The Australian government has begun an investigation into reports that suspected Taliban fighter Mr David Hicks was abused while in detention at a US military camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
The accusations were made by Mr Hicks's Australian lawyer, Mr Stephen Kenny, and his US military lawyer, Maj Michael Mori, in the wake of allegations and photographs of mistreatment by US and British forces of Iraqi prisoners.
"David Hicks has been treated in a manner I consider abusive, a serious violation of his human rights and which constitutes a criminal offence in international law," Mr Kenny said.
But he said a confidentiality deal with the United States prevented him from revealing the nature and extent of any abuse suffered by Mr Hicks (28) an Islamic convert who had been held since his capture more than two years ago in Afghanistan.
He said Mr Hicks had not been sexually abused and that he was now being treated humanely although the conditions he was being kept in were not humane.
Australian Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer said he had not previously heard these allegations but had now initiated an investigation, sending Australia's consul-general from Washington to Cuba to talk to Mr Hicks and fellow Australian, Mr Mamdouh Habib.
The Washington Postnewspaper has reported that the US Defence Department last year approved interrogation in Guantanamo Bay that included forcing inmates to strip and subjecting them to loud music, bright lights and sleep deprivation.