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Guantanamo Bay

Three Suicides In One Night — Guantanamo Prison Commander Nominated As US Ambassador To South Korea

April 28, 2018 By Ann Wright, Opednews.com , , ,
Why nominate to be the US Ambassador to South Korea a military general officer who was in charge of notorious Guantanamo prison when on June 9, 2006 at a secret facility on the prison grounds, three prisoners ended up dead? And how did three prisoners -- Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi Al-Utaybi, Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed al-Salami and Yasser Talal Al Zahrani -- end up dead? US military said the three prisoners committed suicide -- all in the same way -- by hanging themselves while handcuffed after stuffing socks in their mouths. In Scott Horton's extensive article in Harpers' magazine "The Guantanamo 'Suicides' A Camp Delta Sergeant Blows the Whistle," that every member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee should read and ask Admiral Harris about, Horton writes...

Time For US To Leave Guantanamo Bay

February 25, 2018 Mike Byrne, Medium.com. , ,
No foreign military base is more controversial than that of the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. February 23rd, 2018 marks the 115th anniversary of when the US Government signed a lease with the Cuban government for a 45 square mile chunk of land. This 45 square mile chunk of land would only cost 2000 gold coins a year, and the lease would be perpetual, only to be broken by a mutual agreement. The reason Cuba sold the US this patch of land was to facilitate the military withdrawal of US troops from Cuba.

Guantánamo Attorneys Condemn Trump’s Planned Exec Order To Keep Prison Open

January 29, 2018 Staff, Ccrjustice.org , ,
News of Trump’s forthcoming executive order on Guantánamo is confirmation of what his words and actions have already shown: that he intends to keep the prison open and keep everyone in it imprisoned. As some men enter their 17th year of detention without charge, and five continue to languish while being cleared for release, the only thing Trump has to say or do about it is issue an order further entrenching the prison and effectively sanctioning detainees’ continued punishment. His defiance in the face of national and international calls for Guantánamo's closure is, of course, rooted in his executive hubris, his anti-Muslim animus, and his disregard for law, under which these detentions are without question unprecedented.

Call To Global Action Against Illegal U.S. Occupation Of Guantanamo

January 28, 2018 Staff, NoForeignBases.org , ,
The Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases calls upon peace activists in the U.S. and around the world to organize actions, of whatever size and nature, on or around February 23rd, 2018, to protest the continuing occupation of Guantánamo in Cuba by the United States military. February 23rd, 2018 is the 115th Anniversary of the seizure of Guantánamo from the Cuban people as a result of the provoked Spanish - American War. The United States forced the Cuban Constitutional Congress to cede the Bay of Guantánamo to United States control. With the success of the Cuban Revolution, the Cuban Government has insisted on the abrogation of the Treaty. The United States has refused, leaning on the original terms that BOTH countries must agree on the termination of the Treaty. Since 1959, Cuba has not recognized the imposed treaty and has refused to cash the United States’ annual check for $4,085.00 in payment.

My Guantánamo Diary, Uncensored

October 25, 2017 Mohamedou Ould Slahi, www.aclu.org ,
By Mohamedou Ould Slahi for ACLU - If I wanted to, I could put my pen down right now, close my office door behind me, and go for a long walk outside. Today in Nouakchott, Mauritania, it is terribly hot and dry, so that would not be the wisest choice, but freedom is having that option. And freedom is choosing to write instead, not because my life depends on it, but because these days, thank God, it finally doesn’t. A year ago this week, a U.S. military cargo plane touched down on this city’s arid runway and I was escorted, unshackled, down the airplane’s ramp and toward a group of government officials. With each step I pulled farther ahead of my American guards, farther away from the territory of bondage, and toward the territory of freedom. Hours later, a car turned onto the street of the house where I grew up and I was swarmed by family members and supporters. And then I was standing inside the house, just a few feet away from where I sat one day when I was 11, listening to the radio as they announced names of children from around the country who had made it into high school. Getting into high school was a big deal back then: There were few slots, and many who passed all their classes still did not make the cut. Those who managed had their names printed in the military dictatorship’s official newspaper and read over the air for the whole country to hear.

I Am In Guantánamo Bay. US Gov Is Starving Me

October 16, 2017 Khalid Qassim, www.theguardian.com ,
By Khalid Qassim for The Guardian - I started hunger strike because I was so frustrated, so depressed – I have been locked up here so far from my family for 15 years. I have never been charged with a crime and I have never been allowed to prove my innocence. Yet I am still here. And now Donald Trump says that none of us – the 26 “forever” prisoners who have apparently committed no crime, but merit no trial – will ever leave here so long as he is in charge. Some will say I brought the pain on myself. But how can that be? I did not ask to be brought here. I did not do anything that justified being kidnapped and hauled half way around the world. It is true that there have been times when I thought I would be better off dead. This was the only peaceful way I thought I could protest. What I really want, for me and for the other men here, is justice. Certainly, I never wanted to die in the pain I’m now in. They have stopped feeding us before but this time feels different. They want to stop the hunger strike by any means. They keep repeating: if you lose part of your body that is your choice; if you are damaged, that is your choice. They intend to leave us until we lose a kidney or another organ. They will wait until we are damaged. Maybe until we are too damaged to live. Just over a week ago, on 29 September, I collapsed and they called a “code yellow” – that’s what they call it.

U.S. To Release Ahmed Al-Darbi, Less Significant Prisoners Have No Hope

August 14, 2017 Andy Worthington, www.closeguantanamo.org ,
By Andy Worthington for Close Guantanamo - In the long and cruel history of Guantánamo, a major source of stress for the prisoners has been, from the beginning, the seemingly inexplicable release of prisoners who constituted some sort of a threat to the U.S., while completely insignificant prisoners have languished with no hope of release. In the early days, this was because shrewd Afghan and Pakistani prisoners connected to the Taliban fooled their captors, who were too arrogant and dismissive of their allies in the region to seek advice before releasing men who later took up arms against them. Later, in the cases of some released Saudis, it came about because the House of Saud demanded the release of its nationals, and the U.S. bowed to its demands, and in other cases that we don’t even know about it may be prudent to consider that men who were turned into double agents at a secret facility within Guantánamo were released as part of their recruitment — although how often those double agents turned out to betray their former captors is unknown.

Remembering Guantánamo On Independence Day

July 6, 2017 Andy Worthington, www.witnessagainsttorture.com , ,
By Andy Worthington for Witness Against Torture - Today, as a British citizen, I’m acutely aware that, 241 years ago, the United States of America issued a Declaration of Independence from the UK, noting that King George III had sought “the establishment of an absolute TyranA system of checks and balances introduced by the Founding Fathers was supposed to prevent tyranny from arising in the liberated United States of America, and yet, at various times in its history, these safeguards have been discarded — during the Civil War, for example, and during the Second World War, in the shameful internment of Japanese Americans. Another example is still taking place now — at Guantánamo Bay, in Cuba, where the U.S. runs a naval base, and where, since January 11, 2002, it has been holding prisoners seized in the “war on terror” that George W. Bush declared after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Under the laws and treaties we rely on to protect ourselves from executive tyranny, people can only be deprived of their liberty if they are accused of a crime, when they must speedily be put on trial in a court with a judge and a jury, or if they are seized on a battlefield during wartime, when they can be held until the end of hostilities, unmolested and with the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

Witness Against Torture Protests In DC

January 13, 2017 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org ,
By Staff for Witness Against Torture. Clad in orange jumpsuits and Shut Down Guantanamo t-shirts, activists with Witness Against Torture took over the Hart Senate Building with a message for Senators, staffers, and the general public. They marked the 15th anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The message was "Shut Down Guantanamo," "No Torture Cabinet" and "Hate Doesn't Make U.S. Great." These statements were painted a banner that activists dropped from a balcony as 9 members of the group dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods held a die-in, mourning those Muslim men who died at Guantanamo without ever being charged with a crime. The nine, and another two singers, were arrested by Capitol Police, as supporters sang “O America, don’t believe their lies. Their politics of hate will destroy our children’s lives.” The balconies were crowded with onlookers as the action unfolded. One of the two who unfurled the “No Torture Cabinet” banner

Fast For Justice Day 1: Forgiveness Demands Accountability

January 5, 2017 Staff, www.witnessagainsttorture.com
By Staff of Witness Against Torture - Mohamed Ould Slahi left Guantanamo on October 17, 2016 after fourteen years of imprisonment there. He was held without charge and tortured. Speaking of the torture, isolation, and loss he endured, he nevertheless forgives his captors. He says forgiveness is his inexhaustible resource. He maintains belief in the potential goodness of U.S. people. Witness Against Torture began our first full day of fasting this morning by listening to Slahi’s words and then hearing an op-ed that appeared in the morning’s New York Times. The op-ed quotes President-elect Donald Trump who says that Guantanamo should be kept open.

‘Guantánamo Diary’ Author Released After 14 Years Without Charge

October 18, 2016 Hina Shamsi, www.aclu.org ,
By Hina Shamsi for ACLU - After unlawfully imprisoning our client Mohamedou Ould Slahi at Guantánamo for 14 years without charge or trial, the U.S. government has finally released him. He is now home in his native Mauritania. We are overjoyed for Mohamedou and his loving family, who have been anxiously awaiting his return for so many years. His release brings the U.S. one man closer to ending the travesty that is Guantánamo. Mohamedou’s release comes after long legal battles and an outpouring of support worldwide

Why Is Former Guantánamo Prisoner On Hunger Strike In Uruguay?

September 13, 2016 Aisha Maniar, www.truth-out.org/ , , ,
By Aisha Maniar for Truthout - Adapting to life after lengthy imprisonment and as a refugee in a strange land are challenges. Coupled with the trauma of years of torture and the stigma of Guantánamo, the challenge is colossal. Nearly two years after being released to Uruguay with five others in December 2014, Syrian refugee Jihad Ahmed Mustafa Dhiab, also known as Abu Wa'el Dhiab, 45, has faced all of these problems. Dhiab spent more than 12 years at Guantánamo after he was sold to the US military by the Pakistani police in 2002.

Obama Transfers 15 Guantanamo Prisoners To The United Arab Emirates

August 16, 2016 Jessica Schulberg, www.huffingtonpost.com ,
By Jessica Schulberg for The Huffington Post - WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon announced the transfer of 15 prisoners out of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility on Monday evening, marking the largest single exodus of detainees from the infamous prison in Barack Obama’s presidency. The 15 men are being transferred to the United Arab Emirates, a country that accepted five Yemeni detainees last year because the U.S. ruled out repatriating them to their unstable home country.

Guantanamo Bay Routine Included Torture And Water Skiing

June 1, 2016 Kit O'Connell, www.mintpressnews.com ,
By Kit O'Connell for Mint Press News - AUSTIN, Texas — Water skiing in the morning, supervising the torture of a prisoner of the global war on terror in the afternoon — that’s just a typical day for National Security Agency personnel. That’s one of the many glimpses of National Security Agency life found in newly released documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden’s leaks, which reveal the NSA’s intimate involvement with Guantanamo Bay interrogations and the Iraq War, as well as the dramatically increased demand for intelligence after 9/11.

With My Brother In Guantánamo Bay, The Heart Of My Family Is Missing

May 30, 2016 Yahdih Ould Salahi, www.theguardian.com ,
By Yahdih Ould Salahi for The Guardian - I was 19 years old when my brother disappeared, and I was 20 when I discovered he was in Guantánamo. I’m 33 now, and a German citizen living in Dusseldorf, where I work as a computer systems engineer. I have a productive and peaceful life because of my brother. We grew up in Mauritania, one of the world’s poorest countries. I am the youngest of 12 siblings. My father died not long after I was born, and Mohamedou became the heart of our family. He studied hard, winning a scholarship to study engineering in Germany.
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