What do you know about guantanamo?

[sami_83]

This is a thread about guantanamo...

The idea is that i post information on here but also that people from the forum get to ask questions they want answered about guantanamo...or post facts and infomation on guantanamo or the people detained!

The thing is that there is a lack of involvement from muslims on the issue of guantanamo and i wanted to challenge some misconceptions people may have about guantanamo and provide information on what they can do to help....

Went to a meeting in Alum Rock today where Mozzam Begg was speaking and he talked about the abuse him and other detainees have suffered and continue to suffer so i thought this thread could be a good source of information.

[sami_83]

So here goes first fact....

Did you know out of the 460 prisoners currently detained illegally at guantanamo only ten have been charged.

[Janissary]

It is a place where people are torchered because they are muslim.

Make sure you all include them (guantanamo prisoners) in all your dawahs.

[sami_83]

Did you know that eight British residents remain in Guantanamo, they are:

Jamil El-Banna
Bisher al-Rawi
Shaker Aamer
Omar Dehayes
Binyam Mohammed al-Habashi
Ahmed Errachiddi
Ahmed Ben Bacha
Abdulnour Sameur

These people are British residents one of them lived here for over 20 years but because they are not British citizens the British government is refusing to act on their behalf to secure their release.

[sami_83]

Did you know a Seton Hall 08/02/06 study found that only 8% of those at guantanamo were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban. :rolleyes:

[sami_83]

Two of the british residents detained havent seen their youngests children who were born after their capture...it will be five years in january since these people have been detained and their families are suffering.

On a recent demonstartion in July the two young boys of Jamil spoke and every single person who heard what they said was in tears it was heart breaking to see the families pain esp. in the children - what have they done - what was their crime or that of their parents?

In Jan 07 there is going to be another demo to mark five years of illegal imprisonment make sure you are there...i will post sooner to the date...

[sami_83]

On Friday the 9th June, it was reported by the US military that 3 men had allegedly committed suicide in Camp 1 at the notorious Guantanamo Bay.

The men, two Saudis and a Yemeni were identified as, 30 year old Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi al-Utaybi, 21 year old Yassar Talal al-Zahrani and 28 year old Ali Abdullah Ahmed. The tragic deaths of these three young men have intensified calls for the war-on-terror prison camp to be closed.

The US military and the government have been quick to label these deaths as, ‘suicides’ however former Guantanamo detainees including 9 British citizens claim that they are almost certainly accidental killings caused by excessive force used by US guards there. There have been numerous reports and details from ex-detainees of allegations of abuse and torture at the hands of the US military and interrogators.
Tarek Dergoul, who spent significant time with two of the deceased, provides the first in depth insight into their time at Guantanamo. In a statement to Cageprisoners Tarek says,
“I knew them personally, so I can judge well their frame of mind. Their iman (belief in God) was very strong, there was high morale and it comes as a complete shock to my system when it is said to me that they could have committed suicide. I was with them for a long period of time, and it never even came into our mind the thought of committing suicide.”
He describes both Manei al-Otaibi and Yasser al-Zahrani as having indefatigable spirits, never once discussing or contemplating suicide, and being the foremost in their lack of cooperation with their captors and long term committed hunger strikers. This resulted in them being punished by frequent reprisals and beatings by guards.

He states that it was camp policy to systematically beat incompliant prisoners therefore such vicious attacks could have resulted in death. He further notes that in Camp One, where he was also held, it would have been physically impossible for them to have committed suicide successfully.

Dr. Adnan Siddiqui of Cageprisoners said “It is clear that the US administrations claim that these deaths were suicide does not stand up close scrutiny and we call on the US administration to allow a full and independent inquiry to debunk the cover up and lies that these deaths were suicide and not murder.”

Immediately after the deaths the US administration came out on the offensive describing the deaths as “an act of asymmetrical warfare” and a “PR stunt” by Al-Qaeda operatives being held at Guantanamo. This is possibly the most offensive and insensitive thing the military has said to date showing total disregard for the feelings of the families at what was a very difficult time.

After four years of illegal detention and torture, no evidence has been presented to substantiate that any of the detainees had links with Al-Qaeda. Less than 10 of the 460 men held there have been charged and none have been put on trial since the camp opened in 2002.

The US claim the men died by strangulation with their bed-sheets. However, a lawyer who has seen the conditions at the camp has stated that the mesh is far too thin to fit a sheet through.

“There is no way to commit suicide at Guantánamo. We were not only under constant surveillance; also there were no points in the cells where to hang anything, let alone a person. How could these men hang themselves?” said Mamdouh Habib, former Guantánamo Bay prisoner.

These men were illegally detained and tortured for over four years with limited access to the outside world. They had little, if any, communication with their families through censored letters and did not have access to legal representation.

The men died under suspicious circumstances and no independent organisation or body has been allowed into Guantanamo to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths. This leaves questions as to how the men died unanswered.

Talal Al Zahrani the father of one of the deceased said, "I want Yassar to be the last person to die in Guantanamo."



Following the deaths of these three men the families of eight British residents still detained at Guantanamo are increasingly concerned for their loved ones. The news of these deaths was clearly disturbing for relatives of all the detainees and did nothing to assuage fears about their mental and physical health in Guantanamo. They too have had no direct access to their family members for over four years and two of the residents have never seen their youngest children.

The British government is refusing to act on behalf on the eight British men who continue to be illegally detained at Guantanamo. These men include;

Jamil El-Banna, Bisher al-Rawi, Shaker Aamer, Omar Dehayes, Binyam Mohammed al-Habashi, Ahmed Errachiddi, Ahmed Ben Bacha and Abdulnour Sameur.

One of the British residents still detained wrote: “It is the Brits who have the ability to stop the injustice that is going on here – to me and many others.”

anyone willing to wirte to their Mp about the alleged suicides more like murder of three men at Guantanamo Bay in June..i can post the letter or direct you to the template letter...

there has been no independat investigation and the Yemeni authorities say that body parts need to detrmine the casue of death such as the throat was missing form the brother form Yemen so they could not determine whether he died of stangualtion as the americans claim. When the men dies the other prisoner were put on lcok down and could not pray for the brothers they lost..many lawyers havent had access to thier clients since this incident.

[sami_83]

Did you know the tipton three where detained for over three years based on the fact that america said they were at a rally called by osama bin laden - when in fact it was shown that one (ASIF) was working at currys all that year and the other two (Shaffique and Rhuel) were both at univeristy...

and this is the kind of evdience that 460 men are been detained under is it any wonder that they want to avoid any proper legal process that will expose the kind of so called intellegence these men are detained under- SHAME ON US! AND SHAME ON THE UK..becasue the tipton three have stated that MI5 visited them they could have easily made these checks and called for them to be relased earlier much earlier. :aargh: :aargh:

[sami_83]

Guantanamo Inmate Released, Arrives in Germany
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25/08/2006

BERLIN, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A Turk with German residency held at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been released and was handed over to German authorities at Ramstein, U.S. Air Force Base in Germany on Thursday, his lawyer said.

"Finally after 4-3/4 years of martyrdom, of torture, and deprivation of rights, the news has arrived -- Mr. (Murat) Kurnaz is free," Kurnaz's German lawyer, Bernhard Docke, said.

Docke said he would brief reporters on Friday in Kurnaz's hometown of Bremen in northern Germany. Kurnaz will not attend as he is with his family and needs time to adjust to his freedom, he said.

"He will undergo medical treatment and will not be appearing in public," Docke said. "Mr Kurnaz has been through hell."

"What we saw was just an overwhelming human moment, an overjoyed weeping mother and her son," said Baher Azmy, a Seton Hall University law professor who served as a defense attorney for Kurnaz and was present for his client's arrival in Germany.

Kurnaz's lawyers said U.S. officials had asked Germany to place Kurnaz under surveillance and open a criminal investigation of him as a condition of his release, but relented in the end. "There will be no criminal charges, no criminal investigation," said Azmy, the defense counsel. "He's a completely free man."

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said an agreement on the release of Kurnaz had come after the successful conclusion of long negotiations between the U.S. and German governments.

Dubbed the "Bremen Taliban", Kurnaz, born in Germany in 1982, was in the process of becoming a German citizen when he was arrested in Pakistan in late 2001.

He was taken from there to Guantanamo on Cuba, where the United States is holding hundreds it suspects of backing Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda or Afghanistan's radical Islamist Taliban.

Kurnaz has said he has suffered abuse at Guantanamo and interrogation techniques including sexual humiliation, water torture and the desecration of Islam.

The United States has come under criticism from human rights and some of its allies for holding some 450 foreign guerrilla suspects at the naval base in Cuba, many for four years or more and without charge


SOURCE: Retuers and Washington Post

And so there is hope for the biritsh residents one of whom was also applying for citizenship before he was captured by the US. By the way is anyone reading this??? it seems its just me posting

[sami_83]

also sign this it is different to the other petition this one is for the british residents to get the government to act for them:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/8440.html

the other one was over the deaths and guantanamo and called for an independant investigation into the matter.

[BrotherNur]

it is a modern day concentration camp, to persecute muslims.

may Allah help the brothers who are locked up there. ameen.

[sami_83]

hmm this thread must be good because our secret reader judoanswersall has sent me a PM and he is not happy he has asked why i wish to free people who wish to harm us?

I dont uderstand how has Mozzam Begg or Asif, Shaffique, Rhuel, Martin, and all the others harmed anyone since they have been released and anyway any who have harmed people (very small minority) should be given a fair trial under international law...

i told judoansawersall that if he wishes to engage in a debate he must post his views in this forum and i will not engage in a PM debate....

[BrotherNur]

who is udoanswersall?

[sami_83]

who is judoanswersall?

he was an american on this site to cause trouble thats what some people said - then he said he was leaving but i know he still reads these threads as sent me a PM.

the thing is if things get to him he needs to post his thoughts here...

[smileys cuz]

this is a rap/poem i made about guantanamo

IPSI-DIPSI-LALA-PO
what do'ya no bout guantanamo
muslims torchered go wit da flow
bush,keep it low. but we all gutto know!


IPSI-DIPSI-LALA-PO
what do'ya no bout guantanamo
people torchered in da snow
what do u know about quantanamo
people dieng, in their souls.

[sami_83]

this is a rap/poem i made about guantanamo

IPSI-DIPSI-LALA-PO
what do'ya no bout guantanamo
muslims torchered go wit da flow
bush,keep it low. but we all gutto know!


IPSI-DIPSI-LALA-PO
what do'ya no bout guantanamo
people torchered in da snow
what do u know about quantanamo
people dieng, in their souls.

wicked :thumbup: brilliant :thumbup: very creative - have you written to your Mp about it - i can give you the letter all you need to do is add your MP's name and yours of course and post it!

[sami_83]

go write to your MP find the template letter here:

http://www.guantanamo.org.uk/content/view/50/65/

:flex: :flex:

[sami_83]

Mozzam Begg was detained in guantanmo illegally for three years before he was released without charge. He was giving a talk at a public meeting with stop the war when he told us about a prisoners story.

This prisoner was hung from his wrists and interrogators beat him by kicking him hitting him on the back of the legs apparently this is to be a painful spot as anyone who does martial arts would know...why did they do this becasue every time they hit his he cried Allah...they found this so funny they told each other and each of them came in kicked him or whatever then laughed as he cried Allah...He died crying for Allah..... :mad: :mad: :mad:

please wirte to your MP using the link above to stop the injustice...

[sami_83]

FACT: According to Military Officials, Most of the Prisoners in Guantánamo Are Innocent and Should Not Be Detained.

The military admits that it has been detaining innocent civilians at Guantánamo for nearly five years- these men have never received a fair opportunity to raise their claims that they are unjustly imprisoned.

American commanders acknowledge that many prisoners shouldn't have been locked up here in the first place because they weren't dangerous and didn't know anything of value.

'Sometimes, we just didn't get the right folks,' says Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, Guantánamo commander." Wall Street Journal, January 2006

that just aint good enough though is it! :thumbsdn:

[sami_83]

FACT: Innocent Men Are Imprisoned Under Inhumane Conditions at Guantánamo

Three British prisoners, released without charge from Guantanamo in 2004 , reported ongoing torture, sexual degradation, forced drugging and religious persecution committed by U.S. military personnel at the prison.

Murat Kurnaz was tortured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan who applied electric shocks to his feet, hung him by his hands for days at a time, and repeatedly subjected him to waterboarding before being transferred to Guantanamo.

Mr. Kurnaz also witnessed the brutal beating bysoldiers of another prisoner who was left bleeding severely from his head wounds. He believes the prisoner died as a result of the beating.

“You are in a place where there is no law – we are the law.”
U.S. military intelligence officers

go to:

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/docs/Torture_Report_Final_version.pdf

for more....

The infromation below is taken from the Un report published in feb 2006 it can be found at:

http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/62chr/E.CN.4.2006.120_.pdf

Interrogation techniques

Following the ambiguous interpretations of what constitutes torture and illtreatment detailed in Section A, the following interrogation techniques, which clearly went beyond earlier practice (as contained in Army Field Manual FM 34-52), were approved by the Secretary of Defense on 2 December 2002.

• “The use of stress positions (like standing) for a maximum of four hours;

• Detention in isolation up to 30 days;

• The detainee may have a hood placed over his head during transportation and questioning;

• Deprivation of light and auditory stimuli;

• Removal of all comfort items;

• Forced grooming (shaving of facial hair, etc);

• Removal of clothing;

• Interrogation for up to 20 hours and

• Using detainees’ individual phobias (such as fear of dogs) to induce stress.”

After having rescinded the above memorandum on 15 January 2005, the
Secretary of Defense on 16 April 2003 authorised the following techniques which remain in force:

• “B. Incentive/Removal of Incentive i.e. comfort items;

• S. Change of Scenery Down might include exposure to extreme temperatures and deprivation of light and auditory stimuli;

• U. Environmental Manipulation: Altering the environment to create moderate
discomfort (e.g. adjusting temperature or introducing an unpleasant smell).

• V. Sleep Adjustment; Adjusting the sleeping times of the detainee (e.g. reversing sleep cycles from night to day) This technique is not sleep deprivation.

• X. Isolation: Isolating the detainee from other detainees while still complying
with basic standards of treatment.”

These techniques meet four of the five elements in the Convention definition of torture (the acts in question were perpetrated by government officials; they had a clear purpose, i.e. gathering intelligence, extracting information; the acts were committed intentionally; and the victims were in a position of powerlessness).

However, to meet the Convention definition of torture, severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, must be inflicted. Treatment aimed at humiliating victims may amount to degrading treatment or punishment, even without intensive pain or suffering. It is difficult to assess in abstracto whether this is the case with regard to acts such as the removal of clothes.

However,stripping detainees naked, particularly in the presence of women and taking into account cultural sensitivities, can in individual cases cause extreme psychological pressure and can amount to degrading treatment, or even torture. The same holds true for the use of dogs, especially if it is clear that an individual phobia exists. Exposure to extreme temperatures, if prolonged, can conceivably cause severe suffering.

On the interviews conducted with former detainees, the Special Rapporteur
concludes that some of the techniques, in particular the use of dogs, exposure to extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation for several consecutive days and prolonged isolation were perceived as causing severe suffering.60 He also stresses that the simultaneous use of these techniques is even more likely to amount to torture.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also concluded that many detainees had been subjected to illtreatment amounting to torture, which occurred systematically and with the knowledge and complicity of the United States Government.

The same has been found by Lord Hope of Craighead, member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, who stated that“some of [the practices authorized for use in Guantánamo Bay by the United States authorities] would shock the conscience if they were ever to be authorized for use in our own country”.

SHAMEFUL ACTIONS OF THE SUPER POWER THE US :thumbsdn:

[sami_83]

5 percent of the detainees held at Guantanamo were captured by the United States and the majority of those currently in custody were turned over by other parties during a time when the U.S. was offering large sums for captured prisoners.

In Pakistan America offered $5,000 for each terrorist caught and handed over to the Americans- that is 20 years salary for a Pakistani and this is what led to many innocent people been embroiled and sent to Guantanamo. I Repeat the vast majority were not captured on the battle field but were sold to the US.

Reportedly 100-150 individuals have been rendered from U.S. custody to a foreign country known to torture prisoners, including to Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan. This includes at least three of the British residents still detained.

There are 6 main acknowledged U.S. detention facilities worldwide, approximately 25 transient facilities, and at least 11 ‘secret’ detention locations used since September 2001.

Amnesty international reports that to date the total number of detainees held outside the USA by the US during “war on terror” (more commonly known as war on human rights) runs to 70,000 they are held in the Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba and at locations worldwide in camps and prisons.

[Ackie00]

Keep posting. I'm sure I speak for others when I say I read, even if I don't reply.

[sami_83]

Keep posting. I'm sure I speak for others when I say I read, even if I don't reply.

thank you - i will post more got loads but dont want to give it to you in one go...:)

[Ereth]

Where are you getting all this info from, ma'am?

[sami_83]

Where are you getting all this info from, ma'am?

I am a member of the birmingham guantanamo campaign - do a lot of research on the net mainly www.cageprisoners.com (http://www.cageprisoners.com) (although the system is down at the moment).

you have to know these things so when people challenge you - you can prove your point...

Like when they say that these deatianees they have detained for nearly five years provide intellegence to stop furture attacks...

Thats rubbish seeing as they have been locked up for nearly five years some of them dont even know about the Iraq war how the hell will they know about any attacks planned after they have been detained.

For much of 2003 Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Christino, a military intelligence officer of 20 years' experience, worked at the heart of the intelligence war against terror inside the Pentagon. Interrogators, he said, were woefully inexperienced and underprepared...

Christino said he did not believe that Guantánamo, despite its vaunted claims, had helped to prevent a single terrorist attack. 'Most of the information derived from interrogations at Guantánamo appears to be very general in nature; so general that it is not very useful,' he said.

Also to know anything you have to be linked in someway to the terrorists- only 8% of those at gitmo may have links to Al-Qaida - so that awhole 92% that know nothing! ...what intellegnce are they getting???:confused:


Furthermore when they tell you they use torture to get information about furture attacks and it is worth it if it saves lives...you can tell them

Torture is not a good way to get information becasue people will say anything when they are being tortured and this false information is then investigated - this takes time - meanwhile any real threat that maybe missed.

Rumsfeld approved a range of measures for use against reluctant prisoners, including solitary confinement - which could be administered in repeated, back-to-back doses of 30 days - chaining people for hours in chilled or heated interrogation rooms, and what he euphemistically called 'sleep adjustment' - in other words, deprivation.

Vincent Cassard, head of the Red Cross inspection team, said the relentless interrogations were having serious consequences for the detainees' mental health. - i dont know how any human being could support this

Torture is counterproductive in gathering intellegence of any value.

When they tell you they are all terroists ....

remind them of the 8% fact mentioned above and also the fact that only 10 people have been charged out of the total 750 held there and the 460 that remain...and if they are so sure these people are guilty what have they got to hide why not put them on trial why are they going out of their way creating a legla black hole in Cuba?

9 British citizens were released from gitmo and they were not charged with a single crime in the UK.

The basis of their detention was that interrogators at gitmo said that three British citizens were caught on camera at an Al-Qaeda rally...however, evidence showed that one was working at Curry's all that year and the others two were at university unfortunately it took them 3 years to figure this out - so how intelligent are intelligence officers? NOT VERY

...And 8 british resdients are still detained on this form of so called hard evidence - and then we wonder why they want to avoid a trial - its becasue the truth about the fact they have no information linking any of these people to any crimes will be outted...SHAME ON AMERICA

There have been a total of 750 prisoners held at guantanamo there are now 460 you do the maths... if theese people are so dangerous why are they been released to go back to their countries....many dont face nay charges when they return to their country.

Also a further 30% have been cleared (they pose no threat to the US) but no country is willing to take them since the US has labelled them terroists...

The only nationailty not present at guantanmo is American not because no americans were captured in the war on human rights but because they were sent to the US where they went through the proper legal processes.

this thread is where judoansweralls was trying to debate the need for guantanamo her claerly failed becasue it is undefendable

http://forum.mpacuk.org/showthread.php?t=13382&page=2&pp=20

I am not saying every single person there is innocent i am saying the vast majority are innocent and those that arent should still be treating in accordance to international law which requires them to be put on trial not imprisoned indefinitely.

what do you think?

[Ereth]

Thanks for that, chief!

Sounds like your in the know. :thumbup:

I didnt know half of those things.

Of course people will always ask for proof - for example 92% of prisoners have no link to Al-Qaeda? Where are these figures from?

I read your conversation with this judoansweralls fella.

It seems the fools who support this prison camp, do so blindly despite being provided with evidence of its counter productive nature and its general uselessness.

You can lead fools to wisdom but you can't make them think. :rolleyes:

[sami_83]

The 8% is from a Seton Hall study can be found here:

http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf

page two second point says 8% have links to alqeada.

[TRUREL]

The 8% is from a Seton Hall study can be found here:

[url]http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf [ /url]

page two second point says 8% have links to alqeada.

I am all in favour of your posts and your cause, and it's great to see that you are doing research, but according to your source - 60% have links with Al Quaida (40% don't), the 8% figure is those who are fighters for Al Quaida.

[sami_83]

I am all in favour of your posts and your cause, and it's great to see that you are doing research, but according to your source - 60% have links with Al Quaida (40% don't), the 8% figure is those who are fighters for Al Quaida.

so 40% have no link to al-qeada - only 8% are catergorised as al-qeda fighters so thats a whole 92% who were not fighting for al-qeada as is often claimed by bush ' these people are dangerous highly trained al-qeada fighters, who wish to harn us? really maybe 8% are what about the other 92. the odlest man at guantanamo was a 70 year old - hmmmmm a super power such as the US see a 70 year old as a threat....:confused:

Bush always goes on about how if relased these men will take up arms against the US if only 8% were al-qeada fighters then his theory is quite lacking - do you argee?

the thing with guantanamo is whether they are innocent or guilty is not the issue it is the absence of due process and violations of international law that is the issue.

glad your all reading the posts.

more on...

FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF AND RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AT GUANTANAMO

Reported allegations

The review of a number of official documents and reports as well as information
obtained on the basis of interviews reveal that certain interrogation techniques that were especially degrading for members of certain religions were authorized by the United States authorities.

Other treatments which may have been specifically designed to offend the religious sensitivities of the detainees, were repeatedly used by those involved in the
custody, interrogation and treatment of detainees (e.g. use of female interrogators, who performed, inter alia, “lap dances during interrogations”). It was also reported that these techniques were used before prayer times and that in some cases, detainees were not allowed to wash themselves before and therefore were not able to pray.

The list of officially approved interrogation techniques in force today90 allows for the
removal of religious items (e.g. the Holy Koran). This constitutes an impermissible
limitation on the right to freedom of religion or belief of detainees.

There was particular concern at reports of possible mishandling of religious objects,
such as the Holy Koran. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief sent a
communication on this matter to the Government of the United States on 23 May 2005.

The Government reply of 18 August 2005 provided detailed information on the investigations that were conducted following these allegations, as well as on the existing measures and guidelines for the personnel of the detention facilities. As a result of their investigations, the Government indicated that it had identified five confirmed cases of mishandling of the Holy Koran by guards and interrogators, either intentionally or unintentionally, including kicking and stepping on the Holy Koran.

A number of detainees have alleged that they were subjected to forced grooming,
including shaving of beards, heads and eyebrows.

Further concerns were raised by the removal of a military Muslim cleric from his
position at Guantánamo Bay. He later was arrested on suspicion of espionage and held in solitary confinement for 76 days. It has been alleged that he has not been replaced, leaving the Muslim detainees unattended, in violation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Finally, there are also concerns about reports that the United States Government has, either implicitly or explicitly, encouraged or tolerated the association of between Islam and terrorism, for example, by interrogating detainees on the extent of their faith in Islamic teachings.

Also found:Four British citizens released from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay
have won the right to sue their captors for violation of their religious
rights.

The four - Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul from Tipton, in the
West Midlands, and Jamal al-Harith, from Manchester - have spent the
past two years pursuing a wide array of complaints against the Pentagon
and their military captors, including allegations of physical and mental
abuse as well as affronts to their Muslim faith. This, though, marked
the first time that a significant legal decision has gone in their
favour.

A potentially ground-breaking ruling from a federal judge in Washington
rejected the US government's argument that Guantanamo, in south-eastern
Cuba, is beyond the jurisdiction of the US civilian courts. Instead,
District Judge Ricardo Urbina said the 1993 Religious Freedom
Restoration Act applies to all territories and possessions of the United
States.

Judge Urbina has previously ruled against the so-called Tipton Three and
Mr al-Harith but this time he pointed to the special place accorded to
religious practice under the US Constitution, and said the allegations
against the US military posed a "direct affront to one of this nation's
most cherished constitutional traditions".

The plaintiffs allege, among other things, that they were forced to
shave their beards, grown for religious reasons, endured taunting from
guards about their adherence to Islam, and were forced to watch as a
copy of the Koran was thrown into a lavatory. "Flushing the Koran down
the toilet and forcing Muslims to shave their beards falls comfortably
within the conduct prohibited from government action," Judge Uriba said.

The alleged lavatory-flushing episode has caused considerable
consternation in the US since the accusation first surfaced. A Pentagon
inquiry completed last year would not confirm that the episode took
place. The inquiry nevertheless found that a soldier urinated on a copy
of the Koran - supposedly by accident - among a number of other lapses.

The Tipton Three were arrested in Afghanistan during the war in 2001,
and transferred to Guantanamo where they were held without charge until
their release and return to Britain in March 2004.

Mr al-Harith was, by his own account, abducted by the Taliban in
Pakistan and held as a suspected British spy. After the Taliban were
overthrown, he fell into US custody and was also transferred to
Guantanamo.

Together, the four are demanding $10m (£5.3m) in damages from Donald
Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defence, and 10 military commanders.

Source: http://www.ureader.co.uk/msg/12132302.aspx

dont think this case has been concluded as of yet more soon...

[sami_83]

More on religon later.... but just got this breaking news past 2 hours ago maybe as we speak they are being carted off to guanatanamo:

14 'secret' detainees going to Gitmo


WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. President Bush Wednesday announced 14 al-Qaida ringleaders including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, are being transferred to Guantanamo Bay for prosecution.

In a speech delivered in the East Room of the White House, Bush also said he is sending Congress legislation to authorize the creation of military commissions to try terror suspects for war crimes.

The action is seen as significant in light of the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that declared the administration's previous efforts at setting up tribunals unconstitutional. Kangaroo courts

Bush said Mohammed, the believed ringleader of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and 13 others were among prisoners held at secret locations in CIA custody. After questioning, the others were sent back to their native countries for prosecution.

Bush denied any of the prisoners had been abused.

"I want to be absolutely clear with our people, and the world: The United States does not torture. It's against our laws, and it's against our values. I have not authorized it -- and I will not authorize it," Bush said.

The U.S. Army earlier issued a revised field manual eliminating a secret list of prisoner interrogation techniques, reverting to Geneva Conventions policies.

The new manual bans practices that came to light in 2004 at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, where military dogs were used to frighten prisoners, inmates were kept in solitary confinement for extended time and dunk-tanks were used to simulate drowning, the report said.


Source:

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/58004.php/14-'secret'-detainees-going-to-Gitmo


I couldn’t believe this when I heard, the whole world says guantanmo should be closed even Blair and now Bush is sending more people to be imprisoned in cages in what is a legal black hole.

I was devastated because I am a member of the Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign – I now people who have been working hard since it opened in 2002 to campaign for the release of prisoners and closure of guantanamo.

After the supreme court ruling we thought it may finally be closed. Even bush said he wanted it closed but this is a massive blow.

The last prisoner was taken to guantanamo in October 2004 and now it is expanding again.

It was reported in the press the Us opened a new permanent maximum security jail at guantanamo at cost of £30 million dollars reportedly due to be opened at the end of sep 2006 and hold up to 200 detainees

There is a total absence of due process and guantanamo is in clear violation of international law – esp. with regards to the use of torture which is well documented.

Bush links everything to Al-Qaeda and that will make everything okay – well a Seton Hall study found that only 8% of those held at guantanamo could be categorized as Al-Qaeda fighters.

This is why it is even more important to fight the extradition of any British citizens to the US because there is a real possibility that people such as Babar Ahmad could end up at guantanamo. I hope this strengthens his case in fighting extradition.

Also notice how they say they were brought from secret CIA detention facilities – these are the very detention facilities that the UN and Red Cross have demanded access to - 11 are known to have been used since 9/11.

By the way now is your chance this will be all over radio stations ring in use the information here to argue the points I have raised. I rang into radio five live will be listening early tomorrow again to see they will most likely be dicussing it again. And tell your friends and familiy who may read the paper or watch the news and not get the true picture about guantanamo.

Also I thought id share I have the US English spell check on my computer and it wont recognize guantanamo but it spell checked Al- Qaeda for me how ironic…but the UK verison recognises guantanamo...

[Ackie00]

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AT GUANTANAMODoesn't surprise me at all. But don't worry, it's not a war on Islam :rolleyes:

[sami_83]

I am all in favour of your posts and your cause, and it's great to see that you are doing research, but according to your source - 60% have links with Al Quaida (40% don't), the 8% figure is those who are fighters for Al Quaida.

the exact text reads:

'Only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining
detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban.'

so if 40% have no connection with Al-Qaeda and a further 18% have no links to Al-Qaeda or the taliban then a total of 58% have no connection with Al-Qaeda leaving 48% that may have some connection with Al-Qeada or the Taliban - what consititutes a connection?

[TRUREL]

the exact text reads:

'Only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining
detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban.'

so if 40% have no connection with Al-Qaeda and a further 18% have no links to Al-Qaeda or the taliban then a total of 58% have no connection with Al-Qaeda leaving 48% that may have some connection with Al-Qeada or the Taliban - what consititutes a connection?

No, because the 18% will be a subset of the 40%.

Oh and academically, I think you meant 42% not 48%.

The "connection" bit is interesting. After all Tony Blair would not be categorised as a fighter, but if there were a Taliban version of G Bay I am fairly sure they would lock him up. So I assume some of the others are political/administrative/logistical figures or have been categorised as sympathisers (ie foreign nationals who "joined up").

However, others I assume are just people that the US/Pakistan fancied locking up because they had been classified as "fishy"/activists.

It would be nice if there were actual trials/releases so we could find out.


Anyway sterling work, as I say. :)

[sami_83]

Oh and academically, I think you meant 42% not 48%.




thanks my maths was never any good ....lol

[sami_83]

all the replies to the posts have been from males really am quite surprised becasue not much male presence in the campaigns.

[sami_83]

The UK government, after successful diplomatic exertions, managed to secure the
release of British citizens being held in Guantanamo Bay. The return of Feroz Abbasi,
Richard Belmar, Moazzam Begg, Martin Mubanga, Asif Iqbal, Jamal Al Harith, Ruhal
Ahmed, Shafiq Rasul and Tarek Dergoul prompted hopes on the part of many
international organisations, that diplomatic protestations and campaigns on behalf of
those held illegally could come to some fruition.

The legal penumbra that is Guantanamo Bay provides a difficult situation for Bisher al-
Rawi, Jamil El-Banna, Shaker Aamer, Jamal Abdullah, Ahmed Errachidi, Benyamin
Mohammed, Omar Deghayes and two others. They are all British residents in the United
Kingdom who have lived their lives here peacefully for many years as refugees. After
having escaped their home countries which tortured and abused them, they came to the
UK in order to find protection and safety.

It would seem that the UK government is only willing to act on its obligations under
international human rights law when the issue relates to its citizens alone. The
government has made it clear that it will not support any person who does not have
British citizenship. When Jack Straw was asked about the position of these refugees, he
stated,

“We can represent British citizens…[but] we cannot represent those who
choose not to seek British citizenship and make their own choices presumably
because they want to maintain the citizenship of their birth.”

The nine men are now in a legal black hole as they have no one to make any
representations on their behalf. Their countries of origin are the very places they fled in
order to find security, while the country they fled to refuse to provide them with the
protection that they deserve under the law of international human rights.

Since then one of the British resdients agreed to back to Uganda and was allowed to walk the streets as a free man on his return.


Source: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/asim3.pdf

[sami_83]

More on religion:

Applicable international standards

The right to freedom of religion or belief is protected by article 18 of ICCPR and the
1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. In its general comment No. 22, the Human
Rights Committee interprets article 18 to the effect that

“persons already subject to certain legitimate constraints, such as prisoners, continue to enjoy their rights to manifest their religion or belief to the fullest extent compatible with the specific nature of the constraint.”

A person deprived of his or her liberty cannot be deprived of his or her right to freedom or religion or belief. These standards must be applied to every person, regardless of their religion or belief, and in all detention facilities.

Article 18 (3) ICCPR provides that

“[f]reedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs
may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others."

On these limitations, the Committee

“observes that paragraph 3 of article 18 is to be strictly interpreted: restrictions are not allowed on grounds not specified there, even if they would be allowed as restrictions to other rights protected in the Covenant, such as national security.”

Moreover, under article 4 of ICCPR, the right to freedom of religion or belief may in no
circumstances be subject to derogation.

Finally, the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions oblige parties to respect the religion and religious practices of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of an armed conflict, including prisoners of war, interned persons and other types of detainees. This includes the freedom to practise one’s religion, the access to clergy, and the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion.

source: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/62chr/E.CN.4.2006.120_.pdf

[sami_83]

09/09/2006
CAGEPRISONERS
PRESS RELEASE

9th July 2006

In a desperate ploy to keep afloat Guantanamo and push legislation through Congress allowing military tribunals using information gathered under an ˜alternative set of procedures" by US personnel - the Bush Administration has tried to fob off its critics with the supposed normalisation of the status of a handful of its ˜High Value Detainees" and bringing them onto the radar of the international community.

This ˜transfer" is a brazen attempt to curtail the investigation into the reality and extent of the US ghost detainee programme. Cage Prisoners and other human rights organisations have identified dozens of detainees held in secret prisons around the world who have been disappeared by the explicit bequest of the US and CIA.

Only the ˜High Value Detainee" program has been currently suspended there is no mention of the other detainees held in alternative circumstances. While not directly in US custody, ex-detainees and those who remain in detention have exposed that countries like Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, Syria and Egypt have been detaining and torturing suspects in an attempt to extract confessions at the explicit behest of the US; thereby allowing the US to utilise the torture by proxy facilities of complicit regimes.

"we've captured and detained thousands of terrorists and enemy fighters in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and other fronts of this war on terror. Most of the enemy combatants we capture are held in Afghanistan or in Iraq, where they're questioned by our military personnel. Others remain in American custody near the battlefield, to ensure that they don't return to the fight." [President Bush, 06-09-06]

The hollow attempt at probity by the Bush Administration fails to answer where the other ghost detainees are. We call on the House of Congress, the Council of Europe and all concerned bodies to ascertain from the Bush Administration the location of the remaining ghost detainees, amongst those are 17 held at the CIA's behest:

Mustafa Setmariam Nasr
Ibn Shaykh Al Libi
Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan
Mohammad Haydar Zammar
Abu Zubair Al Haili
Aafia Siddiqui
Hasan Ghul
Yasser Al Jazeeri
Musab Aruchi
Abdul Aziz
Omar Al Faruq
Mohammed Omar Abdul Rehman
Suleiman Abdullah
Abu Nasim
Abu Faisal
Mohsen F

The disappearance of these detainees has impacted innocents also; the three children of Aafia Siddiqui still remain missing, as do the children of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the wife of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.

Statements by the CIA and President Bush highlight the fact that the US administration strongly supports the practice of secret detention still, as his mentioning of ˜High Value Detainees" does not exclude the holding of others and in all likelihood innocents being still held in unknown prisons.

The cynical move to exploit the fifth anniversary of 9/11 by the Bush Administration is a political expedience by a regime which is scurrying around trying to find a prop to distract the world from the murderous fiasco they have descended Iraq into and whose poll readings are at record lows.

The parading of these suspect ˜high level operatives" is nothing but a farce to attempt to justify why the Bush Administration abandoned all pretences at upholding the rule of law in its fight in the so-called ˜war on terror."

Source: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=12496

[sami_83]

The Government has detained numerous persons based on mere affiliations with a
large number of groups that in fact, are not on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist watchlist. Moreover, the nexus between such a detainee and such organizations varies considerably.

Eight percent are detained because they are deemed “fighters for;” 30% considered “members of;” a large majority – 60% -- are detained merely because they are “associated with” a group or groups the Government asserts are terrorist organizations. For 2% of the prisoners their nexus to any terrorist group is unidentified.

Only 5% of the detainees were captured by United States forces. 86% of the
detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States
custody.

Source : Seton hall study

[sami_83]

UK citizens uncover new Guantanamo scandals

9/22/2006 3:45:00 PM GMT

In a letter published in The Times newspaper earlier this week, a team of more than 100 medics slammed the Foreign Office for colluding in war crimes and refusing to respond to a request from the British Medical Association (BMA) to send a team of doctors to the U.S.-run detention facility in Guantanamo (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10356)Bay, Cuba, and calling for an immediate investigation into the medical needs of the detainees held there.

"Our government's excuse is that it does not wish to set a precedent to act for British residents, rather than British citizens. We find this morally repugnant," said the letter, signed by 120 medical professionals.

"It is clear that an independent scrutiny is urgently required by physicians outside the U.S. military. The silence of the Foreign Office is shameful and reflects the collusion of this country in a war crime."

Medics also criticized the Foreign Office's medical and legal panels for failing to tackle the plight of the detainees simply because they don’t have British passports.

Nine British citizens have been released from Guantanamo (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10356)jail since 2004. Another eight men, all with British residency rights, are still held there, and some are kept in solitary confinement, without being charged with any crime.

Also recently and for the first time, the extent of barbarity of Guantanamo (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10356)prison guards and the extent of torture inflicted upon British residents held there was uncovered in a series of interviews with the detainees carried out by their human rights lawyers, according to UK’s The Independent.

In some cases detainees are strapped to a chair and beaten and tortured till death, according to documents submitted to the American courts.

Among other inhuman methods used at Guantanamo (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10356)as reported by The Independent is subjecting detainees to extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation and the confiscation of the most basic necessities, like lavatory paper and blankets.

Among torture cases was that of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national who used to live in London with his family until he got arrested four years ago.

Aamer said that last year he was beaten and tortured by Guantanamo (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10356)guards simply because he failed to provide a retina scan and fingerprints to the camp authorities.

According to the habeas corpus motion filed in the court of the District of Columbia, "The MPs [military police] inflicted so much pain; Mr Aamer said he thought he was going to die. The MPs pressed on pressure points all over his body: his temples, just under his jaw line, in the hollow beneath his ears. They choked him. They bent his nose so hard he thought it would break.

"They pinched his thighs and feet constantly. They gouged his eyes. They held his eyes open and shined a Maglite [torch] in them for minutes on end, generating intense heat. They bent his fingers until he screamed. When he screamed, they cut off his airway, and then put a mask on him so he could not cry out."

Aamer, who was used as a negotiator on behalf of the prisoners during recent incidents of detainees’ hunger strikes, was later sent to solitary confinement.

Lawyers from the human rights charity Reprieve visited Aamer who complained that he had not seen the sun for 79 days and was cut off from any contact with the outside world.

"At any moment, they can strip you naked. They will put your head in the toilet in the name of security. It is all about humiliation. They are trying to break me," Aamer told the lawyers.

In another detention centre known as Camp V, another British resident named Bisher al-Rawi, is being held in solitary confinement.

Among torture methods used against Al- Rawi was the use of extreme temperatures in the cells. Sometimes the guards let the temperatures reach 100 degrees in the morning and at night take away his sheet and use the air conditioning system to create freezing conditions.

Reprieve, the British based human rights charity representing Al Rawi and other British residents described their detention as a gross breach of international law and an infringement of the Geneva Conventions (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10290).

None of those British men held at Guantánamo has been independently examined, according to Amnesty International, which also stated that Omar Deghayes, one of the British residents held there, is believed to have been blinded in one eye by guards at the camp.

"It's shameful that in four and half years the government has not insisted on independent medical examinations for long-term residents of the UK held in the black hole of Guantánamo,” said Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK.

"These men - some of whom are refugees that the UK has acknowledged to be vulnerable people - have essentially been left to rot in Guantánamo's cells. They're Guantánamo's forgotten prisoners."

The Pentagon has repeatedly claimed the absence of "credible evidence" physicians took part in derogatory and "inhumane treatment of detainees". However it admits that "behavioral science consultants" helped investigators exploit prisoners' weaknesses.

A Foreign Office spokesman had been quoted as saying that its policy doesn’t include providing non-British nationals with consular assistance or diplomatic protection, although it made an exception in the case of Al- Rawi.

Foreign secretary, Jack Straw, sent the U.S. Secretary of Sate Condoleezza Rice last April, asking the American government to release Al-Rawi, since he had provided assistance to the British intelligence agency MI5 and agreed to work for them in exchange for his release, according to a U.S. lawyer, George Brent Mickum IV.

About 460 detainees and what the Bush (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=%2010215) administration calls “terror suspects” are held at the U.S.-run Guantánamo jail, most of them without charges being filed against them, according to Amnesty International.

Source:

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_ID=11973

[sami_83]

check out this article on renditions you can watch a video too:

Outlawed - Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the 'War on Terror

at:

http://www.witness.org/index.php?option=com_rightsalert&Itemid=178&task=view&alert_id=49

[siddy_06]

*brings thread back to life*

[Nour]

It is like the usual with America, invade, shoot, bomb,kill, torture, burn, destroy, imprison....ask questions later!. No evil doer will ever get away with it. Bush, Blair and chums will have their day of reconing, wether here and now, or later which will be even worse for them. People don't realise that, this is another form of opression.
They can claim to be civilised! They can say that to the Nazis, Apartheid and shaytan.

[sami_83]

GUANTANAMO BAY
FIVE YEARS ON: WHEN WILL IT END?

January 11th 2002 was the day that the first prisoner arrived for indefinite incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, the American naval base situated in Cuba. Since then a total of 759 prisoners have been illegally detained there by the United States. (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn1) Five years on and at least 460 prisoners including at least 8 British residents still remain languishing in what has been described by Amnesty International as “the gulag of our times.” (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn2)

The Untied States have defied all calls by the United Nations (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn3), Non- Governmental bodies as well Human Rights organisations (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn4) to close the prison camp. A month after George Bush declared he would “like to empty” Guantanamo the Pentagon announced a new maximum-security prison; camp 6 would be built at the site to hold around 200 detainees. (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn5) The expansion of the naval base makes a mockery of Bush’s statement and confirms that the US has no intention of closing Guantanamo.

To continue to detain these men in clear violation of international law the Bush administration has made erroneous claims linking detainees with Al- Qaeda and the Taliban. The US vice-president Dick Cheney described those detained at Guantanamo as, "the worst of a very bad lot" devoted to "killing millions of Americans." (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn6) However, no evidence has been presented to substantiate these very serious allegations. This begs the question if any evidence exists, why have none these men been brought before a court of law to face criminal charges? In fact only 10 of the detainees have been formally charged with any offences.

Edmund McWilliams a Retired Senior US Foreign Service Officer notes, “The 20th century is replete with instances in which governments have sought to demonize or deny the humanity of individuals and peoples in order to justify their inhumane treatment by those governments.” (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn7)
(http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn7)
(http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn7)
[/URL]The Bush administration has attempted to justify their failure to adhere to intentional law by claiming these men pose a grave and serious threat to the security of the United States. Under the guise of security they continue to erode basic fundamental human rights, and continue to mistreat, torture and abuse detainees. Thus it is hoped that by dispelling some of the myths surrounding Guantanamo people can be better informed.



Myth 1: All those detained at Guantanamo Bay are highly trained and skilled, terrorists

With statements such as those made by Dick Cheney it is hardly surprising that this is the public perception of those detained at Guantanamo. So who are “the worst of the worst?”

Among them are men like Mohammed Hagi Fiz, an Afghani man who was released in November 2002 after spending eight months at Guantanamo. The American intelligence analysts estimate he was approximately 72 years old. Reports after his release suggest the old man was bordering on senile and The New York Times reported he was "Babbling at times like a child, the partially deaf, shriveled old man was unable to answer simple questions." So how much of threat did he pose to US security?


Another of the so called ‘hardcore terrorist’ was Haji Nasrat Khan aged 79 years. The Afghan can barely walk even with the aid of a walking frame; he has poor eyesight and poor hearing. Yet this elderly man was deemed to be so dangerous to US security that he was imprisoned for three and a half years before being released in August 2006.

The US authorities have also revealed that children as young as 13 were among those detained at Guantanamo. It is estimated that around 60 detainees were boys under the age of 18 when they were detained. General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff comments,

"Despite their age, these are very dangerous people. They may be juveniles, but they're not on a little-league team..., they're on a major league team, and it's a terrorist team." (25 April 2003).[URL="http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn8"] (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn7)

In 2004 three children were released from Guantanamo aged between 13 and 15. At least 10 detainees still detained were 14 or 15 when they were seized. With the exception of those released in 2004 the others have been detained along side adult detainees in violation of intentional law which requires special protections for those under the age of 18 years old in detention. All those who were detained as children are now over 18 years old however this does not alter the fact that their earlier treatment violated international principles on the treatment of children.

Few of the men sent to Guantanamo are the high-ranking al Qaeda or Taliban members the US government alleges them to be. A report by Mark Denbeaux, Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law found that 55% of the detainees at Guantanamo have not committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies and only 8% of those detained at Guantanamo could be characterised as al Qaeda fighters. (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn9) The report is based entirely on the analysis of Department of Defense Data.

(http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftnref1)
still finishing it off....and the pictures havent come up of the old men they detained...

[sami_83]

Myth 2: Those Detained at Guantanamo were caught on the battlefield fighting American troops and their allies.




Repeated statements have been made by heads of the Bush administration asserting that those at Guantanamo were captured on the battlefield. When referring to those detained at Guantanamo Bush asserts that these are not “bystanders accidentally swept up on the battlefield.” (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn1) However, in his report Professor Mark Denbeaux, found only 5% of the detainees were capture by United States forces.

So when Senator Lindsey Graham states, “These are people caught on the battlefield as the Nazis were caught on the battlefield,” (http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftn2)who is he referring to? 86% of detainees were handed over by either the Northern Alliance or by the Pakistani government at a time were large bounties were been offered by the United States for the capture of so called ‘terrorists’. These bounties equated to 20 years salary for some Pakistanis and encouraged false arrests resulting in many innocent people being embroiled and sent to Guantanamo.

Many of those detained were not picked up on or anywhere near the battlefield. Detainees were taken into custody from 14 different countries, including Gambia, Bosnia, and Thailand. Martin Mubanga was arrested in Zambia before been detained at Gunatanamo for over three years only to be released without charge in 2005. Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil al- Banna were seized in Gambia in 2002 and still remain at Guantanamo. So what constitutes a battlefield? Americas definition of a battlefield seems to be rather broad encompassing anywhere in the world.

As Human Rights Watch commented, "According to several sources, ranging from interviews with former detainees to press reports citing U.S. officials in Afghanistan, as many as several dozen detainees sent to Guantánamo were simply farmers, taxi drivers, and laborers with no meaningful ties to the Taliban or al-Qaeda--not the enemy combatants the Bush Administration claimed."

(http://forum.mpacuk.org/#_ftnref1)