Bush team ‘knew of abuse’ at Guantánamo
Oliver Burkeman in Washington
Monday September 13, 2004
*Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantánamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation published exclusively in the Guardian today. *
*A CIA analyst visited Guantánamo in summer 2002 and returned “convinced that we were committing war crimes” and that “more than half the people there didn’t belong there. He found people lying in their own faeces,” a CIA source told Hersh. *
*The investigation further suggests that CIA and FBI staff had already witnessed incidents at Guantánamo just as extreme as those that would subsequently be alleged by freed inmates. *
I remember there were people here claiming the allegations of the ex inmates were false and that they were merely out to make money. are they still as adamant on thier claims? ive got a sick feeling camp X ray will be another Abu ghraib, cept the abuse has gone on for much, much longer. the US military seems to be getting well known for these kinda acts, we thought saddam was the expert, but these sickos take the cake.
There is a book coming out now by a Pulitzer Prize winning author (Seymour Hersh) called "Chain of Command: The road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib". It also deals with this issue and the time lines and people involved.
Might be worth a look, heading out today to get my copy.
"ive got a sick feeling camp X ray will be another Abu ghraib, cept the abuse has gone on for much, much longer. the US military seems to be getting well known for these kinda acts"
I am not too surprised, though your chronology is a bit off. The same person running the shop at Guantanamo Bay was sent to oversee the Abu Ghraib prison and was the same person who put in place the policies they use. Abuse at Guantanamo Bay was being complained about long before Abu Ghraib.
The Bush team knew about the systemic abuse utilized and they proved it by placing the prison (Camp x-ray) in a place where US law would have a hard time reaching it or overseeing it. Since the prison is a military installation and not on US soil, the rights of the people in Guantanamo Bay have been a subject of debate and frustration because of that.
"the US military seems to be getting well known for these kinda acts, we thought saddam was the expert, but these sickos take the cake. "
Ok, I know that we are not comparing humiliating people with trying to exterminate a people. They are not even close. I agree it was wrong and there should be an accounting, but they were not in Saddam's league, not even close.
hi
yeah the author of the book Hersh is the one who conducted the investigation (mentioned in the article). The book should be interesting, let us know what you think.
i agree that the base of camp x-ray was deliberate and the abuse took place much earlier, most likely before Iraq was even attacked, however, what i meant was the Abu ghraib story was exposed fully within a few months of the prison being run, whereas, we're only getting trickle of information from g'tmo, and its been around three years, and still no formal investigation has taken place.
As for the second post, yes saddam is a league of his own, but these guys are not far behind. Torture is torture, but he didnt cover his crimes up in the guise of liberation did he? nor did he claim to be the most civilised on the planet. that is why its all the more sickening.
*Amnesty’s report accused Washington of stepping onto a “well-trodden path of violating basic rights in the name of national security or ‘military necessity’.” “The war mentality the government has adopted has not been matched with a commitment to the laws of war and it has discarded fundamental human rights principles along the way,” it said.
At best, Washington was guilty of setting conditions for torture and cruel treatment by lowering safeguards and failing to respond adequately to allegations of abuse, it said. At worst, it had authorized interrogation techniques which flouted its international obligation to reject torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances.* Excerpt
*The four former detainees are seeking $10-million (U.S.) in damages, but primarily want Mr. Rumsfeld and other defendants to be held accountable for their actions, said Eric Lewis, the lead lawyer in the case. “This is a case about preserving an American ideal – the rule of law,” Mr. Lewis said at a news conference. *
The abusive treatment of inmates at Guantánamo Bay was far more widespread than the Pentagon has admitted, according to a new report published yesterday. Many detainees at the US prison camp were “regularly subjected to harsh and coercive treatment” over a long period of time, far beyond the isolated cases that have been acknowledged to date, according to the report, which appeared in the New York Times…
