HRW decries abuse of Afghans by US forces

The rights watchdog said it concluded "the US-administered system of arrest and detention in Afghanistan exists outside of the rule of law." The United States has detention facilities at Bagram, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Asadabad military bases.

"The United States is setting a terrible example in Afghanistan on detention practices," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

"Civilians are being held in a legal black hole -- with no tribunals, no legal counsel, no family visits and no basic legal protections."

And Washington has not responded adequately to questions about arrest and detention practices, the group charged.

It gave the example of three detainees it said were known to have died while in US custody, two at the Bagram airbase north of Kabul in December 2002 and one at Asadabad in June 2003. The first two deaths were ruled homicides by US military pathologists who performed autopsies on the two men, but US officials have yet to explain what happened to any of the three men, the group said.

The 59-page report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2003 and early 2004. "Human Rights Watch documented cases of US forces using military tactics, including unprovoked deadly force, during operations to apprehend civilians in uncontested residential areas situations where law enforcement standards and tactics should have been used," the group said.