Afghan Massacre: Eyewitnesses Testify that US Troops Were Complicit

 in the Massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban Prisoners During the Afghan War

 Thursday, May 20th, 2004

 http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/20/147230

 In hearings yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the

 head of US Central Command Gen. John Abizaid said the U.S. military

 has investigated 75 cases of abuse of prisoners in Iraq and

 Afghanistan since late 2002. Abizaid is responsible for US military

 operations in both countries. He said the army was still

 investigating several homicides in Afghanistan that went as far back

 as December 2002.

 The issue of the US military's treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan

 and Iraq has only become a major issue in the US since scores of

 photos showing US soldiers abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison

 in Iraq were published by US media outlets. But the abuse has been

 going on from the beginning of the so-called war on terror, even if

 the corporate media only picked up on the story in the past few

 weeks.

 Today, we are going to play a documentary that Democracy Now!

 premiered in the US a year ago this week: "Afghan Massacre: The

 Convoy of Death." It was produced and directed by award-winning Irish

 filmmaker Jamie Doran. The film provides eyewitness testimony that

 U.S. troops were complicit in the massacre of thousands of Taliban

 prisoners during the Afghan War.

 According to eyewitnesses, after the seige of Kunduz, some three

 thousand prisoners were forced into sealed containers and loaded onto

 trucks for transport to Sheberghan prison. Eyewitnesses say when the

 prisoners began shouting for air, U.S.-allied Afghan soldiers fired

 directly into the truck, killing many of them. The rest suffered

 through an appalling road trip lasting up to four days, so thirsty

 they clawed at the skin of their fellow prisoners as they licked

 perspiration and even drank blood from open wounds.

 Witnesses say that when the trucks arrived and soldiers opened the

 containers, most of the people inside were dead. They also say US

 Special Forces re-directed the containers carrying the living and

 dead into the desert and stood by as survivors were shot and buried.

 Now, up to three thousand bodies lie buried in a mass grave.

 The film has sent shockwaves around the world. It has been broadcast

 on national television in Britain, Germany, Italy and Australia. It

 has been screened by the European parliament. It has outraged human

 rights groups and international human rights lawyers. They are

 calling for investigation into whether U.S. Special Forces are guilty

 of war crimes.

 But most Americans have never heard of the film. That's because not

 one corporate media outlet in the U.S. will touch it. Before

 Democracy Now! premiered the film one year ago this week, it had

 never before been broadcast in this country.

 "Afghan Massacre" is produced and directed by award-winning Irish

 filmmaker Jamie Doran. Doran has worked at the highest levels of

 television film production for more than two decades. His films have

 been broadcast on virtually every major channel throughout the world.

 On average, each of his films are seen in around 35 countries. Before

 establishing his independent television company, Jamie Doran spent

 over seven years at BBC Television.

 The film was researched by award-winning journalist Najibullah

 Quraishi, who was beaten almost to death when he tried to obtain

 video evidence of US Special Forces' complicity in the massacre. Two

 of the witnesses who testified in the film are now dead.

 "Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death."