[Ppnews] Guantánamo Under Obama

[Political Prisoner News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman03092009.html

March 9 , 2009


The Beat Goes On

Guantánamo Under Obama

By STEPHEN LENDMAN

As The New York Times reported on January 22, 
Barack Obama signed Executive Orders (EOs) 
banning torture and "directing the CIA to shut 
what remains of its network of secret prisons and 
ordering the closing of the Guantanamo detention 
camp within a year, government official said."

The closure EO is titled: "Executive Order -- 
Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at 
the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities."

Sec. 3 reads: "Closure of Detention Facilities at 
Guantanamo. The detention facilities at 
Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order 
shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no 
later than 1 year from the date of this order. If 
any individuals covered by this order remain, 
they shall be returned to their home country, 
released, transferred to a third country, or 
transferred to another United States detention 
facility in a manner consistent with law and the 
national security and foreign policy interests of the United States."

The EO also orders an "immediate review of all" 
detainees (by the Secretary of Defense within 30 
days), diplomatic efforts with other governments 
relative to this order, halting all proceedings 
in the "United States Court of Military 
Commission Review to which charges have been 
referred but in which no judgment has been 
rendered," and assuring that "humane standards of 
confinement" are observed in accordance with 
international humanitarian laws, including Common 
Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

It prohibits the following:

-- "violence to life and person, in particular 
murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

-- outrages of personal dignity, in particular 
humiliating and degrading treatment;"

-- carrying out sentences or executions "without 
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly 
constituted court affording all the judicial 
guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples;" and

-- caring for the wounded and sick, including by 
an impartial body like the ICRC "offer(ing) its 
services to the Parties to the conflict."

On February 23, the Center for Constitutional 
Rights published a report titled: "Current 
Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo - Still 
in Violation of the Law." Below is a summary of its findings.

Guantanamo's existence and practices violate the 
letter and spirit of international and US laws, 
including the Constitution's First, Fifth, and 
Eighth Amendments. The latter two prohibit cruel 
and unusual punishment and protect prisoners 
against treatment "that shocks the conscience," 
such as unsafe conditions, denial of social or 
family contact, and prolonged isolation. The 
First Amendment assures prisoners are allowed 
religious texts and books and may observe their faith freely.

Yet for over seven years, 240 men have had no 
rights and remain under the worst of "inhumane 
conditions." Most have never been charged and are 
innocent. Many were seized for bounty, and few 
have been able to challenge their detention in a 
habeas hearing, let alone get a fair trial in a US court.

Most are kept in supermax solitary confinement in 
Camps 5 and 6 or Camp Echo. Treatment is harshly 
punitive and includes isolation, sensory and 
sleep deprivation, brutal assaults, forced 
tube-feeding of hunger strikers, and 
environmental manipulation that combined gravely 
impair physical and psychological health and well-being.

Despite Obama's EO, "conditions at Guantanamo 
have not improved" and continue in violation of 
the law. Since it opened in 2002, CCR enlisted 
over 500 pro bono lawyers to represent hundreds 
of detainees. This report is based on "direct 
accounts from (them) and their attorneys," as 
recently as January and February 2009. The results are deeply disturbing.

Current Guantanamo Conditions

In a word, they're unchanged, outrageous, and 
illegal. Inmates struggle for their sanity and 
say conditions are like living in a tomb. The 
Pentagon and Obama administration deny it and 
describe isolation as greater "privacy" and 
"single-occupancy cells." Conditions, however, "speak for themselves."

Solitary Confinement

-- inmates spend 20 or more hours daily "confined 
to small steel and concrete cells (with) 
virtually no human contact or mental stimulation;"

-- they eat alone;

-- discipline violations result in loss of 
"privileges" like toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap 
and blankets that can be denied for any reason or none at all;

-- Camp 6 has no windows facing outside, and Camp 
5 "has only a thin opaque window slit in each cell;

-- toilets are just holes;

-- faucets are provided but no wash basins;

-- Camp 5 lights burn 24 hours a day;

-- "recreation" consists of two - four daily 
hours in an outdoor cell; in Camp 6, it's in a 
pen surrounded by high mesh wire-topped concrete 
walls blocking out most sunlight; in Camp 5, it's 
in a "cage-like pen;" attempts to use 
"recreation" for exercise result in immediate 
removal to their cells, at times forcefully; some 
"recreation" is scheduled late at night, and if 
declined, inmates stay isolated for days;

-- the penalty for any infraction is 24-hour isolation;

-- except for "the gloved hands of guards," 
practically no human contact is allowed; and

-- current conditions under Obama are no 
different than earlier and in some respects are worse.

Sensory Deprivation and Environmental Manipulation

Sensory over and under-stimulation is used as follows:

-- cell temperatures are too cold causing 
discomfort, health problems, and mental stress;

-- discipline is imposed on any inmate trying to block a/c vents;

-- one inmate described the combination of cold 
and 24-hour lights as "indirect torture."

Sleep Deprivation

Besides round-the-clock lights, guards routinely 
kick cell doors and awaken prisoners as late as 
2AM for "recreation." In addition, bed sheets are 
called a privilege to be denied as a disciplinary measure.

Physical Attacks by an "Immediate Reaction Force (IRF)"

Inmates "live in constant fear of physical 
violence," and anything or nothing may trigger 
it. Attacks are frequent, violent and 
spontaneous. One example was as follows after a 
minor provocation. Guards accused an inmate of 
attacking them. He did not. They left him in a 
"recreation" cage as punishment. He fell asleep 
on the floor, then was awakened by an IRF team in 
the dark. They shackled and beat him, blocked his 
nose and mouth to create an asphyxiation effect, 
hit him repeatedly in the ribs and head, and 
caused serious injuries. Back in his cell, a guard urinated on his head.

Another inmate described painful forced feedings 
to hunger strikers, constant IRF cell intrusions 
inflicting "cruelty, beatings and bodily 
torture....the administration is giving the 
soldiers all the authority to practice violence 
against us....we are in very bad condition, 
suffering from aggression, beatings and IRF 
teams, as well as the inability to sleep except for a few hours."

After years of torture and deprivation, some 
prisoners want to die. In the words of one: "I'm 
in despair right now and I don't know what to do. I'm going crazy."

Abuse of Psychologically Ill Detainees

According to experts, the combination of torture, 
sensory deprivation, and a state of constant fear 
and hopelessness "can cause serious and 
potentially permanent psychological and physical 
damage." The former include hallucinations, 
severe anxiety, hostility, panic attacks, 
nightmares, confusion, loss of memory and 
appetite, self-mutilations, profound depression, and suicidal thoughts.

Lawyers and others report these observations. 
Detainees say many times they tried to harm or 
kill themselves. Instead of help, "detainees have 
faced further abuse - gross mistreatment that 
exacerbates their pain and suffering." 
Psychiatric visits are few and cursory, and when 
inmates report problems they're placed in more 
restricted isolation and punished.

Attempted suicides are downplayed as 
"manipulative self-injurious behavior." Torture 
is "enhanced interrogation." Medical staff often 
are complicit. They impose unwanted care, 
verbally abuse detainees, and often laugh at 
their pain. They deny information about medical 
tests, existing diseases, what drugs are 
administered and their risks. They ignore the 
brutalizing effects of mistreatment causing 
serious physical and emotional harm as well as 
chronic weight loss, rotted teeth, receded gums, 
renal pain, and a constant state of emotional stress and ill health.

Washington under Bush and Obama withholds inmate 
access to independent medical help, leaving them 
exclusively in prison hands to continue 
mistreatment or none at all. What happened to Muhammed Khan Tumani is typical.

Imprisoned at age 17, he's been at Guantanamo for 
a third of his life, separated from his father 
who's also an inmate. The effect is telling:

-- signs of serious mental trauma;

-- in December 2008, he cut multiple slashes 
across his inner arm and a vein in his hand;

-- nearby detainees report that he bangs his head 
against his cell walls and smears them with his excrement;

-- during a recent attorney visit, he was too 
anxious to concentrate in spite of "his intense 
desire to challenge his detention;"

-- "in complete despair, he threatened to harm 
himself again;" the same is true for many others;

-- after cutting himself, Tumani was harshly 
disciplined; when he failed to clean up his 
excrement, a ten-guard IRF team severely beat 
him; sprayed him with tear gas or another noxious 
substance leaving his skin red and burning days 
later; and stripped his cell of everything, 
including a thin sleeping mat; instead of 
treating his psychotic state, prison personnel beat and punished him.

Hunger Strikes and Force-Feeding

As a result of continued mistreatment, torture, 
isolation, and deprivation, detainee hunger 
strikes are common as their only way to protest. 
The response is to restrain them in chairs, force 
tubes through their noses and throats abrasively 
enough to draw blood, and pump food into their 
stomachs - a procedure causing excruciating pain.

Strikes began as early as February 2002, 
involving as many as 200 or more prisoners at a 
time, and continuing on and off for months. 
Constant abuse sparks them or just an individual act.

Introduced in December 2005, "restraint chairs" 
are called "padded cell on wheels" because they 
confine legs, arms, shoulders, and head. A 
thickness of a finger tube is then forcibly 
inserted up the nose to the stomach for as much 
as 1.5 liters of formula, or more than a stomach 
can hold - causing severe pain, bloating, nausea, 
vomiting, diarrhea, and shortness of breath.

No sedatives or anesthesia are given, and men are 
kept strapped in for an hour to prevent purging. 
The procedure is generally repeated twice daily 
with the same tubes, covered in blood and stomach 
bile, reportedly used from one inmate to another 
with no proper sanitation. "The policy of 
force-feeding with restraint chairs continues to 
this day under the Obama administration."

One inmate described the experience as "torture, 
torture, torture." Another refusing force-feeding 
was beaten so badly he was hospitalized on 
January 8, 2009 but failed to receive proper treatment for multiple injuries.

US Bureau of Prison regulations require that 
force-feeding be humane. The World Medical 
Association, of which the AMA is part, states 
that force-feeding violates medical ethics, and 
when accompanied by "threats, coercion, force, 
and the use of physical restraints is considered 
inhuman and degrading treatment." For inmates, it's excruciating torture.

Religious Abuses

They include humiliation, the invasion of 
privacy, forced nudity, preventing communal 
prayer, and allowing no Muslim chaplain.

Forced Separation of Family Members and Denial of 
Adequate Family Communications

Only recently has even "extraordinarily limited" 
familial telephone access been allowed. For the 
first six years there was none. Now at most one 
annual monitored call is permitted compared to 
Federal Bureau of Prisons regulations requiring 
at least one a month, and at the Florence, 
Colorado supermax facility, two a month is 
procedure. For prisoners under special 
disciplinary measures, it's one every 90 days.

In the few cases where two family members are 
detained together, total separation with no 
communication is enforced, "causing further 
trauma." In one such instance at Guantanamo, 
extreme pressure continues to be exerted on a son 
to provide "evidence" against his father.

Efforts to Whitewash Inhumane Conditions

Like its predecessor, "the Obama administration 
to date has continued (the same practice of) 
sanitiz(ing) the conditions for the men detained 
in the most restrictive facilities (at Camps 5, 6 
and Echo)." Deception and deliberate lies 
suppress the daily brutalization of inmates.

Following Obama's EO to close Guantanamo, 
officials responded "by instituting minor changes 
that fail to address the fundamental inhumanity 
(and daily torment) of this facility." Nothing 
fundamentally has changed. Nothing from the White 
House addresses it, and inmates exhibiting the 
severest psychological trauma face even harsher 
restrictive and punitive responses. 
"Inexplicably, their psychological deterioration 
is presented as a failure to comply with camp 
rules, rather than a medical issue (demanding) concern and care."

"The most psychologically vulnerable men in the 
prison are kept in the most coercive and damaging 
(state) of confinement," further exacerbating 
their condition. The more traumatized they get, 
the more they're punished, and Guantanamo's 
military command has little interest in 
investigating physical, psychological and 
religious abuses. Mistreatment instead is whitewashed.

Minor cosmetic changes have done nothing to 
relieve daily brutality and suffering or the 
violation of US and international laws. So far, 
Obama's EO is empty, meaningless, and fails to 
address similar practices at secret Pentagon/CIA 
prisons globally, housing "ghost detainees."

Some are on "prison ships," addressed by this writer in July 2008 as follows:

"....in 2005, the UN's Special Rapporteur on 
Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism took note. He 
spoke of 'very, very serious' allegations that 
the US was secretly detaining terrorist suspects 
aboard special ships at various locations around 
the world, notably in the Indian Ocean.

The UK legal action charity, Reprieve, believes 
up to 17 floating prisons (were and likely still 
are) involved where detainees are held under 
torturous conditions and subjected to harsh and 
brutal treatment, in some cases worse than 
Guantanamo. Details have emerged from US 
administration and military sources as well as 
the Council of Europe, various parliamentary 
bodies, journalists, and former prisoner testimonies.

The USS Bataan is one ship mentioned, and a 
former Guantanamo detainee described his 
treatment on board. About 50 in total were there. 
They were closed off in the ship's bottom area 
and beaten more severely than at Camp X-Ray. 
Reprieve's Director, Clive Stafford Smith, said: 
'The US administration chooses ships to try to 
keep their misconduct as far as possible from the 
prying eyes of the media and lawyers. We will 
eventually reunite these ghost prisoners with their human rights.'

'By its own admission (then and likely now), the 
US government (is detaining up to) 26,000 people 
without trial in secret prisons, and information 
suggests that around 80,000 have been 'through 
the system' since 2001. The US government must 
show a commitment to rights and basic humanity by 
immediately revealing who these people are, where 
they are, and what has been done to them.' The 
Bush administration's response (at the time was) 
silence." So far, it's no different under Obama.

On February 22, the UK Independent's Stephen 
Foley headlined: "Very Bad News - Afghanistan's 
Bagram Air Base Will Be Obama's Guantanamo." It's 
to undergo a $60 million expansion to hold 1100 
more prisoners, above the 600 now there, and 
nearly five times the 240 at Guantanamo. Other 
than occasional ICRC visits, human rights groups 
and journalists are barred from a facility 
notorious for the worst of mistreatment, 
according to the few former inmates released.

Reprieve's Clive Stafford called the scheme "the 
Bagram bait and switch....a diversionary tactic 
in the 'war on terror,' " a willful case of 
hypocritical deceit to keep thousands of 
prisoners in illegal black holes and brutalize 
them to the point of despair or death.

Executive director Tina Foster of the New 
York-based International Justice Network warned 
that "leaving Bagram open (let alone tripling its 
capacity) turns the closure of Guantanamo into 
essentially a hollow and symbolic gesture." The 
status quo is unchanged. Bagram prisoners "have 
been tortured to the point that they have died; 
it is a rallying cry for those who oppose the US 
actions in Afghanistan (and a travesty regarding) 
everything we (say we) stand for as a country."

The Obama administration's justification is that 
Bagram is a special case in a war theatre. 
Unmentioned is that US and international laws 
allow no "special cases" for illegal detentions 
or torture anywhere, at any time, for any reason with no exceptions ever.

CCR demands better. Prior to Guantanamo's 
closure, it wants camp conditions improved, legal 
standards observed, and humane practices restored 
as stipulated under Geneva, the Constitution, and 
all applicable international human rights laws. 
This must be initiated "promptly and thoroughly." 
Specifically, the following practices must be 
implemented at Guantanamo and all other US run or 
supervised detention facilities:

-- solitary confinement must end, and at Guantanamo Camps 5, 6 and Echo closed;

-- religious freedom must be observed;

-- all forms of IRF physical and psychological abuse must cease;

-- force-feeding must stop; forcible medications also;

-- detainees must have immediate access to 
independent medical and psychological professionals;

-- illegal interrogations must be halted; and

-- independent and international human rights 
observers must have access to inmates.

Above all, full and unequivocal US and 
international humanitarian law observance is 
mandatory immediately. No deviations can be tolerated.

Human Rights Organizations Reveal A Secret Pentagon/CIA Prison Network

CCR, the Center for Human Rights and Global 
Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of 
Law, and Amnesty International (AI) released 
documents revealing secret Pentagon/CIA black sites housing "ghost detainees."

Most of the material contained news articles. 
Much else was heavily redacted, but reference was 
made to facilities in Iraq and an undisclosed 
prison at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

A Pentagon "Information Paper" dealt with the 
"Applicability of the Geneva Conventions to 
'Ghost Detainees' in Iraq," suggesting that DOD 
and CIA may conceal their identity if "absolute 
military security" dictates to facilitate 
intelligence collection and justify denying ICRC 
visits "for reasons of imperative military necessity."

Reference is made to "spies and saboteurs; 
persons who have committed such acts (and have) 
forfeited the rights of communication." A partly 
redacted email cites the "need to definitely 
think about hold(ing) off (bad press by delaying 
inmate releases) for 45 days or so until things 
cool down." CCR attorney Gitanjali Gutierrez 
called it "astonishing that the government (might 
delay) releasing men from Guantanamo (or 
elsewhere) to avoid bad press." Obama vowed to 
close black sites. So far, his words are an empty gesture.

ACLU Report of US Prisoners Tortured to Death

On February 11, the ACLU released previously 
classified documents concerning "abusive" 
interrogation practices (to the point of death) 
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo. The report 
referred to "clearly abusive (behavior), clearly 
not in keeping with any approved interrogation 
policy or guidance." It noted instances of 
"deaths follow(ing) interrogation sessions in 
which unauthorized techniques were allegedly 
employed, but (in two cases cited) these sessions 
were followed by further alleged abusive behavior 
outside of the interrogation booth."

Deaths took place in Iraq and Afghanistan:

-- two at Bagram "determined to have been killed 
by pulmonary embolism caused as a result of 
standing chained in place, sleep deprivation and 
dozens of beatings by guards and possibly 
interrogators;" other evidence reveals torture at 
Guantanamo and American-Afghan prisons in Kabul;

-- a homicide or involuntary manslaughter of 
detainee Dilar Dababa by US forces in Iraq;

-- torture and abuse at the US Special Operations 
Force Compound at Mosul Airfield, Mosul, Iraq;

-- torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib; and

-- causing death to a detainee by asphyxiation.

Torture was official policy under George Bush 
through numerous "findings," Military and 
Executive Orders, memoranda, and memos like the 
infamous March 14, 2003 "Torture Memo," written 
by John Yoo, Alberto Gonzales (as White House 
counsel), Jay Bybee (now a federal judge), and 
David Addington. It bypassed existing laws, 
sanctioned all interrogation methods short of 
producing organ failure, and legalized everything 
in the "war on terror," including supreme presidential power.

On January 22, Obama signed a series of Executive 
Orders, including the banning of torture. The 
proof of the pudding is in the execution, and so 
far very little is eivdence, including at 
Guantanamo where the worst of abuses continue.

Most important is accountability - prosecuting 
Bush administration officials for crimes of war 
and against humanity, including the practice of torture. CCR states:

"Evidence of the criminal activities of the Bush 
administration is exceedingly well documented. It 
is apparent in (its) memos," various memoranda 
and other internal papers, "FOIA documents, 
congressional hearings, court documents, the 
testimony of victims, innumerable investigative 
news articles and books and direct admissions by 
intelligence, military and administration officials."

The evidence points right to the top, including 
the president, vice-president, two defense and 
state secretaries, and heads of CIA among others. 
Given volumes of damning evidence, "now is the 
time for accountability (to) hold these officials 
(liable) for their (crimes) and dissuade future 
government officials" from committing them again 
knowing full well the consequences if they do.

It's critical for the Obama administration to 
"reassert the rule of law," affirm that no one is 
exempt, and set an example that lawlessness no 
longer will be tolerated. Nothing less is acceptable.

Military officials like Major General Antonio 
Taguba and retired judge and head of the 
Guantanamo military commissions, Susan Crawford, 
acknowledged high official guilt. Taguba said:

"There is no longer any doubt as to whether the 
current (Bush) administration has committed war 
crimes. The only question....is whether those who 
ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

The Convention Against Torture's Article 4 
requires the Obama administration to convene a 
criminal investigation to hold those responsible 
accountable. Torture is prohibited under all 
circumstances, at all times, with no exceptions 
allowed ever. Those in violation must be 
investigated, tried, prosecuted and sentenced in 
accordance with the law. Nothing short of full 
and meaningful justice is acceptable, and no 
administration promising change can do less.

Adds CCR president Michael Ratner:

"The only way to prevent this from happening 
again is to make sure that those who were 
responsible for the torture program pay the price 
for it. I don't see how we regain our moral 
stature by allowing those who were intimately 
involved in the torture programs to simply walk 
off the stage and lead lives where they were not held accountable."

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the 
Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in 
Chicago and can be reached at 
<mailto:lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net.




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