Brooklyn’s Abu Ghraib

Attorneys for former post-9-11 detainees at New York’s federal Metropolitan Detention Center call it "Brooklyn’s Abu Ghraib." The detainees—none of whom were ever charged with anything related to terrorism—say in sworn affidavits and interviews with Justice Department officials that correction officers at the facility in the Sunset Park neighborhood:

Shackled their hands and feet before smashing them repteadly face-first into a concerete wall.

Humiliated them by making fun of—and sometimes painfully squeezing—their genitals.

Deprived them of regular sleep for up to months.

Forced them to stand outdoors at dawn in mid-winter, wearing light cotton prison garb and no shoes, sometimes for hours.

(NY Daily News, Feb. 20)

See our last post on the ongoing torture affair.