[News] Guantanamo Updates - 3 Parts

[Anti-Imperialist News]

sent by Simon McGuinness - Oct 24, 2005

[Worried at the "anti-Americanism" of some of this Irish security
correspondent's (and ex-Irish army intelligence officer) reports about
the use of Shannon airport, the USA decided to give him the VIP
treatment and fly him out to Guantanamo.  He is not allowed to describe
the reporting restrictions under which this report was prepared, beyond
saying that the security was unlike anything he had ever experienced
(he has travelled extensively in the middle east and Israel).

Sanitised, sterile, Spartan, are the words he used to describe [the best
parts] of Camp X-ray which is entirely out of sight from the main naval
base area - Guantanamo is apparently 45 square miles in size.

The most compliant prisoners get to exercise in a 14 x 16ft room.  They
are allowed a football.  Shackled hand and foot and hobbled, the less
compliant prisoners don’t get any access to exercise at all.  He was not
allowed access to the detention areas for these "less compliant"
prisoners.

Clonan asked the 2-star General Hood, who is overall in charge of the
camp, about the conditions of detention and was advised that nothing
happens at Guantanamo which is not in accordance with Department of
Defense directions.

Asked about their "exit date" - the most important date in the life of
any detained person - he was advised that the detainees have no exit
date.  Asked if this was not "cruel and unusual punishment" the general
said "It is not clear when the global war on terror will end - their
continued detention is a matter for policy makers."

Describing an unnamed prisoner facing a review board, Clonan said that
the prisoner was shackled hand and foot and shackled to the floor.  When
he saw the reporter enter the room he attempted to stand up but fell
over because the shackle didn’t afford him that degree of movement.
Clonan described the procedure as administrative, certainly not a
judicial process.  There is no discovery of the evidence against the
accursed, 80% of the information against them not revealed by the
prosecution.

After a series of questions about alleged military training in an Al
Qaeda training camp, he turned to the reporter and said in English: "Do
I look like Rambo to you?" Later, at the end of the hearing he again
turned to the reporter and said "I just want to go home and see my
daughter".

He will, apparently, be allowed another review in 12 months time where
he will again not be advised of the evidence against him. - SMcG]


The Irish Times, Sat, Oct 22, 05
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/newsfeatures/2005/1022/3401893371WK22TOMMAINWK22P1TES.html

Inside Guantanamo

Irish Times Security Analyst Tom Clonan visits the US military's
terrorist detention centre, in the first of a three-part series

The immigration card for the US asks you to state at what address you
intend to reside while there. I carefully fill in "Joint Task Force,
Guantanamo Bay, (JTF GTMO), Camp Delta, US Naval Station, Cuba".

The US immigration official at Dublin airport stares long and hard at
the card and at me. After a significant pause he says: "You gotta be
kiddin me, right?"

He lets me through. Many hours later, in Florida's Fort Lauderdale
International Airport, I'm checking in for the charter flight to
Guantanamo. "Got your ground clearance sir?" asks the check-in girl. "No
one goes to Guantanamo without ground clearance."

As she eyes my Irish passport with some incredulity - "Ain't seen one of
these before" - I fumble for the ground clearance cert that had been
issued to me by the US military authorities at Guantanamo.

My fellow passengers, eight in all, consist of two Filipino contract
workers, a Nebraskan TV cameraman, a Dutch TV presenter and four
strangely silent men and women in civilian clothing.

October is Hurricane season in Florida. As the elderly nine-seat
twin-engine Cessna rattles down the runway, swaying and bucking as it
does so, I begin to think very seriously about the tropical storm
warnings I had been listening to all morning. Eventually airborne, we
bank southwest towards the Florida Keys, rising steadily over the
Atlantic.

No one speaks throughout the entire four-and-a-half hour flight, with
the exception of the Nebraskan, who punctuates the tense silence with
regular exclamations of "holy shit" as strong winds buffet the plane.
The four silent men and women remain expressionless and studiously avoid
eye contact.

Our descent into Guantanamo Bay is steep and rapid. I am immediately
struck by the sheer size and physical beauty of the US base - about
116sq km (45 square miles), including five square kilometres (two square
miles) of natural deep-sea port waters.

As we make our final approach, I get a clear view of the perimeter fence
- 27km (17 miles) long and dotted with Cuban and US military towers -
that separates Guantanamo from Cuba.

My silent fellow passengers make a quick exit without even the briefest
of backward glances. It's clear to me that they are certainly not
tourists and definitely not interested in exchanging names and phone
numbers. I quickly learn that on Guantanamo, it is impolite to ask for
anyone's identity.

GUANTANAMO IS HOT, even in October. It's approaching 40 degrees when I
arrive.

Our reception committee consists of two female US marines - both of whom
carry pump-action shotguns in addition to side-arms. Despite this, and
my sense of foreboding about the base, the welcome we receive from the
US marine corps is warm and informal. One of the marines smirks at the
woolly jumper I have been wearing since I left Dublin. "You sure won't
be needing that sweater here sir."

In the first of many seeming contradictions I would encounter on
Guantanamo, the US marines who process our arrival and security check on
the base are thorough and efficient, and yet at the same time these
young - very young - soldiers are informal, articulate and friendly.

I then meet my guide for the coming days - Sheila Tunney, a public
affairs officer who happens to be Irish-American.

Guantanamo is unmistakably American. US road signage and street markings
are everywhere. So also are large motel-like accommodation blocks built
for the troops based there.

Near the port is a sprawling air-conditioned shopping mall. The overall
feel of Guantanamo is of a small US town. Americana is all around:
yellow school buses, flood-lit football pitches and running tracks, a
nine-hole golf course and a neon-lit McDonald's drive-through.

This is home-town USA except that it's also a detention centre for
hundreds of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives, most captured in
Afghanistan during the US-led Enduring Freedom, the invasion that
toppled the Taliban in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on New York and
Washington.

The peculiar Stepford-like quality to Guantanamo is reinforced on the
windward side of the base where small residential housing estates with
names such as Iguana Drive and Caribbean Circle are located. These
pretty housing estates, with neat white painted picket fences, comprise
part of what the troops refer to as the downtown area.

Driving out of downtown, one climbs slowly uphill to a ridge, atop which
one encounters the first of many security measures. A condition of being
allowed visit Guantanamo is that journalists do not describe security
measures in detail. Suffice it to say they are substantial.

Beyond the ridge, the sprawling Camp Delta comes into view.

The camp consists of five detention centres - numbered one to five -
where approximately 505 detainees are confined. They are divided into
three categories - most-compliant, compliant and non-compliant.

Most-compliant detainees wear white cotton uniforms and are housed in a
communal setting with relative freedom of movement and association in
Camp 4. These detainees comprise 34 per cent of Guantanamo's prison
population.

Compliant detainees wear tan-coloured cotton uniforms and are detained
in Camp 1. They make up 31 per cent of Guantanamo's inmates.

Non-compliant detainees - 19 per cent of Guantanamo Bay's prison
population - are prisoners who are deemed violent and a threat to guards
and fellow detainees. They are housed in Camps 2 and 3 and wear orange
uniforms.

Camp 5 is a newly constructed state-of-the-art prison modelled on an
Indiana state prison. It houses 16 per cent of Camp Delta's inmates - a
mixture of non-compliant, compliant and most-compliant prisoners - who
are considered by the authorities to be of the highest potential
intelligence value to the US.

The entire Camp Delta complex housing the five detention centres is a
maze of watchtowers and high barbed wire. There are many layers of
fencing masked with green netting along with a profusion of arc lights,
infra-red monitors, cameras and gateway systems. Spread over a wide
area, Camp Delta overlooks the ocean to the west and its neighbouring
camp, Camp America, which is the administrative headquarters of the US
troops who guard the detention facility.

Aside from the 2,000 or so soldiers that guard Camp Delta, there are a
further 5,000 or more US marines and US navy personnel deployed to
Guantanamo Bay. In addition, there is a large number of American
civilian contractors on the base, along with so-called third country
nationals including Filipinos, Jamaicans and Haitians.

As well as these personnel, there is a cohort of interpreters of various
nationalities who live within the base and who assist in the
interrogation and administration of detainees. There are also a number
of personnel from the US's various intelligence agencies on the base -
including from time to time, members of the CIA.

Throughout my stay on Guantanamo, I am not allowed approach or talk to
any civilian personnel on the base. All of these civilians and most of
the US military personnel I encounter wear no identifying name tags and
obscure their identity cards when we walk past each other.

At sunset on my first day, I watch from the porch of my air-conditioned
quarters as the Stars and Stripes are lowered to the accompaniment of
the US national anthem. As the US military personnel around me face the
flag and snap to attention, I can hear the Muslim call to prayer blow
gently on the breeze from Camp Delta.

Contradictions and culture clashes abound on Guantanamo.

SOLDIERS SPEND A 12-month tour of duty at the US military base at
Guantanamo. A year away from home and loved ones is a long time. Most of
the soldiers and sailors I speak to say that Guantanamo is a stressful
posting.

Dealing with the oppressive heat and working in the close confines of
Camp Delta takes its toll. At night however, over a few relaxing beers
at barbecues and karaoke, the soldiers agree on one thing: "It sure
beats serving in Iraq."

Pulling guard duty in Camp Delta is considered the most difficult
assignment on Guantanamo. Inside Camp Delta, all personnel are required
to remove nametags and identification badges. I am informed that this is
designed to protect the identity of soldiers and civilians working
there.

This anonymity is also designed to protect US soldiers and family
members - many of whom are already serving or are due to serve in Iraq -
from possible reprisals if captured by al-Qaeda.

At the entrance I notice the rank markings and unit insignia of the
soldier nearest to me are of a cavalry unit I have written extensively
about in the past.

When I mention his home state, his cold stare evaporates and he breaks
into a huge grin.

"And what part of Ireland are you from man?" he asks.

The others manning the gate express enormous interest in my nationality.
"You really from Ireland, dude?"

When I ask them have they ever been to Ireland, they break into
collective laughter. "Sure man - we've all been through Shannon a couple
of times."

Once inside Camp Delta, I am introduced to Sgt Maj Sanchez of the US
marine corps . "You can print my name - I'm already on the internet," he
says.

Sgt Maj Sanchez describes the daily routine during Ramadan for the
detainees. "Prayers, exercise, education - we teach them to read and
write Urdu, Pashtu, Arabic, Farsi, and Uzbek. They get to write home and
receive letters.

"Many of the detainees were illiterate when they got here - when they
write their first postcard home, we have a graduation ceremony for
them."

Sgt Maj Sanchez also outlines the manner in which Camp Delta
nutritionists design special menus for Ramadan - "to ensure they get a
balanced diet and the right calorific intake during the fasting period,
though not all of them fast, some of them eat due to personal issues,
such as illness or whatever."

At sunset, the prisoners pray. "They pray a lot," notes Sgt Maj Sanchez.

UNLIKE THE OPEN-AIR Camp X Ray, where detainees were first housed on
arrival to Guantanamo in 2002, the Halliburton-built Camp Delta is a
primitive, but fully functioning prison system.

The detainees are housed in individual cells in concrete-and-steel-built
blockhouses or wings. Each block houses 48 cells, 24 opposite 24. Each
green and black concrete cell has its own bed, squat toilet and basic
sink. No slopping out for prisoners in Guantanamo.

Compliant prisoners are allowed prayer mats, prayer hats, a Koran,
reading and writing materials, toiletries and board games. Each cell is
separated by a metal grid and detainees can communicate freely with one
another through the wire mesh.

"Leaders assert themselves in here, you know, lead the group in prayers
and such," says Sgt Maj Sanchez. "Some are instigators or agitators, but
they're pretty much compliant most of the time."

When the prisoners are at prayer, a traffic cone with the letter P
marked on it is pushed into the centre of the block by the guards to
ensure a respectful silence is maintained by other Camp Delta personnel
entering the wing.

At the end of each block is an exercise area. The exercise area consists
of a caged and shaded space - about 50 square metres (60 square yards)
in size. A football sits forlornly in the corner of the empty cage.
Pointing at the ball, one of the guards says: "you should see these
guys, you know, in the orange uniform and the beards and all, they're
pretty talented with the ball."

On the floor of the exercise yard - and in each cell block and cell - a
small arrow with the word "Makkah" indicates the distance and direction
to Mecca. "This facilitates prayer," says the guard.

These are the conditions that apply for the compliant detainees in Camp
1, and also the non-compliant detainees in Camps 2 and 3. Sgt Maj
Sanchez describes the prisoners there as "violent from time to time".

"They have been known to throw faeces, and other bodily fluids at the
guards - and they can be verbally abusive."

I am told that for safety reasons, I am not permitted access to Camps 2
and 3.

  From time to time, detainees in tan and orange uniforms pass by,
escorted by guards.

These prisoners are shackled at the ankles and wrists, with both sets of
shackles connected by a long chain, which effectively hobbles the
detainee. One detainee in particular stares at me and continues to stare
intensely at me over his shoulder until he disappears around a corner at
the end of the block.

Sgt Maj Sanchez observes this. "All detainees get private access to
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) personnel - there are
five permanently on Guantanamo - they meet here in Juliet Block in Camp
1," he says.

He points to a table and chairs where prisoners can meet with ICRC
personnel on request. Interpreters, I am informed, are provided and
guards observe such meetings from a distance.

 >From here I am brought to Camp 4. In this camp, housing over one third
of Camp Delta's population, the most-compliant detainees live in
communal prison bays. In addition to freedom of association and freedom
of movement, the detainees in Camp 4 share a central, outdoor exercise
yard - a large area with a basketball hoop at each end.

Sgt Maj Sanchez informs me that the detainees love to "shoot hoops".

"They're crazy about basketball - and they're pretty good at it."

A large number of detainees move to and fro through the environs of Camp
4, unshackled and uncuffed. They stare languidly at me through the wire.
None makes any attempt to communicate. The heat is truly oppressive and
as I leave Camp 4, the prisoners continue to stare indifferently in my
direction.

  From Camp 4 we make our way to Camp Delta's medical and outpatients
unit. Newly constructed and fully air conditioned, the facility is run
by US navy captain and surgeon, John Edmondson. He shows us around the
high-tech facility. He then takes questions.

"How many prisoners are on hunger strike?" I ask. One of Capt
Edmondson's aides corrects me. "You mean voluntary fasting."

Capt Edmondson cuts in. "Yeah, it's a hunger strike, call it what you
will."

He says the number on hunger strike fluctuates but that at the moment it
is around 50 detainees. I ask him if they will be force-fed. "Yes," he
replies.

"I'm a doctor, this is my hospital and I'm not in the business of
letting people die."

I ask him how he force-feeds the detainees. "Nasally, through a tube -
some we have to restrain initially, but when they register their
disagreement, they all accept the feeding. We've had a few take out the
drip from time to time, but on the whole, they accept it."

I THEN ASK Cap Edmondson about prisoner abuse. He assures me that it
"doesn't happen at Guantanamo". He says he has never treated a patient
at Guantanamo with injuries consistent with a beating or any other
maltreatment.

He says that his predecessor found no evidence of maltreatment or
beatings. Citing concerns about privacy and "the principles of the Third
Geneva Convention", which "prohibits the display of detainees for public
curiosity", I am refused permission to see Guantanamo's hunger strikers.

The last of Camp Delta's facilities I visit is Camp 5, the
state-of-the-art maximum-security wing which houses 16 per cent of
Guantanamo's detainees.

Recently built - it was completed in April of 2004 - Camp 5 or Camp Echo
as it is also known, is modelled on Miami County Prison in Indiana.
Unlike the remainder of Camp Delta, Camp 5 is fully air-conditioned and
resembles any high-tech prison in the US.

There are four wings within the prison, each capable of holding 24
prisoners. Each cell is painted white and has its own slit window. Each
cell is equipped with a bed, stainless-steel sink and toilet.

Camp 5 has an eerie feel to it - a sterile, sanitised building with
security doors that crash shut. As a tropical thunderstorm rages
outside, the thunder is barely audible.

Camp Echo is an apt name. With its stark chambers, it has an air of
permanency that gives some clue as to the future of Guantanamo Bay. The
massive investment in this facility, along with the fact that it is as
yet only half full of prisoners deemed to be of high-intelligence value
to the US, seem to indicate that Guantanamo will be in operation for
some years to come.

On Monday's Agenda page, Tom Clonan meets a prisoner alleged to have
worked closely with Saddam Hussein

© The Irish Times


------------------------------


The Irish Times, Mon, Oct 24, 05
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/1024/2601145891AG24PRISONERS.html


Inside Guantanamo:  Part 2

Tom Clonan spent several days recently at Guantanamo
Bay, the US naval base in Cuba and detention centre for prisoners
captured in President Bush's war on terror. In Saturday's Irish Times,
he described the base and wrote about the soldiers who work there. Here
he describes what life is like for the detainees

'You are an educated man, you can see I am not a threat to the USA'

There are currently about 505 detainees on Guantanamo. Since camps X Ray
and Delta were established in 2002, a total of 240 prisoners have been
repatriated, released or transferred to prisons in their countries of
origin.

As Guantanamo is located outside of the continental United States, the
legal status of its detainees remains a contested issue. At least 40
habeas corpus civilian lawsuits are being fought in the US courts on
behalf of detainees on Guantanamo.

These legal challenges to the lawfulness of their detention in Camp
Delta are slowly working their way towards the US Supreme Court. If
successful, they aim to force the US authorities to release the
detainees.

While the detainees remain in legal limbo, the US military remains the
sole and final arbiter as to the continued detention or otherwise of
Guantanamo's inmates.

In the air-conditioned mess hall of Camp America, US navy captain John
Salsman informs me that the deliberations of "Oardec" - Guantanamo's
office for the administrative review of the detention of enemy
combatants - will decide the fate of the remaining 505 detainees in Camp
Delta.

The primary means by which this office works is through annual
administrative review boards for each detainee. Capt Salsman insists
that "this is not a legal process, simply an administrative process that
helps us determine whether or not a detainee remains a threat to the
United States or its allies".

The review boards are held within Camp Delta itself. I am invited by
Capt Salsman to attend the review of a detainee who is alleged to have
very close links to Osama bin Laden.

Under the ground rules governing my presence at Guantanamo, I am not
free to identify this person. I am advised that I must remain silent
throughout the hearing and that - along with the detainee - I will not
be permitted to hear any of the classified intelligence or evidence
against him.

Capt Salsman informs me that "on average, 80 per cent of the information
upon which it [the hearing] will deliberate is classified".

According to Capt Salsman, for "security reasons and in order to protect
valuable intelligence sources", detainees at Guantanamo, on average,
only get to hear about 20 per cent of the charges or allegations made
against them.

Before the hearing convenes, I meet the panel of officers who will
adjudicate. They are five US army and air force colonels.

I introduce myself. Two of them state that they are Irish-American. I
later learn that "apart from a brief stopover at Shannon", they have not
yet had a chance to visit Ireland.

We enter the room where the hearing is to be held. Hassan, which is a
name I have given him, is seated beside an interpreter. He is a
compliant prisoner and is dressed in a tan uniform.

Although aged 31, he looks to be in his mid-twenties. He is of average
height and of slight build. He is bearded with braided hair and is
shackled at the ankles and wrists. He is attached by a chain to a metal
ring that has been embedded in the floor.

As we enter he tries to stand. The chain however, is too short to allow
him to stand fully upright. He loses his balance and unable to move his
arms or legs, falls heavily to one side.

An air force colonel seated next to him embraces him in an attempt to
break his fall. The colonel in charge asks him through the interpreter
if he is okay and reassures him that it is not necessary to stand up.

The officers take an oath in English to discharge their duties to the
best of their abilities. The detainee takes an Islamic oath in Arabic.

The detainee is then asked through the interpreter if it is true that he
attended a Saudi training camp in Pakistan where he learned to fire a
Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle.

Hassan answers the panel in English and looking directly at me says:
"Yes, I did - do I look like Rambo to you?"

Everyone, including the detainee, bursts into laughter.

Hassan is then asked about his movements and activities in Bosnia during
the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. He denies that he fought there
and says: "I went there to get a wife, a blonde one, in a safe city."

There is more laughter.

Hassan becomes agitated however at what he states are inconsistencies
and inaccuracies in the summary statement.

"I have told my interrogators time and time again, maybe 600 times,
these things are not true."

The chairman of the hearing assures the detainee that his observations
will be noted for the record.

Hassan continues to look in my direction from time to time. He tells the
chairman through his interpreter that he wishes to discuss some matters
with the board in private.

The hearing adjourns and I am escorted out of the room. Some 15 minutes
later I am escorted back into the room. The mood in the room has changed
considerably.

HASSAN IS ASKED to make an oral submission to the board as to why he
should be released. Addressing the Irish-American colonel who is
chairman, he states in English: "You are a very senior officer and an
educated man, you can see that I am not a threat to the USA, I am not a
threat to anyone."

Looking around at everyone in the room then and in a barely audible
voice, Hassan states: "I just want to go home and see my daughter . . .
I want to make a new life, a new start, be with my family."

The board concludes its business.

I am informed by Capt Salsman that under review rules I am not permitted
to inquire as to Hassan's fate or the outcome of the hearing at any
point in the future.

As he is led in chains back into the suffocating heat of Camp Delta, I
am told that Hassan will learn of his fate "in a number of months".

I am then brought to the air-conditioned headquarters of the Guantanamo
military authorities where I meet Maj Gen Jay Hood, the overall
commander of the base at Guantanamo. His schedule is tight but I am
allowed 20 minutes to ask questions about Guantanamo.

I ask how intelligence gained at Camp Delta - three years after
detainees were captured - could possibly be of any use to the US
military or intelligence agencies.

Gen Hood concedes that "specific actionable intelligence relevant to a
battlefield commander in 'Centcom' [central command] doesn't present
itself here every day". He goes on to make the point: "Instead, what
we're getting is far more strategic in nature."

Gen Hood then describes the manner in which Guantanamo's detainees have
helped the US military gain critical insights into how al-Qaeda and
other extremist groups operate throughout the world.

"We're gaining over time a much better understanding of how elements of
al-Qaeda attempt to recruit young men. Who did they target, what age
groups, what mentalities, what backgrounds, what levels of education.
Who might be a terrorist operative for them? How did they finance
themselves? What happened in the days immediately after 9/11 with
accounts that they could still draw money on? How did they train? How
did they issue orders? What were their targets? How do they resource
themselves?

"All of that, if you imagine al-Qaeda as a giant mosaic, a bigger
picture, and its related terrorist organisations - we're still filling
in all sorts of small pieces of that giant mosaic."

According to Gen Hood, on a cost-benefit analysis, Camp Delta is still
making a valuable contribution to the war on terror.

"I would like to point out there is no one shooting at us here, there
are no mortar rounds falling in here. It is a very safe secure facility.
There's value in that."

I then ask Gen Hood about the manner in which interrogations are carried
out and about any intelligence agencies that may participate in the
interrogations.

"Tom, you know I'm not gonna talk about many of the agencies who may
have had some time here," says Gen Hood.

He does concede, however, that: "All of the major inter-agency players
in the United States have an interest here and have either had people
here or sent people here to visit."

I ask if he has oversight of the activities of personnel from other
agencies during interrogations. He answers without hesitation.
"Absolutely. Every single detainee at GTMO bay [ the US military has
shortened Guantanamo into the acronym GTMO] is under my control and any
actions involving them are in accordance with department of defence
directives at all times."

When I ask him if he can guarantee this to be the case, he simply
answers: "Absolutely, unequivocally."

What is the future for Guantanamo?

"Tom, I don't think it's fair for you to ask me to speculate. I think
that's something that policy makers have to do."

When pushed, however, he concedes that Guantanamo will remain in
existence as a detention centre for some years to come.

"I have an obligation to plan for the longer term. I have an obligation
to provide for those in the military chain of command options as to what
we can do. And very clearly I don't wish to tell them that in two years
we won't be able to do the job any more. So, we're continuing to look at
what it takes to improve our operations here. To improve our
capability."

Finally I ask Gen Hood if he feels Camp Delta and Guantanamo Bay suffer
from a public relations problem.

"Certainly there's been great media interest from around the world. Most
of it based on misinformation, in fact, some on deliberate propaganda. I
can tell you that with our young soldiers and sailors here, I've asked
them to continue to focus on doing their jobs as well as they possibly
can in a professional manner. And critically in a disciplined manner.
For as long as it takes." This reinforces the notion that Guantanamo is
here to stay.

As Gen Hood leaves the room, he comments that he has never been on a
proper visit to Ireland but that he did "get a chance to have a pint of
Guinness at Shannon a couple of years ago".

In tomorrow's Opinion page, Tom Clonan says what he thinks about
Guantanamo

© The Irish Times


------------------------------



The Lesson from Guantanamo: Torture Works

The evidence from Guantanamo is that torture works.  The US military
have succeeded in achieving what Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, and
the full might of the British Army failed to achieve during the IRA
hunger strikes.   They have succeeded in torturing hunger strikers into
submission.

In an interview broadcast on RTE radio today, Tom Clune, Irish Times
security correspondent and retired Irish army intelligence officer, said
that, during an invited visit to Guantanamo, he questioned the camp
administrators on the issue of the hunger strike.  Other military
officers, who he can't name, corrected his phrasing but the chief
medical officer stepped forward and uncovered his name tag to reveal his
identity as Captain John Edmondson, Chief medical officer at the camp,
and said that it was a "hunger strike", regardless of what other
euphemisms the military would prefer to use.

He was unapologetic about the forced feeding program: "I will force feed
them - no one will die on my watch" he said.

Clune then went on to describe how the force feeding was undertaken,
according to unnamed US military personnel. Apparently the hunger
strikers, when they have reached a critical condition, are shackled at
ankles and wrists to a hospital gurney and a feeding tube is forced up
their nose and into their stomach.

Medical feeding tubes would normally be inserted into the mouth but
these can be resisted by a prisoner so it is apparent that the use of
nasal tubes is an indication of the determination of even physically
weakened prisoners to resist the forced feeding process.

The experience in Britain dating back to the early 1900s indicates that
the physical effort to get the feeding tube into an uncooperative
prisoner results in internal tissue damage resulting in painful after
effects, muscle strains in the neck and throat area and internal
bleeding.

When feeding is complete it is important that the patient is prevented
from inducing vomiting to counteract the effect of the forced feeding.
This, presumably, requires the prisoner to remain strapped to the gurney
for some hours until the stomach contents have been digested.

During this time the prisoner is aware of the painful internal damage
that has been inflicted with each swallow - but external signs of this
are unlikely to be evident.  In these conditions even uninduced vomiting
would cause extreme pain as stomach acid would come into direct contact
with broken internal membranes in the oesophagus and throat.

The prisoner will have only begun to recover from the ordeal of the
forced feeding when it is time to repeat the process all over again,
this time the feeding tube is forced over already damaged, and most
probably bleeding, internal tissues.  This goes on several times per day
for several days until the prisoner, aware that his body is recovering
from the effects of starvation, realises that his attempt to die is
futile and that he will have to find another way to leave the gulag.

The US medical officer was emphatic: "After a couple of days [of force
feeding torture] they accept the regime."

The lesson: torture works.

Simon McGuinness.
Dublin.

The Freedom Archives
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