Len, Perhaps the following story by a Canadian journalist may clarify the conditions in Gitmo for you.
This is the place to keep them, so why bother with trials while a war is in progress? The Geneva Convention authorizes combatants to be held without trial until the war ends, so long as they are treated in accordance with agreed rules of war.
torontosun.com
November 13, 2006
'Al-Qaida exists inside'
Guantanamo
By PETER WORTHINGTON
GUANTANAMO, CUBA -- Conventional wisdom among increasing numbers of people is that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility should be shut down because it actually creates more potential terrorists among inmates than should be the case.
To those who have not been to Guantanamo to see for themselves, this view has some resonance -- especially among human rights activists and those who feel that winning the hearts and minds is the best way to dissuade terrorists and ensure peace.
NOT INNOCENTS
As someone who has been to Guantanamo, albeit briefly, I'd argue that there are no hearts and minds to be won there, because the hearts and minds have already been won -- by al-Qaida, the Taliban and Islamic extremists.
The inmates of Guantanamo are not innocents trapped by war. Never were.
They are mostly true believers -- people already indoctrinated in jihadist extremism, imbued with a martyr complex and more fanatical now than when they were captured.
Rear Admiral Harry Harris, Guantanamo's Joint Task Force commander, puts it simply and bluntly: "These are very dangerous detainees ... they are not 'innocents' made into terrorists by their treatment at Guantanimo as some depict, but already indoctrinated to see themselves as martyrs against infidels."
He says: "Categorically, al-Qaida exists inside Guantanamo. It is very strong. Religious leaders have control and communicate with others regardless of how we try ... to discourage this."
He and others point out that inmates make weapons out of anything -- the springs inside water taps controlling the flow; using fluorescent light shafts as glass swords; making knives from fan blades.
Admiral Harris says he views Camp 4 for "moderates" as potentially most dangerous, as inmates have access to one another, and it's easier to mount protests and there are religious leaders to exert control. Inmates who worked directly for Osama bin Laden have status and are isolated in high security Camp 5.
Of the five camps now functioning, Camp 4 is for those who conform and has most "comforts" while high security Camp 5 isolates the dangerous ones and military police wear body and neck protection under uniforms, as do doctors.
Last year there were 3,232 "incidents" (averaging nine a day) which ranged from attacks to threats. A favourite method of protest is mixing urine, feces, semen and vomit with soapy water to spray at guards. There were 432 attacks last year on personnel, averaging four every three days.
It's high stress working at Guantanamo -- more so, in some ways, than serving in Iraq. When a soldier leaves the battlefield and returns home, stress eases and he can talk about his experiences. The 1,800 custodial soldiers at Gitmo are threatened with reprisals on their families. Last year there were 726 direct threats -- averaging two a day -- to take revenge on the families of guards. "No matter where you live, no matter how long it takes, our people can find you," guards are told. This can be more traumatic than the battlefield.
THREATS TO FAMILY
Military custodial staff don't wear name tags as most soldiers do. Still, the detainees are forever probing, and inevitably learn the names and addresses of guards and interrogators. Hence the unease about threats to family. One inmate with a phenomenal memory has memorized 5,000 names, says Admiral Harris.
If violence breaks out, guards don't react violently. The response to last May's mini-riot was with rubber bullets and flash grenades. Order was restored with no serious inmate injuries, which is testimony the professionalism of his staff, says Admiral Harris.
Among weapons that have been confiscated are garroting cords, six-inch daggers made from toothbrushes, fan blades made into knives.
Decent treatment seems to achieve little -- except, possibly, incurring contempt as a sign of weakness.
There's little doubt in the minds of interrogators that even co-operative detainees who divulge information, are playing a role and will use a relationship to their own advantage.
Interrogators are careful not to reveal to others who is co-operating with information and who isn't.
Religious leaders already have induced a martyr, or suicide spirit in those who previously didn't have it.
Learned from interrogation is that when Bosnia became a Muslim state (courtesy of U.S. support) and Kosovo got quasi independence (again with U.S. approval), al-Qaida quickly moved in among disaffected youths to win converts.
Many of those Bosnian youths are now teaching others, and their teachers are confined to Gitmo.
Psychologists on the Gitmo medical staff say that among detainees roughly 3% have depression or stress disorders -- lower than in normal society. This indicates solid morale.
I see a parallel with Guantanamo detainees and Turkish soldiers held by the Chinese in the Korean war. The Chinese tried to foster dissension by telling prisoners they no longer had to obey their officers -- all were now equal -- and that they had been abused by their superiors.
INDOCTRINATION
The ploy failed miserably with Turkish prisoners, not one of whom broke while a prisoner, or gave up and died. The Turkish soldiers were mentally and physically tougher, knew their commanders, and withstood indoctrination.
Something like this may be what's happening at Guantanamo.
Even hunger strikes are a PR ploy. Two were being force-fed while I was there -- one guy for over 400 days, who gets nourishment through a tube and has 90% of his normal weight. If his forced feeding is late, he reminds nurses. Other hunger strikes occur when the media or lawyers are around -- and stop when outside witnesses leave.
The infamous Manchester Document (discovered in a raid by the Manchester police) is a text book of al-Qaida tactics and training -- such as when in custody accuse captors of torture and inhumanity, as westerners have a guilt complex and will be on the defensive. Gain as much information as possible from your captors.
Since Americans are posted to Gitmo for only six months to a year, and the Taliban and al-Qaida have been there for four years, consistency and continuity are difficult for interrogators to maintain.
Since Geneva Convention restrictions were imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court, talking to detainees is forbidden. Even seeing them is difficult; those wearing white are on good behaviour, those in orange, more aggressive.
In Camp 5, for the really bad guys, when I was there with a group, shouts and banging against the wire mesh of cells was intense. This happens in all prisons, but amid the cacophony of Arabic, I could hear one English voice yelling something about "we are human beings." I didn't get the context, but later I gathered it might have been David Hicks, the only Australian jihadist. (If I could pick up that classified information in one visit, imagine what an inmate can learn in four years).
As Afghanistan heats up, so does Guantanamo. Most detainees were captured in Afghanistan: 100 are Saudis, maybe 80 Yemenis, 60 or so Pakistanis, 50 Afghans, couple of Syrians, few Brits, an Australian and a Canadian national. All but one are Muslim. The exception is a Catholic.
While there are 432 detainees now, Admiral Harris says there is room for 1,000. This is the place to keep them, so why bother with trials while a war is in progress? The Geneva Convention authorizes combatants to be held without trial until the war ends, so long as they are treated in accordance with agreed rules of war.
That means a long sojourn until terrorism is defeated -- assuming it can be.
Id |
