Try taking a bible to Saudi Arabia and see if they treat it with gloved hands
Posted by: McQ
The QandO Blog
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee CSM Anthony Mendez from the task force's Joint Detention Group at Gitmo told the committee members how the US ensures the detainees are treated in terms of religious practices:
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A loudspeaker at the camp signals the Muslim "call to prayer" five times a day - generally at 5:30 in the morning, 1 and 2:30 in the afternoon, and 7:30 and 9:30 at night, Mendez said.
Once the prayer call sounds, detainees get 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to practice their faith, he said. Those who choose to can take advantage of the prayer caps, beads and oil given to them as part of their basic-issue items and pray toward the Muslim holy city of Mecca, in the direction designated by arrows painted in each detainee cell and all common areas. Detainees who display good behavior and abide by camp rules receive traditional Islam prayer rugs as well, Mendez said.
The Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay staff strives to ensure detainees aren't interrupted during the 20 minutes following the prayer call, even if they're not involved in religious activity, Mendez said.
Staff members schedule detainee medical appointments, interrogations and other activities in accordance with the prayer call schedule. They also post traffic triangles throughout Camp Delta to remind task force members not to disrupt the 20-minute observation period, Mendez explained.
Strict measures in place throughout the facility ensure appropriate treatment of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
Every detainee at the facility is issued a personal copy of the Koran, and it is displayed in detainee cells "in plain view and above eye level," Mendez said. This serves two purposes, he said, discouraging detainees from hiding contraband inside its pages and reducing the likelihood of a guard accidentally bumping it or touching it during a cell search.
"The rule of thumb for the guards is that you will not touch the Koran," Mendez said. "That's the bottom line."
In the rare event that guards must touch or move a Koran, they follow strict procedures, all carried out wearing cream-colored latex gloves, Mendez explained. In moving a Koran, they use two hands, place it on a white towel and wrap the towel to cover it, then carry it above waist level. Whenever possible, they do this movement with the assistance of a linguist or translator.
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Ye gods. Who's being abused down there ... really ... because it sure isn't the detainees.
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