Legal Limbo

In light of the Graham amendment [pdf] which could pass as early as this week (and which you can read more about here, here and here) I think it's important to revisit just how desperately awful the conditions are at Gitmo. This Denver Post article, via TalkLeft, is essential reading. I'll post an excerpt to get you started, but please, please go read the whole thing.

We recently returned from visiting with several prisoners in Guantánamo Bay's military prison, where there are still hundreds of faceless, uncharged prisoners who have been held for nearly four years without ever seeing an attorney.

When many of these prisoners arrived in American custody, they were initially relieved to be in the control of a country that valued justice and due process.

Four years later, many just want to die. They starve themselves for long periods of time and attempt bloody suicides. The government responds by forcing tubes down their throats. People are trying to kill themselves to get out of custody, because they have no legal recourse. "They won't let us live, but they won't let us die," one of our clients explained.

... [I]t has been far too easy for some of us to lose sight of the fact that these alleged enemy combatants are and remain human beings.

Ahamed Abdul Aziz has studied literature and philosophy. He speaks French and English, in addition to Arabic. Aziz fled political persecution in Mauritania, only to be incarcerated by the Americans. The regime he fled has now been overthrown in a bloodless coup with political prisoners released. He speaks eloquently about the abuses he has suffered, here and abroad.

Recently, many prisoners have begun a hunger strike - including two of our clients, Aziz and Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani from Pakistan. Rabbani, who has lost a great deal of weight, recently broke his 35-day hunger strike to honor Ramadan. He was joined in his strike by Aziz and hundreds of other detainees. Now that Ramadan has ended, it is anticipated that the hunger strikes will resume with full force.

The hunger strikes have resumed, and many of the prisoners are being force-fed with tubes down their throats - a truly barbaric and torturous procedure. Let's be clear about this. We have slim to no good evidence for the so-called terrorist activities of many, if not most, of these detainees. This is not, nor has it ever been, about capturing people who are actual threats to US security. This is about bloodlust, and satiating the craven fears of a corrupt administration with the detention, torture, and deaths of thousands of human beings.