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October 17, 2004
Guantanamo Detainees "Abused" too
Shocked, we're all shocked.
In one common procedure, uncooperative prisoners were stripped down to their underwear, made to sit in a chair with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor, and forced to listen to blaring rock and rap music in a room with flashing strobe lights, a military official told the Times.At the same time, the room was cooled down with the air-conditioning turned to maximum levels, since the detainees were used to high temperatures from their native countries and their prison cells in the Caribbean island, said the official who witnessed the procedure.
"It fried them," the official told the Times, adding that the sessions could last up to 14 hours with breaks.
It's now shamefully standard pratice among all major papers and wire services that all torture by us is always called abuse, no matter how severe -- or even fatal. This particular piece even has a law professor plainly pointing out that what has occured is torture, not abuse. Still, it's referred to as abuse in the headline and all the "objective" descriptions:
"I don't think there's any question that treatment of that character satisfies the severe pain and suffering requirement, be it physical or mental, that is provided for in the Convention Against Torture," said the former official, David Sheffer, who now teaches law at George Washington University.
News stories also have been very poor at explaining how painful these so-called "stress positions" --being shackled at an uncomfortable position for many hours-- actually are. Meanwhile, the detainees are still denied access to a legitimate court as the Supreme Court ordered last summer.
In one sense, this is a small crime compared to everything else we're doing like pounding cities with 500 pound bombs. On the other hand, the idea that everyone gets their day in court has always been hailed as one of those things that are central to the self-definition of this country. To see even that let go so easily by the mainstream, with a murmur of protest here and a hint of unease there, is quite scary.
Posted by zeynep at October 17, 2004 11:34 AM
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Comments
No question that news from Gitmo is still lacking in veracity and journalists are by and large ignoring the danger of the lack of due process has for the system of justice in the US. As the election comes nearer, and Bush continues to lead overall though by a diminishing margin, we may have to face the awful possibility of four more years of a profoundly frightening presidency.
Posted by: Ralph at October 18, 2004 03:49 AM