Guantánamo Bay

international | crime and justice | other press Friday July 22, 2005 13:55 by iosaf - "Close the Gulag!" "& leave Iraq please"

The value of one Culprit is not worth the damage one falsely imprisoned innocent causes.

of the 510 men known to be held without trial illegally at the US camp on Guantánamo Island, Guantánamo bay Cuba, 52 are now on hunger strike recognised by the US for 3 days.
However Afghan news-sources alledge that 150 have been on hunger strike for two weeks.

7 inmates have been transferred to the middle east and Kabul in the last week on repatriation release orders after 3 years.

1 was extraditied to Spain.

probably supplied by the lowest bidder that is the capitalist way

Less than ten others were transferred on extradition orders in the less 3 years to Europe.
Of those all were released. The last to be released was a Ceutan on july 18th 2004.

All EU state have condemned Guantanamo including the UK law lords.

Detention is arbitrary.
Treatment of prisoners is akin to atritious desensitising torture.
Abuse allegations have been consistent and in the case of the "flushing the koran" incident have been directly connected to rioting and deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan
There is no legal recognition of the trial process.
There is no international recognition of the prisoner status "enemy combattants".
The mere existence of the camp resonates in the middle east on multiple levels. These men regardless of their activities in Afghanistan are perceived as "hostages" of the USA.

Amnesty International has termed the camp "the Gulag of our times".
http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/index-eng

("Hypocrisy, an overarching war mentality and a disregard for basic human rights principles and international legal obligations continue to mark the USA's "war on terror". Serious human rights violations are the inevitable result.
The detention camp at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba has become a symbol of the US administration’s refusal to put human rights and the rule of law at the heart of its response to the atrocities of 11 September 2001. Hundreds of people of around 35 different nationalities remain held in effect in a legal black hole, many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits.

As evidence of torture and widespread cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment mounts, it is more urgent than ever that the US Government bring the Guantánamo Bay detention camp and any other facilities it is operating outside the USA into full compliance with international law and standards. The only alternative is to close them down.")
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/guantanamobay-index-eng

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President George Bush in defence of the camp at his birthday celebrations in Copenhagen this year invited critics and journalists "to get a flight down there and see" [how well prisoners are treated]

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on the 21st of July the Pentagon authorised the repatriation of 6 former inmates, one to Sudan, two to Afghanistan, three to Saudi Arabia, one to Jordan.

the 8th prisoner out of the camp this week was Lahcen Ikassrien a moroccan (alias Cheikh Hassan) who was extradited to Spain on the 18th of july.

The Afghanistani president Karzai on the return of two citizens after 3 years arbitrary detention condemned the "inhumanity" of Guantanamo camp.

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“We are appalled that revered conventions are being blatantly flouted such as the dictum that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that everyone is entitled to legal defence of his choice and that habeas corpus obtains. I support your efforts to ensure justice is done for your loved ones and that they will be given access to the families. God bless you.”

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu
(The Guantanamo Human Rights Commission was launched at a press conference at the House of Commons, London on January 20th 2004)

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The British for their part had first condemned the camp in November 2003.
( "During a speech in London Lord Justice Steyn described the treatment of prisoners at the US Naval base at Guantanamo bay , Cuba as, "a monsterous failure of justice."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3238624.stm
Lord Steyn said the Muslim prisoners were being held deliberately beyond the rule of law and the protecion of the courts. The Lord also quoted a US military source at the camp as describing the treatment of prisoners as, "it's not quite torture but it's as close as you can get."
Human rights lawyer Louise Christian said, "I cannot remember a senior law lord making a speech such as this which is obviously directed at government and I think it's an indication of the seriousness with which our senior judiciary view what's happening in Guantanamo bay.")

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US media condemnation has also been consistent if weak -
a Washington Post report in December 2004

(" 'Under a presidential directive and authorities approved by administration lawyers, the CIA is allowed to capture and hold certain classes of suspects without accounting for them in any public way and without revealing the rules for their treatment.'
At Guantanamo, a Prison Within a Prison
CIA Has Run a Secret Facility for Some Al Qaeda Detainees, Officials Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5918-2004Dec16.html
Within the heavily guarded perimeters of the Defense Department's much-discussed Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, the CIA has maintained a detention facility for valuable al Qaeda captives that has never been mentioned in public, according to military officials and several current and former intelligence officers.

The buildings used by the CIA are shrouded by high fences covered with thick green mesh plastic and ringed with floodlights, officials said. They sit within the larger Camp Echo complex, which was erected to house the Defense Department's high-value detainees and those awaiting military trials on terrorism charges.

Most international terrorism suspects in U.S. custody are held not by the CIA but by the Defense Department at the Guantanamo Bay prison. They are guaranteed access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and, as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year, have the right to challenge their imprisonment in federal courts.

CIA detainees, by contrast, are held under separate rules and far greater secrecy. Under a presidential directive and authorities approved by administration lawyers, the CIA is allowed to capture and hold certain classes of suspects without accounting for them in any public way and without revealing the rules for their treatment.")

The US have recently sent a delegation "down there" [to see how well they are treated]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4623249.stm

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other links
http://www.guantanamo.com/
http://www.guantanamohrc.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay

Latest Mainstream News Links
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0722/guantanamo.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4704871.stm
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3210,36-674218@51-660405,0.html