Britain and the US stood accused of a shocking catalogue of human rights abuses yesterday by three Britons who were held at Guantanamo Bay. Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul, all from Tipton in the Black Country, returned to Britain in March having spent more than two years with out legal representation in American custody, first in Afghanistan, then at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were then released without charge by British police. They were shackled, punched, kicked, slapped, hooded, forced to strip naked and deprived of sleep they said in the 115-page dossier - Detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo. "I could hear dogs barking nearby and soldiers shouting 'get 'em boy'," said Mr Rasul. Mr Ahmed claimed that after his capture in Afghanistan in November 2001, he was interrogated by a man who identified himself as an SAS officer, while an American guard pointed a gun at his head threatening to shoot. British detainees Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi have been held in total isolation for well over a year and Mr Begg is "in a very bad way", according to a guard quoted in the report. Guantanamo Bay prisoners have and possibly continue to suffer the same shameful abuse inflicted upon inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison which shocked the world. One American guard at Guantanamo Bay told the inmates: "The world does not know you're here - we would kill you and no-one would know," according to the report. Mr Rasul said an MI5 officer told him during an interrogation that he would be detained in Guantanamo for life. Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal reveal they were only allowed to leave the sweltering cells they shared with snakes in Cuba for a "few minutes" each week for one shower. They were often bitten. Sexual humiliation of prisoners was common and targeted primarily at those who were strict Muslims. Guards would throw prisoners' Korans into the toilet "as part of their clear policy to force people to abandon their religious faith", it was claimed. Prisoners were "forcibly injected with unknown drugs as part of the interrogation process" and offered medical care in exchange for confessions. And after endless pressure many prisoners gave false confessions, it was claimed. The three Britons said they eventually wrongfully confessed to appearing in a video with al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 hijackers. Mentally ill inmates were physically abused and another man was left brain damaged after a beating by soldiers, who were punishing him for attempting suicide, it was claimed. The treatment got worse when Major General Geoffrey Miller took over the camp. When Maj Gen Miller was in charge, new practices began, including the shaving of beards, shackling detainees in squatting positions, playing loud music and putting prisoners naked in cells, the report alleges. The Britons claim they were photographed naked and subjected to body cavity searches. Mr Ahmed said Foreign Office officials "did not seem to care or even ask him about the conditions". The report states: "It was very clear to all three that MI5 was content to benefit from the effect of the isolation, sleep deprivation and other forms of acutely painful and degrading treatment, including short shackling. "There was never any suggestion on the part of the British interrogators that this treatment was wrong." The report leaves questions for the Foreign Office, which said that no British detainees at Guantanamo Bay had complained about their treatment. All three men said they had made either written or verbal complaints to British embassy officials while they were being held. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The British Army follows the rules laid out in the Geneva Convention and soldiers are told to follow that. "It is not permissible to point guns at people's heads during interrogation. We would investigate if any allegation of that nature is made." The three Britons said they were told by another inmate that he had been shown a video of hooded men - apparently inmates - being forced to sodomise one another. The detainee was told he would be forced to do the same unless he complied with interrogators. Mr Rasul said his first contact with the British military was in a US prison camp in Kandahar. An interrogator, wearing a maroon beret, said he was from the SAS. Mr Ahmed said he was also questioned in Kandahar by a British officer, identifying himself as a member of the SAS. Throughout the three-hour interrogation, an American guard held a gun to Mr Ahmed's head, he said. He said he was told he would be shot if he moved. Mr Rasul said he was interrogated by MI5 officers, from July 2002 onwards, without Americans in the room. "We were in exactly the same physical circumstances of interrogation as when the Americans interrogated us, sitting on a plastic chair shackled to the floor," he said. "We complained to MI5 as well as the Foreign Office about all the things that were being done to us in Guantanamo Bay. "You couldn't tell the difference between the MI5 and the Foreign Office. Neither was interested in us other than to get information we didn't have." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "It is crucial to remind ourselves of the context of September 11. "The Government has a duty to protect Britain's security. "That is why the British men were interviewed in Guantanamo by the security service about the UK's national security. "Indeed, it would have been wholly irresponsible not to question the men. "But throughout we have sought to meet the twin objectives of pursuing the fight against international terrorism whilst safeguarding the interests of the British citizens detained abroad." He went on: "The welfare of the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been a priority for the British Government from the outset. "British officials have visited Guantanamo to check on the British detainees' welfare on more occasions than any other government has for its nationals. "During each welfare visit, the detainees were given the opportunity to express concerns about their general treatment. "They were also asked specifically about their health, accommodation, food, exercise regime, mail and reading material." Some of the detainees complaints had already been "successfully addressed" by the US authorities, who were also looking into "other outstanding concerns" about the detention conditions of the remaining four Britons, he said. | 
