Guantanamo Detainee Claims Abuse (Under President Obama)

[tekisui]

Source: Al Jazeera

An inmate in the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has told Al Jazeera that he has been beaten while in custody and had tear gas used on him after refusing to leave his cell.

Mohammad al-Qurani, a Chadian national, said in a phone call to Al Jazeera that the alleged ill-treatment "started about 20 days" before Barack Obama became US president and "since then I've been subjected to it almost every day".

"Since Obama took charge he has not shown us that anything will change," he said.

(snip)

Al-Hajj said that while the US did have a new administration, "there has been no change in the administration of Guantanamo".

"The people managing the detainees there haven't changed yet. These are the same people who were there during the Bush years and so they use the same methods," al-Hajj said.

Describing a specific incident, which took place after change in the US administration, al-Qurani said he had refused to leave his cell because they were "not granting me my rights", such as being able to walk around, interact with other inmates and have "normal food".

A group of six soldiers wearing protective gear and helmets entered his cell, accompanied by one soldier carrying a camera and one with tear gas, he said.

"They had a thick rubber or plastic baton they beat me with. They emptied out about two canisters of tear gas on me," he told Al Jazeera.

"After I stopped talking, and tears were flowing from my eyes, I could hardly see or breathe.

"They then beat me again to the ground, one of them held my head and beat it against the ground. I started screaming to his senior 'see what he's doing, see what he's doing' his senior started laughing and said 'he's doing his job'.

"He broke one of my front teeth. Of course they didn't film the blood, they filmed my back so it doesn't show."

more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/04/2009414233431153300.html

[tekisui]

1. kick

[ForrestGump]

2. At least they didn't do as they have to others, and dangle him from the ceiling via wrist restraints

Because we've had quite enough hanging Chads in our recent history.



On a more serious note -- well, a note that is at all serious, 'cos that other one admittedly wasn't -- I think that changing the guard at Gitmo, like today, would be a jolly good idea. This country didn't need the stain of those internments and abuses at all but we sure as hell don't need to prolong them one hour further, and to gain any kind of meaningful closure on this sad chapter in the history of the Reich Homeland we need to investigate the hell out of what went on there and hold accountable all of those involved at every level of the power structure. Dreams are free...