Afghan Prisoners Get New Rights From U.S.

Hundreds of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan will be allowed to call witnesses in their defense as part of a new system.

For the first time, hundreds of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan will be allowed to call witnesses in their defense as part of a new system being started this week, administration officials told The Washington Post.

The new review procedures will be applied to more than 600 Afghans who are being held at the Bagram military base, the Post reported.

This will be the Obama administration's first big change in overseas detention policies.

Some of these detainees have been held for years without access to lawyers or knowing why they were detained -- something that international human rights organizations have long been critics of.

Each detainee will now be given a U.S. military official to represent their interests and look at the evidence against them, the Post reported. The officials are not lawyers.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09 ... ew-rights/