The United States looks set to continue to make arrests and control at least part of its controversial Bagram prison after formally handing over responsibility to Afghans next week, a report said Thursday. The prison, which has sometimes been called Afghanistan’s Guantanamo Bay, holds rebel fighters detained by US-led forces in their decade-long war against Taliban insurgents. Afghanistan and the United States signed an agreement for its transfer on March 9 and Kabul now says it expects to take over Bagram on Monday. But the Open Society Foundation set up by US billionaire George Soros has criticised a short, six-month transition that masked inconsistences, left open the fate of third-country and new detainees, and risks rights abuses. “The United States also appears to want continued detention powers in Afghanistan beyond September 2012, something which all Afghan officials interviewed for this report have categorically rejected,” the report said.
