How much longer before the US closes Gitmo down?
Reporting on Life in Guantanamo (excerpts below):
“For more than four years many of us have been isolated in a small cell, less that 10ft by 6ft, with the intense neon lights on 24 hours a day. Many of us are not allowed to exercise outside these cells for more than one hour, just once a week. We are provided with food and drinks which are not suitable for the iguanas and rats that live beside us on Torture Island.”
“I sometimes ask myself, who are these people who are held in cages not even fit for wild animals? How do these humans live? The Prophet Jonah lived inside a whale and Moses lived inside a coffin, so the Guantanamo cells are only for those who are strong and those who have a will to adopt the path of the prophets. If I stay all my life in these cages, let those who inflict this on me do what they wish, but I feel I am living the life of a King.”
“His number one concern is the other guys in there,” says Zachary Katznelson, one of several lawyers who represent Haj and who last visited him at Guantanamo on 30 April. Katznelson, senior counsel with the London-based group Reprieve, adds: “As much as he misses his family he thinks it’s vitally important that he is there to report all this. He has said he is willing to be the last one if it means the story gets out – if the world gets to know about Guantanamo.”
The prison camp at Guantanamo Bay was established at the beginning of 2002 as a place to keep terror suspects rounded up in President Bush’s war on terror. Deliberately located outside the US proper to avoid both the arm of the civil justice system as well as prying eyes, around 800 prisoners have been taken to the prison over the past five years. Of those, some 340 have been released.
When the first handcuffed, shackled and hooded suspects were taken to the prison, the authorities did their best to portray them as a dangerous and pressing threat to the US. The men were so terrifying, claimed the then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, they “would chew through a hydraulics cable to bring a C-17 [transport plane] down”.
Five years on, only four of those prisoners have been charged and just one – Australian David Hicks – brought to trial. Meanwhile an analysis of the Pentagon’s own documents by New Jersey’s Seton Hall University found that 55 per cent of the prisoners brought to Guantanamo are not alleged to have have committed any hostile acts against the US. Just eight per cent are accused of fighting for a terrorist group while 86 per cent were captured by the Northern Alliance or Pakistani authorities and handed over “at a time when the US offered large bounties for the capture of suspected terrorists”.
The prison camp’s operation has been condemned by the United Nations, the American Bar Association and the Red Cross – the only organisation permitted free access to the prisoners and which broke with its normal protocol of not commenting publicly to warn in 2003 of the declining mental health of many of the inmates. It said the nature of their incarceration and interrogation was “a form of torture”. Three prisoners hanged themselves last year, and last week a Saudi man was found dead, apparently having taken his own life.
University Update - Seton Hall University - Sami al-Hajj: reporting on life in Gitmo said
[...] Virginia University Link to Article Sami al-Hajj: reporting on life in Gitmo » Posted at In Pursuit of Justice on [...]
Zahra Billoo said
But you’ve heard the argument that closing Gitmo may actually not be for the best?
The issue being that at least we know Gitmo exists and thus to some extent are able to monitor what happens there. If Gitmo is closed down it would be worse for the prisoners in that instead of being stored at a camp where we can somewhat monitor their treatment they’d likely be shipped off to one of the many secret prisons! Or worse yet, they may just become victims of our disgusting policy of extraordinary rendition!
inpursuitofjustice said
I see your point but that answer cannot be to just keep Gitmo. Close Gitmo and have a fair trial for the detainees…secret prisons shouldn’t be an option and neither should extraordinary rendition.
I think if the next president elected is a Democrat he/she may attempt to close down Gitmo as a PR stunt to prove they’re different from the Republicans.
Jacoba said
I wanted to write a comment – a long and intelligent comment, but when I read the story of Sami again (in order to make sure that my comments are fair), I became so ill that I had to excuse myself from my pc. What is happening here???? How on earth is it possible for civilized human beings to treat their fellow human beings in this manner? Should we not be over this now – is war and mutual cruelty not a tad out dated now? When are we going to stop this destruction of one another? How is it possible that the American Government is punishing (mostly) innocent people for no reason – because there is no reason for this!!!!!! When are we going to stop this? I am talking to both sides or to all sides or to every single human being that is involved in murdering, raping and unfairly comitting people to CAGES when no-one really knows what they are guilty of! Every single life taken by force is one life too many. Who are we to make judgement over life and death? This is sick, sick, sick and I am broken hearted for the families of these poor people.
USSolder said
Of the 300+ prisoners released approximatly 150 have been recaptured or killed in combat with UN troops again within months of their release. So whats the answer here? I agree there needs to be a fair and just resolution to this soon, but inocent civilians need to be protected from repeated exposure to terror as well.
Dana Saur said
Jacoba writes: “How on earth is it possible for civilized human beings to treat their fellow human beings in this manner?”
How indeed? Only by distorting religion -under Christian Evangelical tents, around hateful Mullah/Cleric campfires, hijacking God’s words, can any “humanoid” (the only term applicable for those who resemble God’s children ON THE OUTSIDE -but have none of His goodness within) mistreat another captive unarmed human being. Despite the fact that all Prophets -and all three scriptures concur that a captive must be treated humanely.
Now, that being said, how many heads do you suppose there are rolling around in Gitmo, having been hacked off their bodies?
None? Oh?
Well, which captors follow Allah’s will more closely, those who feed, house and treat the inhabitants of Gitmo -or those who hacked off Daniel Pearl’s head?
Get real. Your indignance is as misguided and misdirected as your focus.
Of course, not being a genuine “unbiased news source”, I am quite certain this balanced comment and reasonable question will not be posted on AlJazeera.
inpursuitofjustice said
Jacoba, thank you for your comment…I share your outrage.
USSoldier, thank you for your comment…do you have a reference for the statistic you mentioned ? I highly doubt it’s true.
Dana Saur, thank you for your comment…I think you completely miss the point though. What does Pearl’s case have anything to do with the situation at Gitmo?
duffy said
Sami’s life in prison must not be to bad if he has access to have and post an online blog
inpursuitofjustice said
Duffy, access to a blog at Gitmo…are you kidding me? Do you think this man would be on a hunger strike if he had access to internet? It’s his lawyers spreading the word on his behalf…
American said
Let that terrorist rot in prison. Don’t even bury him in Cuba, feed him to the sharks.
B.W.A said
Execute him for sleeping with the enemy.
Another Guantanamo Bay Detainee - Sami Haj « Readings From A Political Duo-ble said
[...] – Sami al-Hajj: reporting on life in Gitmo from Uprooted Palestinian Blogger [...]
inpursuitofjustice said
American and B.W.A., if there was half a shred of evidence that Sami El Hajj had done anything to harm a single human being your comments may have made some sense, but this is not the case. Please open your eyes and hearts.
inpursuitofjustice said
“Cup Poems” by Gitmo detainees…heart-wrenching words and stories:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2686838.ece
hamza said
u r grat fighters for freedom
may Allah be pleased with u
Dana Saur said
والله انا معكم وشكرا
Dana Saur said
برامج الجزيرة جيدة بس لو تعملونا برامج اكثر عن ال………………..
Concerned human said
How do you perceive someone who on a consistent basis gleans information from people who blow up there owns citizens because they dont a share a extreme belief that they have fashioned out the madness in there minds? He is a enemy if he has info on something that might save a life and not share it unless it makes money for his form of the news. So not sharing any useful information for the sake of entertaining the masses makes him a criminal just as much as the one who commits the actual act . And to say they are treated bad? I think that the conditions that these prisoners are being treated vs the methods they have used on there captives I.E. Daniel Pearl endless amounts of Iraq’s tortured and killed citizens who want nothing more then to work and raise families ? I think Gitmo is a farcry from “Torture Island”
Sad American said
Many of the above postings make me sad and aprehensive for the future. Perhaps some should consider that “an eye for an eye” is the path to universal blindness. Since when are the outrages commited by extremists the excuse for immoral and illegal acts by the US government? Guantanimo is justified because there are people filled with hate in foreign places who would kill us? Better people should turn their minds toward how to end the cycle of hate so that the the very real problems of the world can solved. I grew up believeing that this is a nation bult on principles and rule of law. My faith in my United States has been sorely tested since 9/11, but I choose to believe that my nation that is capable of doing much good and that our misguided policies will change. If not, I fear we are on the road to ruin.
Muhammad al Islam said
HA HA!!!
Die Traitor!!!
You were captured – you failed, you deserve death.
moonheadone said
It’s torture, Psycological and physical, on innocent (until proven guilty) civillians of other nations. There is no excuse for what the US is doing in Guantanomo, it disgusts me.
It’s amazing how some American citizens and even media outlets argue that its not torture, I just dont understand it. Is it because it doesn’t leave marks and cannot be proven.
Guantanomo and the CIA prisons/rendition are two of the most terrifying developments in my lifetime, far more scary than any terrorist attacks I have lived through. They scare me because they are actions of the state, not crazed individuals, and the state has so much more power than any other organization in the world, and also is much harder to hold to account. If two million marchers in London could not avert a war, and the ballot box couldn’t get rid of Bliar without giving the Torys power then how can politicians be held to account?
On a side note why do so many Americans think that such a thing as an unbiased media can even exist? And even if it does where is it? Certainly not in any American or British media channels I’ve ever seen. The reality is that each media outlet represents a particular editorial philosophy, and the more opposing points of view you look at the better to help you understand the bigger picture, and the better to help you deflate your own ego and deal with opposing points of view
Voice of Reason said
This is false. The American Red Cross and the International Red Cross do not publicly discuss their findings in any situation whatsoever. To say that Gitmo has been condemned by them is a lie.
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/intllaw/020118detainees.html
Concerned human said
Ok lets take Gitmo out of the picture and put you in the spotlight for a moment. You are being slowly killed by a group of people. and there is a reporter watching it happen . Would you want the reporter to just show his footage and not report his crime to help capture your assailent? I would hope the answer would be yes and this particular individual has done just this in his form and I use this term loosely reporting. On to the next part so since you dont approve of this type of imprisonment what would you suggest? now keep in mind no nation on this planet can build each of its Enemy Combatants there own little holding are so for the sake of logic we build someplace to hold a group of men. Is every man there the same danger no but you have to watch the most dangerous not the least wouldnt you? And I would be hard pressed to believe allot of you you are so horribly disturbed by this have been to Iraq or any country experiencing this type of violence. And to to reply to Jacoba I doubt anywhere in Gitmo there are prisoners getting raped being they are not housed in groups unless they are raping each other somehow try not to dramatize it further.
gloria valentine said
I to am a victim of the “War on Terror”. Only I am an innocent american citizen, held by electronic means inside the US. No, I don’t live in a cage, but, if you can understand, I am exiled from my life. I am forced to live in isolation, I have no constitutional rights and no privacy 24/7. They torture me with the newest of technologies by “remote”. The cowards won’t even show their faces. The sexual abuse I have received over the past four years has been used for entertainment for thousands of american citizens that somehow think I don’t deserve to live. I keep a picture of Sami on my wall, I talk to it sometimes … I pray he gets to see his son soon, and I pray I am also freed. God is good. And yes, it takes the will of a prophet to survive and for that I thank my God, it is his gift to us.
Alana said
Can anyone imagine being plucked out from your life-thrown into prison for years-tortured-just so US — can provide more numbers of captives to impress the dumbasses that believe CNN? The outrage it causes me and I’m not even a family member of those detainees-but I can say one thing: The #1 recruiter of suicide bombers is Mr. George W. (—) Bush! You are causing normal people so much outrage-that they would be more than willing to blow themselves up if only they can come within a metre or two close to you or your so called soldiers! What else is he leaving them with? Take their men, rape their women, kill their children, destroy their homes. Keep up the good work and RECRUIT! RECRUIT! RECRUIT!
inpursuitofjustice said
Alana, thank you for you comment (I took out a few words to keep it G-rated though).
Jean Claude Al-Jmayel said
I am truly saddened about the plight of those muslim brothers in Gitmo torture camp, but sadly this is the fruit of what is called “Democracy”. I hope by the will of God, Guantanamo torture camp is closed and that the truth about the so called human rights of the USA will be realized by the entire world. May God help us all.
BeenThere said
I was stationed there; I ate the exact same food as him. Sorry it wasn’t 5 star cuisine; I’ve had better too but I won’t be blogging about it anytime soon.
Also, is anyone else posting here looking into human rights violations by other countries? How about prisons in China, Saudi Arabia or maybe genocide in Africa. You’re right; GTMO is a pretty awful place compared to those…
People just like to hate America, that’s fine you’re entitled to an opinion, but make the educated move and apply a universal standard for the rest of the world. I assure you after doing some research of your own into these other situations you’ll find far worse violators of human rights. Please post on their walls, I’m sure your words (not actions) will change things.
On a final note; compare civillian prinsons in the US to GTMO and I think you’ll agree that you’d rather be in GTMO. Prison’s not fun, otherwise people would want to stay.
sad us patriot said
Hey, been there: The treatment of convicted US criminals is an entirely separate issue. The point here is that the Guantanamo prisoners have been detained for years without charges. This makes a mockery of due process, which is one of the central features of the political system we are supposedly exporting in this disastrous war.
If that’s too theoretical, just go back to water-boarding. You’re probably good at it.
God help us all.
Barry Monette said
For most of the history of this planet life developed and evolved in concert with nature. Sometime between 250,000 years ago and 6,500 years ago, mankind developed an awareness of nature and found the means to step outside it. We “ate from the tree of knowledge” and were “banished from the garden”. For many people this cosmic transformation in the evolution of man is considered the actual birth of man – the moment of transformation created the first Adam and Eve. We “discovered” God, and this discovery became and remains the single most transformational event in all of history – allowing us progess and civilization, but also good and evil.
Whatever our religion or even agnosticism, we all share in this knowledge. We have all “eaten from the fruit”. We share the same struggles. We experience the same joys.
All of mankind needs to come together and understand our differences – not point fingers. We are different because of our circumstance – but also because man can be evil, twisting the understanding of life and then propagating this on others for temporal advantage.
The reality of Gitmo is wrong. It is never right to take the wrong path.
As a personal view, as a westerner raise as a Christian I see many aspects of fundamental Islam as being twisted from the path by the interpretations of men – but that Islam recognizes the inescapable unity of religion and state, a notion lost in current day secularism. The Islamic world takes this unity for granted.
If the unity of church and state were perceived though eyes that include 21 century science, with the world as a global village of brothers and sisters who have the right and choice to find their own paths to “salvation” according to their own circumstance, they could end their struggles against the impositions of the west. Then we must be true charitable to each other. This must happen first. Then terror would find no place. And then the evil that remains must and would be crushed by strong action such as at Gitmo, But not until then, not until we are right with the world.
What we are doing now, including Gitmo has no focus or goal, and hence no purpose.
sheikh Al-Hajji Yusef said
Peace, Shalom,As salaamu alaikum, what the American people fail to realize is that our politicians are all people that they are looking to shine in this world and so they shall have what they strive for this world,so they do not care about the muslims that the president has incarcerated in Guantanamo, he has decieved the American people, he does not want any good for the world and its people he is just a tool of shaitan doing his work , proving to Allah that man is not worthy of his favors, so we know who you are , just a tool of the great deceiver one of shaitan flunkies. but the hereafter is much better if they only knew, to Sami El Hajj he is one of our heroes may Allah protect him and grant him paradise, and inshallah we hope and pray to see you soon with your family and keep up the faith that there are people muslims, christians and jews who are trying to get you out of that horrible place
AKNative said
As an American, Alaska Native, Veteran, and defender of The Constitution of the United States, I am ashamed of our actions at Gitmo. To make the military the world police is a job they should not be forced to do. If you are from another part of the world and read this, then you should know that most Americans are not aware of the conditions, are too busy with their own lives to care, and that many do not agree with the actions of our current Administration.
Most Americans are fed up with neo fascist, Christian organizations taking over our government and starting trouble where none should be. Our unwavering support of Israel, despite their own abuses as an apartheid style of government, is a travesty, America is the master, not the other way around. Israel should do our bidding or lose that 4+billion in aid we send them every year.
Our inability to promote stability in the Middle East by supporting regimes that subjugate their citizens with violence and secret police is bluntly making America look bad.
We need to be focused on capturing binLaden and making him and his henchmen pay for their attack on our great country and not making others suffer for it.
Thanks for letting me rant a bit, the short of it is that this prison is illegal by all standards of American Law and should be closed.
Rea Lity said
These so called wonderful humans who are being held at GITMO are the same ones that want to kill all Westerners, fly planes into buildings, kill their own people, kill aid workers, kill non-combatant women and children, and basically kill anything else they can get their hands on including themselves. I feel much better knowing they are in GITMO than at my at front door. They should be culled from the herd as they are destructive to all humans.
europeanTribune said
“USSolder said,
Of the 300+ prisoners released approximatly 150 have been recaptured or killed in combat with UN troops again within months of their release. So whats the answer here? ”
STOP KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE, DIRTY DOGS. what you are doing now with these people is shame for US, UN and whole humanity. you are exatcly the same murders like those from 11.09.2001. gitmo is 100% illegal, nothing to talk about
PROUD TO BE AMERICAN said
You cant always beleive what you read, and GITMO prisoners are not in cages im sure. Im sure its a cell, not an animal cage, and they should be their until they are proven not to be dangerous. I dont want them out until I know
they are not terrorist. Terrorist lie, thats what they do, lie and tell more lies to terrorize americans. I dont feel sorry for any of them, not one. Im a true american and want freedom for US americans. Our military is doing a great job in keeoing american free. The terrorist dont get tortured like they say! Torture is beheading like they do to our soldiers! Get a reality check and see how may of them get beheaded! ZERO! I beleive in the US and dont beleive propaganda from a person who CLAIMS they are innocent. Time will tell and terrorist will NOT prevail. GOD BLESS THE USA!
sam133 said
would it really make any difference of gitmo closes or not, cause there are plenty of other prisons around the world and sadly most of them are in the arab countries! it is those governing these countries who are allowing the kidnapping and the torture of innocent people to happen otherwise who’s stopping them, the US are getting away with murder and no-one is stopping them, if these fellow muslim men and women as well as children, can’t have their own leader to help and to support their own nationals, then do they really expect the mercy and compassion by any other? well maybe they should most lawyers and legal representatives are non muslims defending these detainees if they can reach them, afford, or if they are allowed to have a legal fdefence reprenting them.
Scott said
The majority of “The Network” members are very crafty and have had few legal problems. They belong to underground organizations which are on no governments radar. I’m all for the legal aspects of trying their cases; if they are found guilty they should be executed.
As for their conditions – the caves they were plucked from weren’t The Marriott.
There are 3000 dead Americans as a result of 9/11. This is why we fight (not Iraq, they deserve Saddam).
Torture does not work. The threat of governments prosecuting and executing murderers and actually following through on it has.
Functioning governments know that terrorists are like rabid dogs, they bite and spread disease wherever they go. The freedom they try to hide behind is something a facist would deny if given the opportunity. The next US president needs to embark on a completely different path. Stable governments everywhere will assist, society will prevail (freedom and democracy for all is not my wish, its an individuals responsibility to effect change).
If this reporter was in the wrong place at the wrong time, prove it and cut him loose with a handshake and a sorry. If not, show the world why, execute him, dump him in the ocean.
Amanda Elend said
Hi,
I’m working over at MobLogic, and we have a show up today about Sami al-Haj, an Al Jazeera journalist who’s been in Guantanamo for five years without being charged. Our host, Lindsay Campbell went out on the streets to ask about the prisoner, Al Jazeera’s possible ties to Al Qaeda, and the lack of due process at Guantanamo. (http://www.moblogic.tv/video/2008/03/21/i-say-al-jazeera-you-say-al-qaeda/)
Come check it out if you’re interested. We also have al-Haj’s story up on our blog post today. (http://www.moblogic.tv/blog/2008/03/21/prisoner-345/)
We really think this is a story that hasn’t been told in American media, and we want to hear your opinion on it.
Thanks so much for your time,
Amanda Elend
moblogic.tv