Skeletons in the closet
High time to close guantanamo bay prison
September 19, 2006
Sven Heyde
Earlier this month President George W. Bush made a startling admission: Suspects in his ‘war against terror’ have been held at secret CIA prisons in as many as eight different countries since 2001. Bush refused to give many details about these prisons; their whereabouts, what information was obtained, and what methods were used to get inmates to talk were all kept secret.
One of Bush’s not-so-secret prisons, however, is Camp Delta at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The prison received its first inmates in early 2002. Since then, it has been plagued with problems that have collectively been a public relations nightmare for the Bush administration.
To begin with, it was not until February 2004 that the first inmates were charged. This means that many prisoners had been there for over two years without charge, some without even being allowed to contact a lawyer. In March of that year five British men were released from Guantanamo. They later claimed to have been beaten, injected with drugs, and deprived of sleep. They also claimed to have been subjected to body cavity searches, and sexual and religious humiliations. Despite assurances that detainees are treated in accordance with U.S. law, allegations have continued to surface. A report released in June indicated that Canadian teenager Omar Khadr was abused at Guantanamo. Among other things, the report said that Khadr was handcuffed to the floor for extended periods of time and dragged around in his own urine. The report also stated that inmates were subjected to solitary confinement for over a year, sleep deprivation for weeks on end, threats of torture in secret international locations, and deprivation of medical treatment, even for serious injuries. The Pentagon admitted in June 2005 that guards had mistreated prisoners’ Qur’ans. This included splashing urine on a prisoner and his Qur’an, stepping on and kicking it, pouring water on it, and writing obscenities inside the covers.
Interestingly, despite already having built Camp Delta in 2002, which has the capacity to house around 2 000 inmates, the Pentagon has also built a 100-cell prison and has plans to build another 200 bed prison, pending approval by Congress. These last two prisons are intended to house prisoners with no intelligence value who cannot be charged for lack of evidence, and whom the Pentagon may wish to hold indefinitely.
The rhetoric from the Pentagon and the Bush administration has at times been as disturbing as the allegations from the prison. When three inmates committed suicide this June, the U.S. military called it an “act of war” against America. I was completely baffled. How can an institution become so self-absorbed, so blind to the world around itself that it can actually try to put a spin on a triple-suicide to try and make it look like it is the victim? At the end of June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Bush’s military commissions contravened the Geneva Conventions. His administration protested that the court ought not to question the president during a war. Yet what better time to question those in charge than when they have the most sweeping powers to do good or harm? Bush has stated in the past that he would like to close the prison, but cannot do so for lack of a better place to house inmates. Perhaps this is a novel concept, but I would suggest either charging inmates and allowing them to face trial, or releasing them.
Now you go...
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