'US Expands Prison In Afghanistan', Al Jazeera, 20 February 2009
EXCERPT: "The US military is about to complete a $60m expansion to its prison at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where it holds more than 600 so-called enemy combatants. The near doubling of the jail's size comes as Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, prepares on Friday to 'refine' Washington's position on its use of Bagram and other facilities, including Guantanamo Bay. Gates, along with Eric Holder, the US attorney general, has been tasked with carrying out a review to determine the fate of detainees held in the US facilities. Barack Obama, the US president, was widely praised for moving to shut down the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within days of his inauguration last month. But with his move to send 17,000 troops to Afghanistan to shore up US operations there, the Bagram prison looks set to become more visible and controversial. Rumi Nielson-Green, a spokeswoman for the US military, told Al Jazeera that the detainees held at Bagram were 'unlawful enemy combatants'."
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See also:
'$60m Bagram prison expansion nearing completion', Stratfor, 20 February 2009
'Obama administration must take new approach on Bagram detentions', Amnesty International, 19 February 2009
'Next flash point over terror detainees: Bagram prison', The Christian Science Monitor, 12 February 2009
Related posts:
'Bagram poses problem in overhaul of detainee policy', 29 January 2009
'In Afghanistan, another Gitmo grows', 5 January 2009
'Abuse of detainees routine at US bases in Afghanistan', 16 June 2008
'Detention in Afghanistan: The need for an integrated plan', 22 February 2008
