Prisoners are being abused at a "secret jail" in the main American military base in Afghanistan, according to a report from a US policy think tank. Ex-detainees said they were deprived of sleep and held in cold isolation cells in the site at Bagram, says New York-based Open Society Foundations.
A BBC investigation in April uncovered similar allegations of prisoner abuse at a hidden facility in Bagram airbase. The US military repeated its denial that it was operating a secret jail.
Open Society Foundations, which is funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, says 18 detainees claim they were held at a secret site, dubbed the "black jail", during 2009 and 2010.
The inmates said they were exposed to excessive cold and light, not given enough food or blankets, deprived of sleep, stripped naked for medical examinations and not allowed to practise their religion.
"Given the consistency of the accounts, the Open Society Foundations believes these are genuine areas of concern, and not outliers, that run counter to US rules on detainee treatment," the report says.
Fresh claims US is running secret prison in Afghanistan
