The top ?US general in Afghanistan has ordered a sweeping review of secretive US jails in the country amid mounting allegations of prisoner abuse, a military spokesman said.
The US military insists it is treating its Afghan prisoners humanely, but last week launched two new investigations into claims of mistreatment, including beatings and sexual abuse.
Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker Mansager said a general would be appointed to carry out the review of some 20 prisons, and would visit each facility before reporting to the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Barno, by the middle of next month.
Portions of the report would be made public, the spokesman said.
"He will also ensure all facilities are adequate, and procedures are in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and are being followed correctly and fully," Mansager said.
He didn't identify the general who would carry out the review.
The revelations of abuse in Iraq have stirred concern that similar abuses may have occurred in Afghanistan, the first station in the US' "war on terrorism."
Rights groups say the accusations that prompted the two fresh investigations fit a pattern of alleged abuse, including the deaths of three prisoners in custody, going back to the aftermath of the Afghanistan war in late 2001.
Mansager said the military's handling of detainees in Afghanistan was substantially different from that in Iraq because the process was "more mature," having gone through regular review.
But he stood firm against calls from an Afghan human rights group as well as media organizations for access to the closely guarded jails across Afghanistan to see if Iraq-style abuses were taking place.
Currently, only the International Committee of the Red Cross is allowed to visit the main Bagram facility, north of Kabul. But its reports are confidential, and Red Cross officials have no access to remote facilities at US bases such as Kandahar, Gardez and Asadabad, allegedly where some of the worst abuses took place.
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