The Guantanamo Gulag
Today's NY Times has an update on the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. The news isn't good, in fact, an argument can be made that conditions there, brand new permanent buildings and all, have gone from bad to worse with the assignment of a new command team at the prison.
All of the prisoners are essentially held in solitary confinement with no contact among the prisoners: eating is done in the cell; exercising is done in a pen large enough for only one prisoner. The philosophy behind this is clear from some remarks made by the new command leaders:
The commander of the Guantánamo task force, Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., said the tougher approach also reflected the changing nature of the prison population, and his conviction that all of those now held here are dangerous men. “They’re all terrorists; they’re all enemy combatants,” Admiral Harris said in an interview.
...Next year, after the Defense Department finishes rewriting rules for the military tribunals that the Bush administration first established in November 2001, the intelligence agency’s prisoners are to be charged with war crimes. The timetable for their prosecutions remains uncertain.
...Since spring 2004, the military’s handling of the detainees had been heavily influenced by the political and diplomatic pressures that grew out of the Abu Ghraib scandal and other cases of prisoner abuse. At the same time, Guantánamo’s focus was shifting from interrogations to the long-term detention of men who, for the most part, would never be charged with any crime.
The current Guantánamo commanders eschewed any criticism of their predecessors. But they were blunt in laying out a different approach.
Asked about his discussions with prisoners, Colonel Dennis said he basically had none. As for the handful of detainees who have continued to wage hunger strikes, including three who were being force-fed last week, he said they would get no “special attention” from him.
“If they want to do that, hook it up,” he said, apparently referring to the restraint chair system for force-feeding. “If that’s what you want to do, that’s your choice.” [Emphasis added]
Even though 100 prisoners were released to Saudi Arabia after Rear Admiral Harris made his remarks, and more are scheduled for release as soon as countries are found to take them, the man in charge continues to take the position that all of the prisoners at Guantanamo are terrorists. Keep in mind that formal charges have not been filed for most of those being held, and the military still has not completed writing the manual which will guide the military tribunals in trying those who finally are charged. Rear Adm. Harris has taken the position that if the men are there, they are guilty. The presumption of innocence apparently doesn't apply.
Nor, apparently, do the Geneva Conventions, regardless of what the Supreme Court held in the Hamdan case. Colonel Dennis, commander of the guard, doesn't want to hear from the prisoners when their most basic human rights and needs are being violated. He'd rather hook them up to a chair and force feed them.
All that matters to the men in charge at Guantanamo, and to the administration responsible for them, is the cold, hard, and brutal efficiency strikingly reminiscent of Soviet Era prisons.
And the shame attaches to us all for letting this continue.
All of the prisoners are essentially held in solitary confinement with no contact among the prisoners: eating is done in the cell; exercising is done in a pen large enough for only one prisoner. The philosophy behind this is clear from some remarks made by the new command leaders:
The commander of the Guantánamo task force, Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., said the tougher approach also reflected the changing nature of the prison population, and his conviction that all of those now held here are dangerous men. “They’re all terrorists; they’re all enemy combatants,” Admiral Harris said in an interview.
...Next year, after the Defense Department finishes rewriting rules for the military tribunals that the Bush administration first established in November 2001, the intelligence agency’s prisoners are to be charged with war crimes. The timetable for their prosecutions remains uncertain.
...Since spring 2004, the military’s handling of the detainees had been heavily influenced by the political and diplomatic pressures that grew out of the Abu Ghraib scandal and other cases of prisoner abuse. At the same time, Guantánamo’s focus was shifting from interrogations to the long-term detention of men who, for the most part, would never be charged with any crime.
The current Guantánamo commanders eschewed any criticism of their predecessors. But they were blunt in laying out a different approach.
Asked about his discussions with prisoners, Colonel Dennis said he basically had none. As for the handful of detainees who have continued to wage hunger strikes, including three who were being force-fed last week, he said they would get no “special attention” from him.
“If they want to do that, hook it up,” he said, apparently referring to the restraint chair system for force-feeding. “If that’s what you want to do, that’s your choice.” [Emphasis added]
Even though 100 prisoners were released to Saudi Arabia after Rear Admiral Harris made his remarks, and more are scheduled for release as soon as countries are found to take them, the man in charge continues to take the position that all of the prisoners at Guantanamo are terrorists. Keep in mind that formal charges have not been filed for most of those being held, and the military still has not completed writing the manual which will guide the military tribunals in trying those who finally are charged. Rear Adm. Harris has taken the position that if the men are there, they are guilty. The presumption of innocence apparently doesn't apply.
Nor, apparently, do the Geneva Conventions, regardless of what the Supreme Court held in the Hamdan case. Colonel Dennis, commander of the guard, doesn't want to hear from the prisoners when their most basic human rights and needs are being violated. He'd rather hook them up to a chair and force feed them.
All that matters to the men in charge at Guantanamo, and to the administration responsible for them, is the cold, hard, and brutal efficiency strikingly reminiscent of Soviet Era prisons.
And the shame attaches to us all for letting this continue.
Labels: Guantanamo Bay
posted by Diane at 3:13 AM
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