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The 308-page report accused the United States of shirking its responsibility to set the bar for human rights (search) protections and said Washington has instead created a new lexicon for abuse and torture. Amnesty International called for the camp to be closed.
"Attempts to dilute the absolute ban on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak, such as 'environmental manipulation, stress positions and sensory manipulation,' was one of the most damaging assaults on global values," the annual report said.
Some 540 prisoners from about 40 countries are being held at the U.S. detention center in Cuba (search). More than 200 others have been released, though some have been jailed in their countries; many have been held for three years without charge.
"Guantanamo has become the gulag of our time," Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said.
A spokesman for the Department of Defense (search) declined to comment on the report, saying he had not seen it. But Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter said the U.S. government continues to be a leader in human rights, treating detainees humanely and investigating all claims of abuse.
Bonnie said:Big surprise right????
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,157596,00.html
Never mind human rights violations in the Sudan, North Korea, Middle East.......somehow that gets ignored!!
GotZoom said:I didn't see any uproar from them when our citizens were getting their heads sawed off either!
CSM said:Actually, the report does address Dafur, the terrorists, etc. Our media chose to make a big issue of the US and ignore the 100 + other countries as well as the UN as mentioned in the same report. makes you wonder what the heck is wrong with the people who publish the news in this country.
Bonnie said:What the report says in regards to other countries is that since we are the most powerful most wealthy country we are supposed to set the standard for human rights, which maybe I can agree with, but.... that other countries are not responsible for following our lead, is ridiculous and secondly where is the evidence of prisoners at Gitmo being treated badly??
Bonnie said:What the report says in regards to other countries is that since we are the most powerful most wealthy country we are supposed to set the standard for human rights, which maybe I can agree with, but.... that other countries are not responsible for following our lead, is ridiculous and secondly where is the evidence of prisoners at Gitmo being treated badly??
Shhhhh........."they" don't talk about that.Gem said:Hmm...I must have missed their report on the UN workers who used candy to lure 8 year olds into alleys to rape them.
Bullypulpit said:The evidence exists in the form of recently released FBI documents which are critical of the techniques used by military interogators at Gitmo...The ICRC has reported on abuses at Gitmo...HUman Rights Watch documented abuses in their report issued in October of 2004.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush administration sought to redefine torture so as to skirt US and international law regarding the treatment of prisoners in tis custody. The Administration's policy of extraordinary rendition is but one example of this.
The Administration, if it has nothing to hide, should have no concerns about any findings of an independent investigation. Instead, they stonewall...they hide behind the veil of "national security"...they stand opposed to any independent investigation. They feed skepticism and doubts about the US commitment to the humane treatment of prisoners and the promotion of human rights. With US credibility already in the toilet, it would be a large step in restoring that credibility to support the formation of an open and independent investigation of the allegations that are surfacing, and have surfaced, regarding US detention facilities in Gitmo and elsewhere.
GotZoom said:"redifine toture"
In certain situations, torture = no rules.
dilloduck said:The secularists are trying to get the Bible out of the military but want our prisoners to have religious rights?? What a bunch of horse hockey. :bat:
Bullypulpit said:The evidence exists in the form of recently released FBI documents which are critical of the techniques used by military interogators at Gitmo...The ICRC has reported on abuses at Gitmo...HUman Rights Watch documented abuses in their report issued in October of 2004.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush administration sought to redefine torture so as to skirt US and international law regarding the treatment of prisoners in tis custody. The Administration's policy of extraordinary rendition is but one example of this.
The Administration, if it has nothing to hide, should have no concerns about any findings of an independent investigation. Instead, they stonewall...they hide behind the veil of "national security"...they stand opposed to any independent investigation. They feed skepticism and doubts about the US commitment to the humane treatment of prisoners and the promotion of human rights. With US credibility already in the toilet, it would be a large step in restoring that credibility to support the formation of an open and independent investigation of the allegations that are surfacing, and have surfaced, regarding US detention facilities in Gitmo and elsewhere.
Inquiry finds Koran 'mishandling'
Alleged abuse of the Koran sparked protests in Muslim countries
The US military says it has identified five incidents in which the Koran was mishandled by American personnel at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
But the jail commander said no credible evidence had been found that the book had been flushed down a toilet.
The denial follows similar allegations against US guards in a 2002 document made public on Wednesday, in which an FBI agent quoted an inmate.
Newsweek also reported the toilet claim, but later retracted it.
The Newsweek report sparked protests across the Muslim world. In Afghanistan riots resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people.
The magazine withdrew its story after saying it could no longer corroborate the report.
The White House rounded on the magazine, saying its report had done "lasting damage" to the US image in the Muslim world.
Deliberate and accidental
The Guantanamo Bay prison commander, Brigadier General Jay Hood, said he had found that the Koran had been mishandled on five occasions since late 2001.
Three of the cases appeared to involve deliberate mishandling, while the other two incidents were apparently accidental, he said.
Four cases involved guards and one an interrogator.
Brig Gen Hood said those involved had not violated the rules in place at the time.
The inmate who made the original allegation about the Koran being flushed down the toilet had retracted it, he said.
A Pentagon spokesman characterised the incidents as mainly inadvertent handling of the Muslim holy book.
More than 500 people are being held at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base on Cuba, suspected of links to the al-Qaeda network.
Some have been detained for more than three years, but have not been charged.
WASHINGTON, May 27, 2005 A military inquiry has found "no credible evidence" that any member of the joint task force at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ever "flushed" a Koran down a toilet, the organization's commander said here May 26.
Speaking at a late-day Pentagon press briefing May 26, Army Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood said that over the past 12 days officials have conducted an "extensive inquiry" into allegations that the Islamic holy book was mishandled by U.S. personnel at the enemy-combatant detention facility in Guantanamo. Officials have reviewed more than three years' worth of records and some 31,000 documents, Hood said.
The military investigation stems from a May 9 Newsweek magazine story, later retracted, that claimed guards at the prison had flushed a Koran down the toilet. The story based its allegations on an interrogation conducted by FBI personnel at Guantanamo Bay in July of 2002.
"From the beginning of the inquiry, I directed that we look into all alleged Koran mishandling allegations, and specifically focused on whether any member of the joint task force had flushed a Koran down a toilet," Hood said. "First off, I'd like you to know that we have found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Koran down a toilet."
Military guards at Guantanamo Bay are careful to provide proper respect to the tenets of Islam, with particular care being paid to respecting the Koran.
Media touring the facility's Camp Delta in February were shown how each detainee's Koran is hung from the cell wall in a surgical mask to provide a clean place, off the floor or bed. The intent is to hold the holy book "in a place of reverence," a Navy guard explained.
In each cell block a painted arrow points toward Mecca, Saudi Arabia, so the detainees know which way to face during their daily prayers. During Ramadan, detainees were allowed to break their daily fast with water and dates at the appropriate time, and prayer calls are broadcast over loudspeakers five times a day.
"I want to assure you that we are committed to respecting the cultural dignity of the Koran and the detainees' practice of faith," Hood said at his Pentagon briefing. "Every effort has been made to provide religious articles associated with the Islamic faith, accommodate prayers and religious periods, and provide culturally acceptable meals and practices."
Hood said the current investigation has turned up 13 incidents of alleged mishandling of the Koran by Joint Task Force personnel - though, he added, most mishandling was done inadvertently.
He said that 10 of the mishandling incidents were by a guard and three by interrogators. "We found that in only five of those 13 incidents -- four by guards and one by an interrogator -- there was what could be broadly defined as mishandling of a Koran," Hood said.
"None of these five incidents was a result of a failure to follow standard operating procedures in place at the time the incident occurred," he pointed out, noting most of the incidents in question occurred in the early days of the detention facility, before proper operating procedures had been put in place.
Hood said the investigation also revealed six more incidents where guards either "accidentally touched" the Koran, touched it within the scope of his duties, or did not actually touch the Koran at all. "We consider each of these incidents resolved," he said.
Hood said there were two more incidents where interrogators "either touched or stood over" the Koran during an interrogation.
"The first incident does not appear to be mishandling, as it involved placing two Korans on a television," Hood pointed out. "The Koran was not touched during the second incident, and the interrogator's action during the interrogation was accidental."
Investigators also identified 15 incidents where "detainees mishandled or inappropriately treated the Koran." He said one incident involved a detainee who "ripped pages out of their own Koran."
Hood said it is important to remember that the detainees at Guantanamo are "not a benign group of people."
"These are enemy combatants detained because they represent a clear threat and danger to the United States and our allies," he added.
The now-retracted Newsweek story refers to a detainee who claimed during interrogation that guards at the facility beat detainees and flushed a Koran down a toilet.
But Hood said the detainee told the recent military investigators a different story. The detainee said, "no, that he wasn't beaten or abused, but that he had heard rumors that other detainees were," Hood said. "We then proceeded to ask him about any incidences where he had seen the Koran defiled, desecrated or mishandled, and he allowed as how he hadn't," Hood emphasized. "But he had heard guards -- that guards at some other point in time had done this.
"(The detainee) went on to describe to his interrogator that that was a problem that was only in the old camp," Hood said. "I believe he meant referring to Camp X-Ray."
Camp X-Ray was a temporary facility used when detainees were first brought to Guantanamo Bay in early 2002. More suitable holding facilities were opened in April 2002.
Hood said "guards and the detainees well understand the procedures that are used for us to look at a Koran today."
Nevertheless he said, task force personnel will continue to review the "adequacy of our procedures" and develop recommendations to improve practices and processes outlined in our standard operating procedures for handing the Koran.
(AFPS writer Kathleen T. Rhem contributed to this article.)
Washington U.S. officials have substantiated five cases in which military guards or interrogators mishandled the Koran of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay but found no credible evidence to confirm a prisoner's report that a holy book was flushed in a toilet, the prison's commander said Thursday.
Brig.-Gen. Jay Hood, who commands the detention centre in Cuba, told a Pentagon news conference that a prisoner who was reported to have complained to an FBI agent in 2002 that a military guard threw a Koran in the toilet has told Hood's investigators that he never witnessed any form of Koran desecration.
The unidentified prisoner, questioned at Guantanamo on May 14, said he had heard talk of guards mishandling religious articles but did not witness any such acts, Mr. Hood said.
The general said he could not speculate on why the prisoner had recanted his earlier statement, which was contained in an Aug. 1, 2002, summary of an FBI agent's July 22, 2002, interrogation of the prisoner. The summary was made public this week.
I'd like you to know that we have found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Koran down a toilet, Mr. Hood said. We did identify 13 incidents of alleged mishandling of the Koran by Joint Task Force personnel. Ten of those were by a guard and three by interrogators.
Of the 13 alleged incidents, five were substantiated, he said. Four were by guards and one was by an interrogator. Mr. Hood said the five cases could be broadly defined as mishandling of the holy book, but he refused to discuss details.
In three of the five cases, the mishandling appears to have been deliberate. In the other two, it apparently was accidental.
None of these five incidents was a result of a failure to follow standard operating procedures in place at the time the incident occurred, Mr. Hood said.
Allegations of Koran abuse have stirred worldwide controversy. After Newsweek magazine reported earlier this month that U.S. officials had confirmed a Koran was flushed in a toilet, deadly demonstrations were held in Afghanistan. Newsweek later retracted its report.
In an indication of the Pentagon's eagerness to discredit the allegation, Mr. Hood briefed reporters on the interim findings of his investigation even though the Pentagon's standard practice is to withhold comment on the progress of any official investigation until it has been completed. Mr. Hood did not say how much longer his inquiry would last. He said he was still screening newspaper stories and legal documents from court cases involving detainees in which allegations of Koran mishandling were made.
Eight of the 13 alleged incidents of Koran mishandling that Mr. Hood has looked into were not substantiated. Six involved guards who either accidentally touched a Koran or touched it within the scope of his duties or did not touch it at all. We consider each of these incidents resolved, Mr. Hood said.
The other two cases in which the allegation was not substantiated involved interrogators who either touched or stood over a Koran during an interrogation, Mr. Hood said. In one case not deemed to be mishandling, an interrogator placed two Korans on a television. In the other case, which Mr. Hood did not describe fully, a Koran was not touched and Mr. Hood said the interrogator's unspecified action was accidental.
We've also identified 15 incidents where detainees mishandled or inappropriately treated the Koran, one of which was, of course, the specific example of a detainee who ripped pages out of their own Koran, he said.
