The Pentagon has for the first time made public the names of 645 detainees held at the US military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, a US human rights group said Saturday. The American Civil Liberties Union said the list of names, dated September 22, 2009, was released by the US defense secretary after the group filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The list is the first official information about the detainees held in a prison sometimes referred to as the "Afghan Guantanamo," but it was released in a heavily-censored form, the ACLU said.
"Vital information including their citizenship, how long they have been held, in what country they were captured and the circumstances of their capture has been redacted," the group said in a statement.
The ages of the detainees was also not provided.
"Hundreds of people have languished at Bagram for years in horrid and abusive conditions, without even being told why they`re detained or given a fair chance to argue for release," said ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking the information in September 2009, after an April request was rejected by the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency.
Since US President Barack Obama announced his administration would work to close the prison at Guantanamo, where 198 detainees remain, human rights groups have turned their attention to the US prison at Bagram.
NATO and Afghanistan signed an agreement in early January authorizing the transfer of the prison to Afghan authorities, though no date was set for the handover.
In September, the Obama administration announced it would allow prisoners at the facility to view some of the evidence against them and the right to challenge their detention before limited military tribunals.
In the United States, courts are considering whether non-Afghan detainees who were captured outside of Afghanistan should have access to the US justice system to challenge their detention.
