(19 Jul 2003)
1. Various of Afghan prisoners freed from Guantanamo
2. SOUNDBITE: (Pashtu) Nati Gul (spent 18 months in Guantanamo)
"They didn't beat us during the interrogation. They wrote down anything we said. They interrogated me about thirty to forty times. Everything was okay, they didn't beat me."
3. Various of Guantanamo prisoners
4. SOUNDBITE: (Pashtu) Abdul Ramal (spent 20 months in Guantanamo)
"Who says we were not punished, it's not true, they pushed us all over, treated us very badly. They put 24 of us in a small congested room. They also put us into cold rooms. I have been badly punished 107 times. In Guantanamo bay there is no human rights, there's a lot of suffering in Guantanamo bay."
5. Various of prisoners
STORYLINE:
Afghan authorities were identifying Saturday 16 Afghan prisoners freed from a U.S. military jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, police spokesman Ghulam Farooq said.
The men were brought to Kabul from the U.S. military headquarters at Bagram, north of the capital, on Thursday, but their presence in Afghanistan was not announced until Saturday.
"We want to identify them, find their homes and their affiliations," Farooq said.
The men could be seen huddled inside their cell at a city police station. Most of the men were in their 20s and 30s but some looked to be in their 50s.
Speaking to an APTN camera crew some of the men said they had no complaints about their treatment, others said they had been beaten.
Farooq said he was at Bagram Air Base when the men were brought from Guantanamo Bay, where they had been held since 2001.One man was ill and was treated in Kabul, Farooq said.
Farooq said the U.S. administration said they were innocent, but he couldn't say when the men would be freed from jail in Afghanistan. Their release would be decided by the interior ministry, he said.
About 680 people from 42 countries were being held in Guantanamo as of Friday, U.S. military officials said. There have been arrivals and departures in recent days.
Earlier this week 11 Pakistanis were returned from Guantanamo.
Pakistan has been pressing the United States to free its nationals. It' not known how many of the detainees in Guantanamo are Pakistanis.
On Friday, Washington agreed to suspend legal proceedings against British and Australian nationals being held in Guantanamo. Pakistan wants the same treatment for its nationals.
Many of those who returned to Afghanistan this week were ethnic Pashtuns, who largely comprised the Taliban militia. Many say they were conscripted into service for the Taliban.
Since the Taliban were toppled from power in 2001 by the U.S.-led coalition, ethnic Pashtuns have complained of discrimination and persecution and one refugee camp in southern Afghanistan is full of Pashtuns who fled attacks by ethnic Tajiks in northern Afghanistan.
The Northern Alliance, which moved into Kabul after the U.S.-led coalition defeated the Taliban, is dominated by ethnic Tajiks, who have been reluctant to pursue a multiethnic police and army.
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