Amnesty condemns 'abuse' of terror suspects in Pakistan

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned what it calls the abuse of terrorist suspects caught in Pakistan.

It said hundreds had disappeared, while others were tortured or sold on to US authorities.

In a report, the London-based group said bounty hunters routinely helped arrest suspects, who were then sold overseas to places including to the United States' prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

"The road to Guantanamo very literally starts in Pakistan," said Amnesty's Claudio Cordone, commenting on the report.

"Hundreds of people have been picked up in mass arrests, many have been sold to the USA as 'terrorists' simply on the word of their captor, and hundreds have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Airbase (a US base in Afghanistan) or secret detention centres run by the USA," he said.

Pakistan has supported the US-led global war on terrorism since it was launched by US President, George W Bush, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

But Amnesty alleges that, in cooperating in the so-called war on terror, the Pakistani government has systematically committed human rights abuses against hundreds of Pakistanis and foreign nationals.

"Hundreds of terror suspects have disappeared after being taken into custody, many by Pakistan's intelligence services," the report said.

"A large number of war on terror detainees have been literally sold into US hands by bounty hunters who have received cash payments in return, typically $US5,000."

The report said that some 300 people, previously labelled as "terrorists" and "killers" by the US government, have since been released from Guantanamo Bay without charge, the majority to Pakistan or Afghanistan.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA