Dakar, Senegal - Amnesty International says the torture of prisoners including al-Qaida suspects has increased under the military junta in Mauritania.
Mauritanian government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The junta took control in an Aug. 6 coup after the president fired the northwest African country's top four military officials.
Amnesty International accuses the Mauritanian government of "routine and systematic torture of prisoners, whether terror suspects or accused common criminals."
The rights group says in a report on Wednesday that the country's security forces routinely abuse detainees with electric shocks, beatings and sexual violence. - Sapa-AP