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<font size=3>Today, the Department of Defense issued a report that claim
conditions of confinement at Guantanamo Bay uphold U.S. and international
human rights law. For many of our clients, however, who have endured over
seven years of arbitrary detention without charge or trial, <b>the
appalling conditions that have characterized the prison camp since its
inception continue in violation of international standards to the present
day.<br><br>
</b>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=P4kg2hFmThUZ4gbiVoJHfG10kcP7iLH8">
CCR issued its own report today - </a><b>"Conditions of Confinement
at Guantanamo: Still in Violation of the
Law"</b>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=P4kg2hFmThUZ4gbiVoJHfG10kcP7iLH8">
- which includes new eyewitness accounts by detainees and their
attorneys.</a> <br><br>
The new report details the inhumane conditions at the base that persist
despite President Obama's Executive Order of January 22, 2009, requiring
humane standards of confinement at Guantanamo. <b>These include ongoing,
severe solitary confinement, other psychological abuse, incidents of
violence and threats of violence from guards, religious abuse and
widespread forced tube-feeding of hunger strikers.</b> In contrast to the
military's report, which appears to include very little testimony or
reports from Guantanamo detainees themselves, CCR's report offers
multiple cases of abuse in the last two months directly from detainees'
experiences.<br><br>
The report also includes a series of recommendations to ensure the
conditions at Guantanamo satisfy legal standards for the humane treatment
of the detainees while its closure is implemented. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h1><font size=4><b>Current Conditions of Confinement at
Guantanamo</b></font></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/reports/current-conditions-confinement-guantanamo" eudora="autourl">
http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/reports/current-conditions-confinement-guantanamo<br>
<br>
</a>Currently at Guantánamo, the majority of detainees are being held in
conditions of solitary confinement in one of two super-maximum facilities
– Camps 5 and 6 – or in Camp Echo. The conditions in these camps are
harshly punitive and violate international and U.S. legal standards for
the humane treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. Solitary
confinement, sensory deprivation, environmental manipulation, and sleep
deprivation are daily realities for these men and have led to the steady
deterioration of their physical and psychological health. In addition,
detainees are subjected to brutal physical assaults by the Immediate
Reaction Force (IRF), a team of military guards comparable to a riot
squad, who are trained to respond to alleged "disciplinary
infractions" with overwhelming force. Detainees have also been
deprived of virtually all meaningful contact with their families, and
have suffered interference with and abuse related to their right to
practice their religion. <br><br>
Contrary to statements by the military, conditions at Guantánamo have not
improved for the majority of detainees and are still in violation of the
law. In this report, we describe the current conditions of confinement
for the men at Guantánamo and make recommendations for bringing Camps 5,
6 and Echo into immediate compliance with "all applicable laws"
governing the conditions of confinement of detainees, as required by
President Obama's Executive Order. <br><br>
The descriptions of ongoing, severe solitary confinement, other forms of
psychological abuse, incidents of violence and the threat of violence
from guards, religious abuse, and widespread forced tube-feeding of
hunger strikers indicate that the inhumane practices of the Bush
Administration persist today at Guantánamo, despite President Obama's
Executive Order, and should be remedied immediately. <br><br>
<br><br>
<i>Download a PDF version of the report below, or
<a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/CCR_Report_Conditions_At_Guantanamo.pdf">
click here</a>.</i> <br><br>
<br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
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