French judge wants to investigate at Guantanamo

[January 17, 2012]  PARIS (AP) -- A French judge is seeking U.S. permission to visit the Guantanamo prison camp to investigate claims by former French inmates that they were tortured.

Investigating judge Sophie Clement says in a formal international request to U.S. officials that she wants to see the prison and copies of all documents relating to the arrest and transfer of three Frenchmen held there. The Associated Press viewed the request Tuesday.

The three men are Nizar Sassi, Mourad Benchellali and Khaled Ben Mustapha. They were arrested on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in late 2001 and transferred to Guantanamo. They were sent back to France in 2004 and 2005 and later released.

The men told the judge during questioning in France that they were subject to violence including torture and rape during their detention.

[Associated Press]

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