Humanizing brutality: Another Guantanamo whitewash
March 8th, 2009
As part of President Obama’s early actions regarding detainee abuse, he ordered a review of the conditions of detention at Guantanamo to determine if they met the conditions required by the Geneva Conventions. A few weeks ago, first word came of the findings of that report. Navy Adm. Patrick M. Walsh reported that the conditions were indeed “humane.” He reported that he found “no such evidence” to support repeated claims of brutal and inhumane conditions at the prison. As the Defense Department reported in their press release on the report, Walsh stated:
“From our review, it was apparent that the chain of command responsible for the detention mission at Guantanamo consistently seeks to go beyond the minimum standard in complying with Common Article 3,” he said. “We found that the chain of command endeavors to enhance conditions in a manner as humane as possible, consistent with security concerns.”
From the perspective of detainee attorneys and human rights advocates, one of the few positive notes in the report was an acknowledgment that the almost total isolation in which most detainees are kept should be loosened to allow more social interaction:
Socialization, or interaction among detainees, is important for the detainees because of the length of time they have been detained, he said. In certain camps, more socialization is needed. The team called for more “human-to-human contact, recreation opportunities with several detainees together, intellectual stimulation and group prayer,” the admiral said.
Further, the report called for improved health care, which could be seen as an acknowledgment that health care at the prison has left much to be desired.
Unfortunately, as has been true of all previous official reports or investigations of conditions at the prison, Admiral Walsh, according to defense attorneys I have spoken to, did not spend much time speaking to detainees. He apparently allowed only one defense attorney to speak to him, despite requests from several to have input. Human rights groups were allowed to submit statements, but were given only a very short time to prepare them. Thus, as in previous “investigations,” his main source of information was the precise chain of command that has often been accused of excessive brutality.
Walsh’s conclusions simply don’t match the repeated reports coming from other sources — such as released detainees and attorneys for current ones — who report that the prison has a harsh, violent atmosphere, with detainees, only one of whom has ever been convicted of any crime, beaten for the most minor infractions and in which blankets, clothes, and bearable temperatures are all considered “comfort items” to removed at a guard’s whim. A number of defense attorneys have privately complained that conditions have become more brutal in the month since President Obaba’s inauguration.
Human rights groups have not been silent about this implausible report that conflicts with virtually all other information sources. Thus, the New York Times on Tuesday reported on the unhappiness of these advocates with Admiral Walsh’s report.
Sarah Havens, a New York lawyer who has been visiting clients there since 2004, said she was not surprised that the military was reporting that it had been doing a good job. But, Ms. Havens said, her observations during a recent visit were different from Admiral Walsh’s.
“In my experience,” she said, “the conditions at Guantánamo are worse than they have ever been. The detainees are at a breaking point.”
Also on Tuesday, the enter for Constitutional Rights, ome of the organizations which has taken the lead in representing Guantanamo detainees in the multitude of often farcical “legal proceedings,” issued its own report on conditions at the prison. The report, entitled Current Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo: February 23, 2009, describes a facility which is far from in comliance with the Geneva Conventions.
Currently at Guantánamo, the majority of detainees are being held in conditions of solitary confinement in one of two super-maximum facilities – Camps 5 and 6 – or in Camp Echo. The conditions in these camps are harshly punitive and violate international and U.S. legal standards for the humane treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, environmental manipulation, and sleep deprivation are daily realities for these men and have led to the steady deterioration of their physical and psychological health.
In addition, detainees are subjected to brutal physical assaults by the Immediate Reaction Force (IRF), a team of military guards comparable to a riot squad, who are trained to respond to alleged “disciplinary infractions” with overwhelming force. Detainees have also been deprived of virtually all meaningful contact with their families, and have suffered interference with and abuse related to their right to practice their religion.
Perhaps the most horrific aspect of Guantanamo is that, after seven years confinement for many, approximately 75% of detainees are kept in near-total isolation in what the military euphemistically calls “single occupancy cells,” which more realistically should be described as tombs for the living:
Confined to small steel and concrete cells for at least 20 hours a day, the prisoners in Camps 5, 6 and Echo have virtually no human contact or mental stimulation. Food is delivered through a metal slot in the door and the men eat all their meals alone. The men can try to shout to one another through the slot with great difficulty, and at risk of disciplinary sanction that can result in the loss of “privileges” and imposition of 24-hour lock down in their cell or aggressive attacks by IRF teams. Items such as toothpaste, a toothbrush, deodorant, soap, and blankets are classified as “privileges” and can be taken away at will. Camp 6 has no windows that face the outside, and Camp 5 has only a thin opaque window slit in each cell. One prisoner reported to his attorney that in his isolation cell in Camp 5, he has only a hole for a toilet with no toilet seat and a faucet with no wash basin.8 Lights are kept on 24 hours a day in Camp 5.
Isolation is known to cause serious mental health problems in some of those subjected to it. Problems such as anxiety and depression can occur within weeks of being placed in isolation. A certain percentage of those isolated develop psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions. Many of the men at Guantanamo have been isolated for years on end.
Another condition frequently reported at this tropical prison is extreme cold, caused by air conditioning being turned to high. Any attempt to reduce the freezing is punished:
The temperature in their cells is consistently too cold, and out of the control of the detainees, causing health problems for many of the men as well as ongoing mental stress. Cold temperatures, for example, can exacerbate rheumatism, particularly for detainees whose thin sleeping mats have been removed as a punitive measure. When detainees block the air conditioning vents in an attempt to regulate the temperature to a more acceptable level, they are disciplined.
Remember that, as is stated in the 2003 and 2004 Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures and has been reported by many detainees, blankets, and sometimes even clothes or toilet paper, are viewed as “comfort items” that can be removed as punishment for minor infractions.
At Guantanamo, beatings, most often administered by so-called Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) teams, are also common. Many, if not most, detainees have reported IRF beatings. Some have received many.In evaluating these beatings, it should be remembered that most detainees are isolated in their cells or in fenced-in recreation areas at all times. The IRF teams mass outside a cell and attack completely defenseless caged-in detainees:
On the afternoon of January 7, 2009, Yasin Ismael was in one of the outdoor cages of Camp 6 for “recreation” time. The cage was entirely in the shade. Mr. Ismael asked to be moved to the adjoining empty cage because it had sunlight entering from the top. The guards, who were outside the cages, refused. One guard told Mr. Ismael that he was “not allowed to see the sun.” Angered, Mr. Ismael threw a shoe against the inner mesh side of the cage; which bounced harmlessly back onto the cage floor. The guards, however, accused Mr. Ismael of attacking them and left him in the cage as punishment. He eventually fell asleep on the floor of the cage, but hours later he was awakened by the sound of an IRF team entering the cage in the dark. The team shackled him and he put up no resistance. They then beat him. They blocked his nose and mouth until he felt that he would suffocate, and hit him repeatedly in the ribs and head. They then took him back to his cell. As he was being taken back, a guard urinated on his head. Mr. Ismael was badly injured and his ear started to bleed, leaving a large stain on his pillow.
As these brutal beatings of men locked alone in a cell can seldom if ever be justified by any need to control the individual, it can only be assumed that the IRF beatings are intended to teach a lesson.
The CCR report also details sleep deprivation, religious humiliation and harsh treatment of psychologically ill detainees, among other inhumane conditions.
Throughout the history of Guantanamo, officials from the President on down have always insisted that the detainees are treated “humanely.” In order to make this claim they frequently must butcher the English language to defend the indefensible. Thus, in May 2008 when then Guantanamo Commander Buzby was asked by myself and others about the use of isolation, he simply denied the existence of isolation:
We don’t have any solitary confinement down here in Guantanamo. What we have is single cells. I mean, there’s one person to a cell.
Admiral Walsh seems to be using similar language. If prolonged isolation, freezing cold, and prolonged beatings, leavened by a bit of religious humiliation and sleep deprivation is humane, then I guess Guantanamo is humane. It may be almost as humane as the supermax prisons on which it is modeled. While, in my opinion supermaxs are inhumane, there is one profound difference between these prisons and Guantanamo. Supermax prisons were, at least originally, intended for prisoners cobvicted of horrendous crimes who went on to commit further serious crimes, such as repeated assaults or murder, while imprisoned. In Guantanamo the brutality is administered to men who, for the most part, have never been convicted, or even indicted for any crime whatsoever.
For years human rights advocates around the world decried the brutal policies of President George W. Bush. But Bush is no longer President. In habeas proceedings the court documents now read [DETAINEE] v. Barrak H. Obama. President Obama is entitled to some time to reevaluate the mutitidious problems bequeathed him by his predecessor. But the detainees at Guantanamo have been living the life of the living dead in these brutal conditions for seven long years in many cases. They should not have to endure further inhumnity. It is incumbent upon the new administration to rapidly improve the conditions for the detainees as they decide whether and whom to release. Otherwise, President Obam will deservedly inherit the reputation of his predecessor.
Entry Filed under: Accountability, Guantanamo, Interrogation, Law, Obama administration, Psychological Torture, Torture, Uncategorized