US claims right to hold Afghan detainees longer

A controversial policy that gives US forces in Afghanistan four days to question detainees is being changed to give soldiers more time to interrogate the captives, Gen. David Petraeus said March 16. Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee that US troops will now be able to hold detainees for up to 14 days before either releasing them or turning them over to the Afghan government. In some cases, longer detention will be an option, he said. (CNN, March 17)

A step backwards after the tentative progress represented by the closing of Bagram prison.

See our last posts on Afghanistan and the detainment scandal.

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