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Today is the grim 19th anniversary of the opening of the offshore gulag at Guantanamo Bay. The crimes the USG committed (that continue) at GTMO and lack of accountability led us directly to the nat-sec chaos of 2021. Here are 10 myths and 9 little-known facts abt GTMO (thread)
First, let me welcome my longtime followers from @DeptofDefense and @TheJusticeDept - pls pay close attention, you might learn something useful.
1. Myth: The “worst of the worst” were sent to Guantanamo. The below article from DECEMBER 2002 (!) describes the frustration that we were illegally collecting men at Guantanamo who should never have been detained. https://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-gitmo22dec22-story.html
Little-known fact: @departmentofdefense paid bounties for quarry to bring to GTMO, as confirmed by former Pakistani President Musharraf My former colleague @srthomasesq discussing his client: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/10/07/new-guantanamo-intelligence-upends-old-worst-worst-myths.html?ESRC=todayinmil.sm&fbclid=IwAR3rVrIQRmAt4bsIm94NP2PYqv_7Gb2vGtOHcQz4V1Wb9oOI1m5HSh1ww_Q
Myth: Torture at Guantanamo was brief. For years, men were beaten, stripped, smeared with “menstrual blood,” forced into invasive genital searches, starved, and much more. Omar Deghayes had his eye gouged out: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/21/i-fought-to-survive-guantanamo
Little-known fact: DoD’s response to hunger strikes was to force feed detainees w/too-large nasal tubes & “electric chair” restraints => esophageal bleeding & permanent stomach damage.
*I've seen FF videos that remain classified. They are horrific* https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/05/24/guan-m24.html
*I've seen FF videos that remain classified. They are horrific* https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/05/24/guan-m24.html
Myth: Detainees receive decent medical care at Guantanamo. In reality, DoD has fought tooth and nail to prevent detainees from getting proper medical care, in part bc independent doctors would have to ask about their torture for a medical history. @P4HR https://phr.org/our-work/resources/deprivation-and-despair/
Little-known fact: It took SEVEN YEARS for an MRI machine to arrive at GTMO. After it arrived, @BaluchiGitmo was able to confirm in 2018 that the @CIA had inflicted a traumatic brain injury on him during his torture back in 2003. https://www.cage.ngo/ammar-al-baluchi-after-15-years-of-brutal-torture-the-us-does-not-want-to-grant-him-a-fair-trial
Myth: The @CIA ended their involvement with detainees when the black sites were emptied in 2006-2007. The SSCI report on CIA torture makes clear that detainees like @BaluchiGitmo remained "under the operational control” of the CIA after their transfer to GTMO in 2006.
Little known fact: Psychological coercion is as damaging (often more) than physical torture. The worst of Mr. al Baluchi’s physical torture was in 2003, after which he was subjected to psych torture for 3.5 yrs. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/world/cia-torture-guantanamo-bay.html
Myth: Torture can be “cleansed.” @departmentofdefense desperately wants to use @BaluchiGitmo’s 2007 statements to @FBI at Guantanamo Bay (w/o lawyer), to convict/execute him. Problem is, torture had already permanently damaged him &tainted his statements.
https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2020_06917.PDF
https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2020_06917.PDF
Little-known fact: Camp Echo, one of the Guantanamo Bay black sites, still exists! The USG makes us hold legal meetings with our clients in the torture site!
Myth: GTMO milcomms prohibit use of torture-acquired evidence. 10 U.S.C. 948r of the 2009 Military Commissions Act was included *specifically to allow for* the tainted 2007 statements. Govt insists that the statements - w/o lawyers in black site Camp Echo - were “voluntary.”
Little-known fact: There are no family visits at GTMO. Non-CIA detainees are allowed phone calls, but former CIA detainees only have non-simultaneous messaging thru ICRC. When @BaluchiGitmo’s father died in 2012, he was not allowed to phone his family. https://www.lawfareblog.com/129-hearing-8-al-baluchis-telephone-call-and-delay-game-maybe
Myth: The GTMO milcomms give the detainees “due process.” The USG has steadily denied detainees basic trial rights, including access to info about their torture. Now, DOJ is trying to deny ALL due process rights in a death penalty case. From a Dec 30 2020 brief:
@DavidRemes8
@DavidRemes8
Little-known fact: Detained men create artwork at Guantanamo as a means of therapy for torture. DoD was so angered by a 2017 GTMO art exhibition, they illegally claimed ownership of detainee artwork &threatened to destroy it. @abdalmalik37 @mansooradayfi https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-disarming-paintings-made-by-guantanamo-detainees
Myth: Detainees can be held forever at Guantanamo Bay. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has strongly criticized the USG for the int’l crime of arbitrary detention at Guantanamo and called for the release of detainees.
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session80/A_HRC_WGAD_2017_89.pdf
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session80/A_HRC_WGAD_2017_89.pdf
Little-known fact: Guantanamo costs a staggering $13 million in taxpayer dollars per prisoner, per YEAR. A whistleblower last year filed a complaint alleging “gross financial waste.” https://www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759523615/guant-namo-court-and-prison-have-cost-billions-whistleblower-alleges-gross-waste
Myth: Congress blocked @BarackObama from closing Guantanamo. In fact, after campaigning on GTMO closure, Obama was not willing to invest the political capital (and public re-education about the detainees) to close it. Congressional blocking came later. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/01/why-obama-has-failed-to-close-guantanamo
Little-known fact: Guantanamo could be closed without Congress! Several detainee counsel and I worked with NGO colleagues on a list of recommendations to @Transition46, here: https://www.justsecurity.org/72367/toward-a-new-approach-to-national-and-human-security-close-guantanamo-and-end-indefinite-detention/
Myth: The world has forgotten Gitmo.
Although Americans have normalized torture and arbitrary detention at GTMO, the world still condemns us for it.
In April 2020, a group of UN officials/experts sent this letter to the USG. the USG has not responded.
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25138
Although Americans have normalized torture and arbitrary detention at GTMO, the world still condemns us for it.
In April 2020, a group of UN officials/experts sent this letter to the USG. the USG has not responded.
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25138
This thread barely scratches the surface of multi-faceted horror of Guantanamo - and now we round into the 20th year. It is time to close the prison, discontinue the failed military commissions, and release or transfer detainees for torture rehabilitation. End/
