The US military in Afghanistan has launched its second investigation into prisoner abuse in a week, as the scandal over the treatment of Iraqi detainees threatens to spread.
US spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker Mansager told reporters on Saturday that fresh allegations of mistreatment were relayed to the military on Thursday, days after a former detainee said he had been sexually abused in 2003.
"Upon notification, coalition forces launched an immediate investigation into this matter," he said. "Coalition forces are committed to ensuring that all detainees are treated humanely and consistent with international law."
He added that such allegations threatened the military's interests in Afghanistan.
"Our investigation is proof that we are concerned about these things," Mansager said. "Our centre of gravity is the Afghan people. When allegations like this come to light, that can affect that centre of gravity and we take that very seriously." In a tiny, remote village in the east of the country, the family and friends of one of three Afghans who have died while in US custody expressed anger at American abuses.
"We ask the Americans: 'Why are you arresting and killing innocent people?' We don't know how he was killed," said Ibrahim, best friend of Dilawar who died in December, 2002, at Bagram air base, the main US detention centre north of Kabul.
Eighteen months later, the US military has yet to conclude its investigation into the death, which according to reports was caused by "blunt force injuries" to the legs.
Ibrahim said Dilawar, 22, was accused of being an al Qaeda supporter, but his brothers told Reuters in Yaqubi, 140 km (87 miles) south-east of Kabul, that he was a taxi driver.
"We don't want the Americans in our country. They should leave it for us," Ibrahim added.
There were few details of the latest complaint, except that it was made to the military via a third party and the person involved was held by Americans last year and later released.
Earlier this week, the Americans launched an investigation into allegations made by former policeman Sayed Nabi Siddiqui that he had been subjected to beating, sleep deprivation, taunts and sexual abuse during about 40 days in US custody last year.
The complaints, following prisoner abuse in Iraq that sparked rage across the Arab world, have led to new calls for human rights groups to be given access to Afghan detention centres.
But Mansager said that only the International Committee of the Red Cross would be allowed access to Bagram.
Some of the most serious allegations by detainees in Afghanistan, made since the US waged a war that toppled the Taleban in 2001, concern Asadabad in the east, Kandahar in the south and Gardez, south of Kabul.
An ICRC spokeswoman in Kabul said the group visited Bagram about once every two weeks but did not go to other centres. She did not comment on an informal request by the ICRC to visit one of the other sites, which Mansager said had been made on Friday.
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