I know that the Prisoners at Gitmo is one of your favorite subjects, Jacob. Here is an update on them from the NYT
Fate of Prisoners From Afghan War Remains Uncertain
By NEIL A. LEWIS
U.S. NAVAL AIR STATION, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba Fifteen months after the first hooded and shackled detainees arrived at a primitive tent facility known as Camp X-Ray, some 664 prisoners seized after the Afghan war remain here in a legal, political and geographical limbo.
The hastily erected tents have been replaced by more permanent structures. Each cell has a metal bed stenciled with a bright yellow arrow pointing to Mecca. The heavily guarded and isolated Islamic world created here on the southeastern coast of Cuba has also undergone some cultural adaptations over the last year.
It is the only United States military base where the lilting Muslim call to prayer is heard five times a day over loudspeakers as part of the Pentagon's intensive program to demonstrate respect for the detainees' Islamic faith.
"What they hear is the actual call as it's heard in either Mecca or Medina, depending on what CD I choose to play that day," said Capt. Youseff Yee, the Islamic chaplain. Detainees are supplied with prayer caps, prayer oils, beads and copies of the Koran. They have also developed a fondness for the bagels they are served as part of their bread ration.
With the United States on the verge of releasing 7,000 prisoners seized during the war in Iraq, lawyers and human rights advocates say they hope the contrast with the long detentions here will put more pressure on the administration to deal with the people captured in Afghanistan and other countries in the campaign against terrorism.
To a small extent, the military has begun to do that. In mid-March, 22 prisoners were released from Guantánamo, sent back to Afghanistan with blue jeans, new copies of the Koran and, on average, an additional 13 pounds from a diet that is similar to that of the soldiers who guard them. At the other end of the spectrum, the Pentagon is preparing soon to bring a handful of inmates before a military tribunal.
REST AT:http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/international/worldspecial/24GITM.html?pagewanted=print&position= |
