AI Report Documents Torture and Secret Detention

From Amnesty International:
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AI Report Documents Torture and Secret Detention

Amnesty International has recently collected testimony that sheds new light on the U.S. government's apparent practice of holding individuals in secret detention centers around the world. Their testimony was collected following an official visit by the organization to a Yemeni prison.

The stories collected include the experience of three men, Salah Nasser Salim 'Ali, Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi, who were apparently all held in detention and/or solitary confinement by the United States for for extended periods.

The Story of Salah Nasser Salim 'Ali and Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah

According to their testimonies, Salah Nasser Salim 'Ali and Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, two Yemeni friends living in Indonesia, were detained at different times and taken to Jordan. Both men say they were tortured by the Jordanian intelligence services for four days, and then flown to secret underground jails where they were held in solitary confinement without charge by U.S. guards for over 18 months.

Although they are no longer held in solitary confinement, both Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah remain in detention in Yemen, even though the Yemeni authorities admit they have no legal reasons to hold them. Yemeni officials told Amnesty International delegates that the men continue to be held in detention at the request of U.S. authorities.
» Read more about these cases.

The story of Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi

Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi was released from Guantánamo Bay in April 2004. More than a year later, he remains detained in Yemen without charge or trial, apparently at the request of U.S. authorities. Before he was transferred to Guantánamo he was held in Kabul and at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, where he was subjected to abuse and threatened with death. He was held in Guantánamo for over two years and was never charged with any offence or brought to trial.
» Read more about his case.

Take Action

Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi are among hundreds of people who find themselves victims of an open-ended and borderless "war," in Yemen and elsewhere, as part of the US-led "War on Terror." People have been and continue to be held incommunicado where they are at grave risk of torture and ill-treatment.
» Read more about the experiences of these three men and others and find out what you can do.