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Week 9 - Guantanamo Bay

3/3/2016

38 Comments

 
The Guantanamo Bay detention center is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base,. This military prison is also referred to as Guantánamo Bay or GTMO (pronounced 'gitmo'), which is located in Cuba. In January 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the prison camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting and to address cases for war criminals. Since then there have been hundreds of people detained at GTMO without trial and without representation.

In 2008 there was an argument made that the people held in captivity within Guantánamo Bay  did not have legal rights within the United States so the treatment of them did not have to be deemed Constitutional. Meaning they did not have rights to habeas corpus. Luckily in 2008 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the individuals held within the military prison and declared it legal for inmate within the prison to apply for habeas corpus
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For your blog post this week - answer the following prompts.

1) Do research online and find a case of a person who has or is detained at the military prison. Explain their case based on the information you can find online and from other sources.
2) Do you believe that people incarcerated in this military prison should be freed? Why or why not?

3) Do you believe that the detainment of these people is just? Why or why not? How should the United States address potential terrorist threats? Is the military prison an actual deterrent to violent terrorism? Why or why not?


FOR YOUR INFORMATION - THE VIDEO BELOW IS OF MOS DEF (HIP HOP ARTIST) WHO WAS IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE DETAINEES WHO WERE ON HUNGER STRIKE. HE WANTED TO SHOW PEOPLE WHAT THE FORCE FEEDING PROCEDURE LOOKED LIKE IN CIVIL CONDITIONS.
Original Posts 250 words (minimum). Respond to three other students 50 words (minimum). Original post due Thursday @ midnight. Responses (3) due Sunday @ midnight.
38 Comments
Megan Fernandez
3/4/2016 04:30:38 pm

Shaker Aamer was the last British detainee released from Guantanamo Bay. He returned home to the UK and was able to see his wife and children. Shaker’s lawyer, Cori Crider (an American attorney) explained that Shaker was detained not specifically for anything that he did, but for things that he witnessed while at the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan by both UK and US forces. Shaker was tortured. He experienced extreme temperature, sleep deprivation, and was placed in stress positions. Shaker was held for 13 years without a trial. Shaker, like other reprieves, were deemed acceptable for release two years ago, but was not released until four months ago. Looking at the list Prof. Crain provided, of the 91 prisoners that remain, some are also deemed worthy of release. Shaker’s case is an example of one of the reasons why so many, including current President Obama, believe gitmo should be closed, because it is unrepresentative of the American justice system.

I do not believe that all the the prisoners detained at Guantanamo should freed. That would be an inappropriate response. Each case must be evaluated individually. Unfortunately, due to the fact that these prisoners are on Cuban territory, have been unable to seek representation in court, despite the fact that the US Supreme Court has ruled that rules of habeas corpus apply to the GTMO detainees. Of the detainees that have been released, it is reported that 117 detainees have returned to terrorist activities. One blog (thegatewaypundit) reports a confirmed recidivism rate of 18% and and confirmed-suspected recidivism rate of 30% in a post from February 23rd. The detainment of the Guantanamo prisoners is not just, but the issue itself is a tricky issue. It is not simply resolved by shutting down the military prison. Congressional legislation prevents the United States from constructing a new facility to house the remaining 91 detainees. Though many are against it, I believe the resistance is only symbolic, I believe that the few detainees who should remain imprisoned can be accommodated at military prisons in the US. One of the terrorists from the initial 9/11 attacks is in fact in a military prison on US soil. Not all of the detainees can be returned to their home country, nor are all of them “innocent.” Though, I disapprove of the US detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay because it fundamentally goes against the widely held American belief that one is innocent until proven guilty. For good reason, some of the detainees are bonafide terrorists, but they deserve to be and need to be tried in court.

In numerous cases, the prison itself has been cited as a reason for continued terrorist activity, and as Obama mentioned in his statement this morning has caused great harm in American foreign relations. Thus, it is NOT a deterrent to violent terrorism. (this is speaking in terms of the prison itself, not necessarily the hundred plus released detainees that have resumed terrorist activities). Regardless of how the next president and the United States chooses to address potential terrorist threats in the coming years, continuing to keep GTMO is a regression in any effort to halt these activities.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 04:08:45 pm

Hello Megan,
Your response brought up a lot of questions for me. For example, in the American prison system, the recidivism rate is also quite high, but does that mean that we should never let people out of prison once they get there? Put in another way, would "terrorism rehabilitation" be a better alternative than prison and torture? Also, is it due to being tortured at the hands of a government that would turn someone to vow revenge against said government? I think these are all important questions that have no easy answers but you nonetheless prompted through your response.

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Gabriel Alcantara
3/13/2016 11:48:23 pm

I feel sorry for people like Shaker, who did nothing but still went through such suffering. IF there is a reason to destroy that place, is so that people like him wouldnt have to go through such horrific scenarios again.

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Madalyn Hart
3/13/2016 11:53:37 pm

I really liked what you had to say in regards to evaluating each and every case. I also liked how you brought up the high rate of prisoners going back to terrorist activity upon release from GTMO. Its something that really cements that they should not be releasing all of them for the sake of it.

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Abhisheak Sharma
3/4/2016 11:21:34 pm

Shaker Aamer, a normal person like everyone else. He was born in Saudi Arabia, then later moved to the United States and worked as a translator for the American army during Gulf War. Later he moved to London where he met his wife and decided to moved back to Afghanistan. In Afghanistan he was turned into the US military because of the suspicion of helping Al Qaida. Aamer was supposedly linked to Bin Laden as his close associate who was helping Bin Laden with his plans. He was shipped to Guantanamo Bay in 2002 and was detained there for 13 years without charge. He was allowed to be released in 2007 but was kept in till 2015. His stay in the prison was disrespectful and unjustified. Many times he was beaten, torched and foodless for days was the conditions he was put under for 13 years.
I believe the people in this camp should be free. If there is no clear cut evidence about them breaking a law, then they should not be kept. A lot of people in this camp who were imprisoned were treated with mishandle. I think if there is some certain evidence towards a person then take him to a jail in the United States. Not off of the US grounds were anything that happens in Guantanamo bay, people of US don’t even know what normal humans are being put through.
I don’t believe that detainment of people was justice. The things they were put through was just not humanly right. I think United States could use legal ways to question the people who they might have suspicions on. I think military prison just make things worse. It creates hate towards the US within the people who are innocent and get mistreated in these camps. So instead of these camps helping the US it actually harms the image of the US in the world.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 04:15:20 pm

Hello Abhisheak,
I agree with you: the infinite detainment of people without formal charges is unjust and against the underlying judicial philosophy of the United States. In addition, the unjust detainment of people from other countries has bred and festered additional animosity toward the United States and its actions overseas. Guantanamo Bay breaks rather than builds trust with other nations and peoples.

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Anteo Swenson
3/10/2016 08:04:20 pm

I agree that torture procedures and this prison is simply inhumane. However, there's a certain point that has to be considered. The detainment of these prisoners is based on a possibility that they might cause major harm, or to prevent amor harm. I'm not justifying the torture, only their detainment. And yes, there might be many (although I don't know) that were detained unfairly and under no apparent charge. Guantanamo Bay is in fact something that is tied to the US' image. This publicly known place where torture is internationally accepted.

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Gabriel Alcantara
3/14/2016 12:07:58 am

To think that someone was arrested and imprisoned in such a hellish place is insane. It shows that GTMO is by no means being used for what it should be. If danger-free people are still suffering through all the horrors, imagine what could happen if someone like trump becomes president, all immigrants are gonna join GTMO

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wenli zhou
3/20/2016 03:13:15 pm

Hi Abhisheak, thank you for sharing this case with us. I strongly agree that these prisoners should be freed. Barack Obama pledged to close Guantánamo, both before and after he became president. But like most promises made by politicians, and especially presidential candidates, it never came to pass. What we should do is to continue send pressure to the government.

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Mark De Martini
3/6/2016 04:30:16 pm

Ahmed Umar Abdullah al Hikimi is detained at Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray in Cuba. The driver and body guard to Osama Bin Laden, al Hikimi will spend 16 years in captivity this March. He was captured in 2001 fleeing the Tora Bra Mountains into Pakistan. al Hikimi's docket reads like a poster boy for someone who should be locked up in such a detention facility. al Hikimi is a hard resister. He refuses to cooperate with guards and interrogators. His membership to Bin Laden's Al Qaeda 55th Arab Brigade was confirmed and substantiated by his peers. in 2010 al Hikimi was recommended for transfer to Yemen if certain conditions were met. He is still detained. Camp X-Ray was created to detain high threat enemy combatants who were captured during the war on terror. There were few places suitable to detain the large numbers of foreign fighters scooped up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention those caught on the streets by counter terrorism units. Camp X-Ray served a purpose but the question of how long the detained should be kept, nd under what form of justice they be tried is still uncertain. It is legally impossible to try most of the detained in the U.S. legal system. The collection of evidence isn't under the same standard, nor are the crimes remotely similar to any felony case. The detainees are classified as enemy combatants and should stand a military tribunal. The Obama Administration attempted to try the detainees under the U.S. federal justice system and failed. Not for trying, but because the legal and threat based realities couldn't reconcile with the political intent. The detainees are unique because they operate as in terrorist organizations non-state actors and are a high threat to civilized nations. A willing member of a support cell can be just as dangerous and guilty as the terrorist detonating the bomb. Still, I believe these men should have stood trial for whatever crime they were accused. Currently, the Administration is freeing many of the detainees by placing them in the custody of countries willing to take them. In my opinion I don't think releasing all the detainees is going to make much difference. They are spent as useful intelligence assets, and many of them are now past the military age of service. I hope they return to a peaceful life with time served for making really poor, or unlucky choices. If the detainees return to terrorism so be it. They can be killed in a drone strike, or find their end by some other violent means. Camp X-Ray can stand to be closed down if empty, but similar facility will be required if another war on terror results in the capture of several hard core terrorists. The next time around I hope reasonable procedures will be put in place to guarantee captives receive justice in a realistic period of time. Camp X-Ray was never intended to be a deterrent. Terrorists are too dedicated to the cause to be dissuaded by prison. Most are willing to die for the cause, so the Camp in terms of caring about it, is meaningless to them.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 04:24:51 pm

Hello Mark,
I agree with most of your response, but one comment gave voice to my rising concerns and made me pause. When you mentioned that if they return to terrorism then they would die in a drone strike, I thought "what is the difference between detaining someone for an indefinite amount of time and killing someone without a fair trial? In both situations, the legal system has been circumvented. How can the government be held accountable for providing the burden of proof that the victim of a drone strike was indeed a terrorist? These are very gray area questions that need to be addressed in an era of drone strikes and their civilian casualties.

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Mark De Martini
3/11/2016 10:00:58 pm

Michael,
I apologize for sounding so cavalier about drone strikes. Truth be told I am no real fan of drones because drones take the "human" element out of war. It's just that drones seem to be this Administration's favorite weapon of choice (a drone strike was used just last week and missed the primary target). Drones don't discriminate who they kill when that Hellfire missile is launched. Machines can't make decisions (when they can we're finished). Because soldiers are not at risk, politicians are much more likely to use drones as a military solution. I don't like them at all and I see them as a threat to humanity.

I am not a fan of terrorists either. They picked their poison. When freed if they return to the battle field (some have) then they are fair game. These men are cold blooded killers, and if caught taking up arms against the innocent they should meet their end. The burden of proof is transparent when the suspect is back in Afghanistan with a rifle in his hands. I think Osama Bin Laden got the end he deserved without a fair trial. If a former terrorist returns to a peaceful life after Camp X-Ray good on him. I wish him a long and happy life (I sincerely mean that). Additionally, I do not support torture and believe quality intelligence cannot be extracted by those means. A person under duress and pain will say anything to make the pain stop. Torture is crude, barbaric and counterproductive. As Americans we should be appalled at such techniques and never except any excuse for it.

wenli zhou
3/20/2016 03:20:57 pm

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing this case in such detail.I learned a lot from your post. I also hope that the next time there will have reasonable procedures for guarantee captives receive justice in a realistic period of time.

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Mary Rasooli
3/25/2016 08:26:12 am

Thank You for sharing this specific case, I found it to be very interesting. I also agree with what you stated about how trying the members in the system is a complex and difficult task. Additionally I agree that these men should have a fair trial regardless as they are human and we have seen innocent men go in and stay there while their lives waste away.

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wenli zhou
3/7/2016 01:22:15 am

Yusef Abbas is one of the 15 Chinese Uighurs that being held at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay. They were suspected to be related with Taliban regime at first. In late 2003, United States Department of Defense identified that they were not terrorist and authorized release. the non- horror elements by the US Department of Defense. Because of their political background ,
the Bush administration decided not to repatriate them to China worried that they will put in prison as a political criminal. However, the U.S government still couldn't find a country accept them as a political refugee. The United States has come into contact with, including Sweden, Finland and Switzerland , more than 10 the number of countries to accept them, but was refused. Yusef Abbas still being detained so far.
A military prison is operated by military to keep war criminals. I think it is necessary to have military prison because it has different procedures which is more efficient than civilian prison. I don’t think all the prisoners should be free because some of them might involved in terror attack before. But cases like Yusef Abbas’s one, should be should be freed because keeping him in prison will violate human rights.

I don’t believe that the detainment of these people is justice. Judges and investigator often make mistake and arrest a good person. Put these people in prison for any reason will violate their human rights and even traumatized them.
I don’t think military prison is an actual deterrent to violent terrorism. It do have impact on some aspects of crouse. For example, it might make people to think twice before get involved. But once someone stepped in, and want to become a suicide bomber, being put in jailed is the last thing that would stop them.

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Thu-Thao Ho
3/8/2016 09:55:06 am

It is interesting how the United States uses imprisonment as a way of obtaining "justice". The US should not detain people because of their beliefs or where they came from. People who care causing harm should be kept locked away in prisons, but we must bear in mind that these war camps have innocent people who are thrown into harsh conditions. Men, women, children, the elderly can all be placed into war camps. Most do not even know why they are being placed into these camps because they have never done anything incriminating.

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Abhisheak Sharma
3/9/2016 09:06:27 pm

Hey Wenil,
I agree that head members make mistakes by judging that a person is involved in terrorism. There rights get violated because the camp in not on US grounds. They might be right with some but some of the detain are in there based on no clear evidence.

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Anteo Swenson
3/10/2016 08:11:30 pm

It's a very interesting case you shared, thanks for that. Now, I think you agreed to the procedures done in a military prison, since you said that they can do things that can't in a civilian one. So you agree with the torture that's taken place there? I do understand that it is for the wellbeing of the majority, but it's all based in possible situations, right?
Also, I think that any person that is put into prison and is put through such procedures, regardless if they're a "good" or a "bad" person, would have their human rights violated and would be traumatized for life.
Finally, I agree that the existence of this prison is not a deterrent for the goals of such terrorist groups, you exemplified splendidly on this.

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Gabriel Alcantara
3/13/2016 11:52:16 pm

What is missing from Guantanamo Bay is regulation and transparity. We do not know what goes on in there, why they are in there, who put them in there, any of those things, we only know what the media tells us, which is a problem that eventually leads people who did not deserve to be tortured to live through such hell.

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Thu-Thao Ho
3/8/2016 09:48:40 am

Shaker Aamar was an Afghanistan man who was detained for nearly 13 years in Guantanao Bay. Though he was given the right to leave in the year of 2007, it took nearly another eight years before he could physically leave imprisonment. There, he was brutally tortured, starved, and lived under harsh conditions.
If it is so tha under a democracy "All are innocent until proven guilty", why is it that innocent civillians are held captive on the basis that they come from middle eastern background? Aamar is an innocent man who originally worked as a translator for the United States, and when he came back to his home in Afghanistan he was detained on the suspicion that he had ties to Al Queda. There is no justice in detaining a person because of their background. People should be given the right to stand trial when they are accused, a privledge that people like Aamar who were put into Guantanamo Bay did not have.
Terrorists are loyalists to their beliefs. They are obsessed on the quest to use their acts as means of gaining enlightment, and possibilities of a new life. What terrorists are drawn to are desires for gain. Guantanamo Bay is a prison where peopl are being kept for unjustified reasoning, there is nothing for them to gain.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 03:58:08 pm

Badr Zaman Badr and his brother were detained in Guantanamo Bay for three years. They ran a political satire magazine in Pakistan, and they published a piece that offended a high ranking official. In retribution, this official contacted authorities to inform them that Badr Zaman Badr and his brother had links to Al-Qaeda. The two were apprehended in their apartment and detained in Guantanamo Bay. In particular, there was one piece in their magazine that poked fun of Bill Clinton. Over three years, Badr Zaman Badr was interrogated over 150 times in reference to the piece of political satire on Bill Clinton. After three years of explaining the joke to American authorities, they were set free. I do not believe that the detainment of these people is just because if they apprehend the wrong person, as was the case for Badr Zaman Badr, then even the most innocent person will have no recourse to fair representation, protection from torture, or a speedy trial. Personally, terrorist threats should be handled the same as regular threats, and terrorist combatants should be treated as regular combatants. Just because someone is labeled a terrorist, it does not mean that Americans can circumvent the law when it comes to their treatment. In my limited opinion, Guantanamo Bay is not an actual deterrent to violent terrorism because it actually feeds into the terrorist narrative of the United States as an enemy to Muslims and the Middle East. If the United States does not treat people from the Middle East as equals, then it feeds the flames that America perceives itself as superior to people in the region.

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Anteo Swenson
3/10/2016 08:18:31 pm

I really liked your case, thanks for sharing. It is the perfect example of an over reaction and the unjust apprehension of suspects by the American government. Ever since the 9/11 attack, such paranoia has become a standard sentiment among the US' foreign affairs. I agree that terrorist threats should be handled as regular ones, that's a great point. Also, I like your conclusion to your post, such military detention camps are not a deterrent to the goals of the terrorist groups. It is true that the existence and the detention of predominantly Middle Easterns is affecting, or enforcing the image the US may have in some places.

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Madalyn Hart
3/14/2016 12:03:10 am

I agree and like what you said about GTMO fueling the flames of hate towards the United States. Im curious on how you think they should try to get away from this?

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Mary Rasooli
3/25/2016 08:28:14 am

Hi Michael, I like what you said here, "If the United States does not treat people from the Middle East as equals, then it feeds the flames that America perceives itself as superior to people in the region." I agree and believe that overall GTMO should not be operating the way it is and we are not approaching the issue of terror the way we should.

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Anteo Swenson
3/10/2016 07:49:32 pm

Mohammed al-Qahtani is a Saudi citizen who has been detained since June 2002 in Guantanamo Bay. He travelled to the United States a few months before the 9/11 attack, but was returned to Saudi Arabia for suspicion of immigrading illegally. He was then captured in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, where he was sent to Guantanamo Bay immediately. He was suspected to be the 20th highjacker from the terrorist attack. He was interrogated and put through a variety of "interrogation procedures". It was strongly suspected that he had vital information about al-Qaeda, and was put through torture just like many other prisoners. He was charged on numerous counts, but throughout the years such charges were dropped and then reenforced again and again. His case is particular because this was the first time an official of the Bush administration had admitted any torture of detainees at Guantanamo. In 2009, Susan Crawford from the department of defense had admitted a variety of torture procedures that were used over this individual. Also, The Time magazine published an article in 2006 where a secret log is exposed. It consisted of 49 days of the 20-hour-per-day interrogation of Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay detention camp from late November 2002 to early January 2003.

I don't think the question is if the people should be freed or not. I think the main issue is whether the torture procedures should continue or not. However, I find it hypocritical that the US has prisoners from a different country and puts them through trial, sometimes even without an attorney. I understand that they're terrorist and some were planning to do major harm; and this perhaps would be a reason why they should not be freed. But the torture procedures may not always be necessary. The detainment of these people is justified, since they were planning to do harm. But, in the US, aren't you innocent until proven guilty? Some of these prisoners didn't actually do anything. I do not know every case and can't generalize, but if I had to, I believe their detention is justified. However, not the torture they go through. The United States has actually gotten a lot of information about the terrorist groups through some of these prisoners, but there has to be a more tactical and less archaic approach to this. Torture in this situations is a moral dilemma because it seems that the harm of a few justifies the wellbeing of the many, which may be true. But how much harm would they actually do? and how much harm would the US do by intervening where the information of the suspect led them? Such information is not possible to obtain until it occurs. The justification of torture in this cases is based on assumptions. It's sad that the pain a individual goes through is based on assumption and possible scenarios. Nevertheless, I don't believe that Guantanamo Bay has been a deterrent to violent terrorist attacks. The ideals by which their guided do not seem to be blinded by possible physical pain, or even death. This prison is an primitive way for the American government of obtaining information. One that is well known and (unfortunately) accepted around the globe. However, sadly, torture and morbid interrogation procedures are not particular of Guantanamo Bay, nor of the United States.

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Mark Demaritni
3/12/2016 10:30:44 am

Anteo,
I agree with all your points on incarceration and torture. I think America really discredited itself when it used torture as a means to extract information. I believe waterboarding was the harshest means utilized. Whenever physical means are used to enhance interrogation the quality of information becomes questionable. You point that out well in your blog. There are other means of interrogation that are highly effective, but in many instances takes a great deal of time. I think the war created an environment where patience wasn't valued. When I am unsure of the morality, or the policy of today's wars I use the WWII test. With the exception of interning Japanese American civilians in concentration camps, the prosecution of the war made sense and was moral. In WWII America didn't torture prisoners. When German spies were captured on U.S. soil they were interrogated, tried by military tribunal and executed in short order. Terrorists, pirates and spies share similar Geneva codes dictating their legal treatment as an excepted international standard. It is surprising and perhaps humane that the most hardened terrorists at Camp X-Ray have not been executed. There is always a possibility of incarcerating innocent people at Camp X-Ray but the standard required for acceptance is very high. It wouldn't take long for an inmate to be proven innocent in fairly short order. Any trained interrogator can quickly surmise that the person they are talking to has no connections to nefarious activities. The claim of innocence against trained interrogation over several years doesn't square. This doesn't pass the smell test when I read about all these "innocent" people that were unfairly interned at Camp X-Ray. Common sense would dictate that the extreme attention these inmates have would give rise to the truth in fairly short order.

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Mary Rasooli
3/25/2016 08:30:10 am

Anteo, thank you for your thoughts. I very much agree with the idea that the US has truly overstepped the line as well as done some hypocritical things to gain intelligence from these detainees. It is absolutely disgusting that we would resort to the torture of human beings, in addition to not providing a fair trial.

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Christian Trinidad
3/10/2016 11:17:00 pm

Mohammed Kamin is a native of Afghanistan who has been held at Guantanamo bay for over 11 years on war crimes. He is still being held and has been denied transfer. He is tied to Al-qada, the Taliban, and other extremist groups. His crimes include weapons trafficking and planning attacks against the United Sates. According to a statement released from his review hearing Kamin has been helpful and cooperative in efforts to weed out terrorist organizations and states “ i am human we all make mistakes”.

I am not sure how i feel about military prisons i would assume that the people locked up would be there for a good reason. Now i know that is most likely not the case i dont think they should be freed if the present a real threat to anyone not just the United States. Im sure just like in the In the United States there are people that are wrongly incarcerated but i think the biggest problem is the treatment of the inmates, from force feeding to water boarding that has to be against the Geneva convention. If they are freed where will they go most are afraid to return home for fear being killed for talking to the US government. So then do we have to place them in safe areas? This president has said from the beginning of his presidency that he would close Gitbay yet it is still open because in my opinion closing would cause a lot of problems as well because so many people are oposed to it

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Megan Fernandez
3/12/2016 01:33:11 pm

Hi Christian:

Closing Gitmo would result in the necessitating where to place the inmates. I believe that is the main problem. Such a problem in my opinion is not too complex to resolve. With all attempts, they will be returned to their home country, but in the case that their home countries are unable to receive them, military prisons in the United States should be capable of keeping them. I agree and believe that only those who pose a threat to continuing terrorist practices should be incarcerated. Others should be evaluated and released.

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Christian Trinidad
3/13/2016 10:21:09 pm

Hi megan

Thank you for your response, im not sure that moving them to a different prison will be just as easy as that. There is a lot of opposition moving them on to US soil and i don't think it will ever happen. Taking them to other prisons could present the same problems.

Madalyn Hart
3/14/2016 12:01:06 am

I agree that not all prisoners should be released for the protection of others. I also agree that they shouldn't be treated as badly as they are, however considering the horrible things some of them have done to other innocent human beings it makes it kind of hard to say that they should be treated absolutely perfectly. However having said this I don't believe torture should ever be allowed.

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Gabriel Alcantara
3/10/2016 11:30:37 pm

Sadik Ahmad Turkistani is an ethnic Uyghur born and raised in Taif, Saudi Arabia and an opponent of the Taliban. He was once arrested by the taliban, however later on he was freed from them once the Taliban was overthrown. Once freed, he was captured by the americans. Once he was deemed “innocent” by the CSRT, he was sent to Saudi Arabia. Many people who are detained like was are tortured and go through horrific situations. Although conditions are poor and actions inside GTMO are are inhumane, I do believe that it is a necessary establishment if used correctly. Keeping dangerous people locked up , in my opinion, is necessary in order to make us feel safer. Although it sounds wrong to have people locked up for our own personal gain, if the right people are locked up, it can help us walk forward towards a safer future. Of course the GTMO would not be necessary if we lived in a world where education was priority and equal opportunity was natural. However, different beliefs, lack of education, and lack of opportunities lead many people to lead towards a path of no return, which is why a place like GTMO is necessary. There is still a long way to go in order to make GTMO a truly functional prison. People like Sadik who are eventually deemed innocent or not an enemy combatant still go through all the tortures and misfortunes inside the prison. If we can correct those mistakes, GTMO would be an incredible tool in order to walk us towards pseudo peace.

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Megan Fernandez
3/12/2016 01:45:02 pm

Hi Gabriel,

I agree. I believe that it is intolerable that innocent prisoners at Guantanamo were subject to toruture. Worse yet, that none had a right to trial by jury or counsel and that they were imprisoned without habeas corpus. It undermines the fundamental basis of our justice system. And, I agree that the necessity and what GTMO represents today is a result of a far larger problem that could have been mitigated in a world where equal rights to education and equal opportunity were granted. However, regarding GTMO, I believe that the United States despite our “rights” to be there, the United States’ presence there is unwarranted and the base should be returned to Cuban government. The United States must address what to do with the remaining prisoners, and if necessary, try them in court, evaluate their threat of terrorism, imprison them at a military prison located in the United States or in their home country or release them. These prisoners have a right not to have their lives hung in limbo and subject to torture.

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Madalyn Hart
3/11/2016 12:00:25 am

A prisoner being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is Abdul Bagi from Afghanistan. Back in Afghanistan he was a cow herder. On his record it records him as being of LOW risk to the United States, but that he was imprisoned because of the color of his jacket. It was assumed by the American soldiers that he was part of the group of men who had previously attacked them. Because of this he was captured and has been held at GTMB since 2003.
I believe that some of the prisoners should be freed. I believe that not all are guilty. However having said that, I believe that some, if not the vast majority of the prisoners (who are indeed guilty of committing terrible things) shouldn't be. I don't believe anyone who's committed murder or acts of terrorism in the attempt to kill another human being should ever be released. I feel that in some cases the imprisonment of some prisoners is most definitely just. However in cases similar to Abdul Bagi I don't. If their decision to capture him was purely based on an assumption intend of on a fact then he should be released and or investigated more. The holding of innocent prisoners is only going to fuel more hatred towards the United States because it demonstrates an unjust system/prison system.
In regards to the video of Mos Def I have a have conflicting feelings. While I understand that the prison needs to be held responsible for their prisoners health, I also feel that it should be the prisoners choice to decide wether or not he wishes to eat. I myself have had many feeding tubes placed and I personally (this is purely my own opinion and experience) didn't find it to be as horrible of an experience as seen in the video. Medically this is a very standard procedure done in hospitals all over the world to millions of people. The way they went about it however I have a big problem with. No one should be strapped down and forced to do something like this without consent. It was very disturbing and reminded me heavily of the old insane asylum system that used to be very common here in the United States.

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Christian Trinidad
3/13/2016 10:47:24 pm

Hi madalyn
i agree with you that the non violent and low risk ones should be freed. There are a lot of prisoners in gitmo that are purely there for information but why they are still there is beyond me. As far as the force feeding i see it as a lose lose situation because if you force feed then people will say it is a violation of rights but if you let them starve others will say it is inhumane.

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wenli zhou
3/20/2016 02:42:01 pm

Hi Madalyn,
thanks for sharing this outrages case with us. How ridiculous is that! A man got arrested because of the color of his jacket? ! what kind of world are we living in? Can America ruin someone's life like this. I am agree with you, he should be released.

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Mary Rasooli
3/25/2016 03:05:30 pm

Said Abassi Rochan from Afghanistan was detained in 2002 by afghan authorities under suspicion that one of his passengers was related to the Zadran tribe’s leader (Pacha Khan). He was only detained for a total of 20 minutes before being turned over to US forces and then being sent to GTMO. The statements online say that he was transferred to GTMO because of his general knowledge of the activities in his region. He was then deemed not affiliated with Al Qaida or the Taliban and his information was deemed not valuable or “tactically exploitable”. He transferred a year later to Afghanistan, but his detention essentially accomplished nothing.
I think that the people being incarcerated in this military prison should be reviewed, under extremely detailed and extensive research and information gathering. I don’t think that they should all just be released, because I do think that there are many threats to overall international security and if the US is able to streamline that and detain the “bad guys” then I think we are on the right track however, the way things have been going, too many men are going in without a fair trial and many of them turn out to be innocent.
I do not think that being detained without a fair trial is just and all of those men should have had a fair trial. The fact that the US is not treating these mostly middle-eastern and Muslim men like human beings is disgusting and reflects terribly on our American values. Addressing terrorist threats by simply detaining people like they did to the taxi driver Said is not the way to deter terrorism. I think that they need to re-evaluate their practices and find other solutions that don’t jeopardize the humanity of men who may or may not be guilty.

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Michelle Bounkousohn
3/26/2016 11:34:36 am

Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif was a Yemeni man who had been incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay for over 10 years, passing away in 2012 at the age of 36 after an apparent suicide attempt. Latif was arrested in Pakistan on 2001 with suspicion of receiving military training from al Qaeda, though he claims he had traveled from his native Yemen to Pakistan in order to receive medical treatment for a car accident that had left him with neurological problems. Latif was not allowed to protest his detention at this time due to George W. Bush's claim in 2001 that habeas corpus did not apply to Guantanamo Bay detainees. This was later overturned in 2004 by a Supreme Court Ruling, and repealed again by the Detainment Treatment Act of 2005. In 2010, District Court judge Henry Kennedy had actually demanded Latif's release, as there was a lack of evidence backing up his arrest, though this was ignored and appealed by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

During his incarceration, Latif would frequently hunger strike, and was force fed in response. After suffering numerous seizures and emaciation, his 2008 legal request for his medical records, and the additional accommodations of an extra blanket and pillow were denied. Latif was tortured psychologically and physically, with beatings leading to a dislocated shoulder blade, and attempted suicide numerous times before finally succeeding in 2012.

The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center should be closed due to its egregious violations of international human rights laws. Most Guantanamo Bay detainees lack a preponderance of evidence regarding their incarceration, and are subjected to dehumanizing torture and a lack of legal protection. The United States should address issues of terrorism through examining the roots of terrorism (neocolonialism, funding and training from developed countries' military, fallback from civilian killings??) and empower countries to manage insurgencies and instability through participatory defense and through transparent military collaboration with the countries they are trying to help.

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