US Defends Treatment of Afghan Detainees (Can't go back & change the past)

[Khephra]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The U.S. military defended its human rights record in Afghanistan on Wednesday, saying a May inspection by an American general found no evidence of ongoing abuse at the country's 22 detention centers. The report, however, does not examine earlier incidents, including the deaths of eight prisoners.

Pentagon officials earlier this week put the number of prisoner deaths in Afghanistan that have been investigated since mid-2002 at eight, a higher number than previously reported. Human Rights Watch said slow-paced investigations had "spawned a culture of impunity" that may have fueled prisoner abuse in Iraq.


"We can't go back and change the past," U.S. Maj. Mark McCann told reporters in Kabul. "What we can do is ensure that there are conditions in place now for in the future, where we ensure that this stuff will not happen again."

After allegations emerged of abuse by U.S. forces against prisoners in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby Jr. was dispatched in May to examine treatment at the 22 detainee facilities in Afghanistan. His report is still under review, and no release date has been set, McCann said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-afghan-detainee-abuse,0,4522399.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines