A US court-martial in Afghanistan has found an American soldier guilty of mistreating two prisoners at a military base in Uruzgan province.
James R Hayes was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to maltreat and two counts of maltreatment, a statement from the US military in Kabul said.
His punishment includes four months in prison in Kuwait.
Another soldier faces a court-martial over the same incident which took place last July.
His trial is due to start on Monday.
The US military says the detainees did not require medical attention.
Human rights groups have often accused US forces of abusing Afghans held at US detention centres in the country.
No pay
Specialist Hayes was accused of punching detainees in the chest, arms and shoulders.
The US military said his punishment would comprise:
"The command takes this matter very seriously," Marine Lt Col Bob Fifer said in a statement issued to journalists on Saturday.
'Discredit'
A third soldier is also facing "non-judicial punishment for allegedly having knowledge of the abuse and not reporting it through the unit's chain of command", the army said on Friday.
The charges against the soldiers came in October close on the heels of accusations that US forces burned the bodies of Taleban fighters, an act considered sacrilege in Islam.
At least eight prisoners have died in US custody since 2001.
In September, a US military interrogator was sentenced to five months in prison for assaulting a detainee in Afghanistan who later died.
Five other US soldiers have been convicted following the deaths of two prisoners at the military base at Bagram, outside Kabul, in 2002.
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