Whitman added that it was a process the US had used in Iraq. | 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. | 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. |
| Bagram, north of Kabul, has been used by the US-led coalition force in Afghanistan since since the toppling of the Taliban regime in December 2001. | |
| The prison at the base is the main holding facility for people detained by US and coalition forces across the country. | |
| The US justice department said earlier this year that about 600 people, including Afghan nationals and foreign al-Qaeda suspects, remained at Bagram. | |
| Inmates have been protesting since July over their detention by refusing to leave cells or meet family members and Red Cross officials. |