Pentagon inspector general orders Guantanamo probe

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13401892.htm

Pentagon inspector general orders Guantanamo probe

WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's Inspector General ordered an investigation into alleged abuse at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay that holds suspected Taliban and al Qaeda members, a spokesman said on Friday.

The order followed a statement last week from a U.S. Marine saying Guantanamo guards described physically and mentally abusing detainees, including slamming one inmate's head into a cell door and denying others privileges just to anger them.

The Marine's sworn statement was released by lawyers for detainees last week. The inspector general's office, which serves as the Pentagon's internal watchdog agency, received the Marine's affidavit and letter by e-mail on Tuesday, the spokesman said.

The case was referred to Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. No deadline has been set for the investigation's conclusion, the spokesman said.

[Judi Lynn]

1. They'll investigate themselves. That should be productive. n/t

[ThomCat]

3. Just like every other time the pentagon investigates themselves.

They may admit that some flunkie is guilty of some token offense just to make themselves look diligent, but overall they will whitewash Guantanamo. Nothing to see here. Everyone please look somewhere else instead.
x(

[zreosumgame]

2. ah, someone determined to 'retire' early...

[libodem]

4. If they ever have questions about the treatment

they should ask that soldier beaten at Guantanamo. he was a Guardsman or something and they asked him to volunteer for interrogation training. They put him in an orange jumpsuit and sic'ed the guards on him. They nearly beat him to death before someone hear him say he was a US soldier. He has seizures so bad now he can't work. I think the government is still denying his claims. I'm not computer savvy enough to link to the story but you can google Soldier beaten in Guantanamo and it should give the details. I wonder how many detainees have been murdered? I also hear some of the detainees have gained hundreds of pounds from eating all of their 4,000 calorie a day diets. I'm glad they aren't starving them. I wonder if they are NG-tube feeding them 4,000 calories? Poor bastards.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Here's the story. I saw it on CBS, too. Hard to forget!

G.I. Attacked During Training
U.S. Soldier Brutally Beaten By Soldiers At Guantanamo

Nov. 3, 2004

(CBS) Pictures from Abu Ghraib prison tell a story that has shocked the world.

There are no pictures of what happened in the prison camp at Guantanamo last year. But Correspondent Bob Simon has a shocking story -- and it's not about what Americans did to foreign detainees. It's about what Americans did to a fellow American soldier, Sean Baker.

Sean Baker has seizures an average of four times a week. 60 Minutes Wednesday went to see him a few weeks ago in a New York hospital.

Baker, a National Guardsman, was working last year as a military policeman in the Guantanamo Bay prison when other MPs injured him during a training drill. It was a drill during which Baker was only obeying orders.

"I was assaulted by these individuals," says Baker. "Pure and simple."

It’s all the more bizarre because Baker was considered a model soldier and he had served as an MP in Saudi Arabia during the First Gulf War.
(snip)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/02/60II/main652953.shtml

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It's despicable that as soon as they learned they had beaten an American soldier by mistake (although they had arranged that test earlier!) suddenly the videotape which is ALWAYS available turned up missing, so he had nothing he could take to higher authorities.

This is absolutely dirty, dishonest behavior. You just wouldn't expect to see such sneakiness from the U.S. gummint.

They undoubtedly realized the story was far larger than just this man, as it was direct proof of what can happen to someone they identify as a prisoner, even when they find him in a completely non-threatening condition.

[Sherman A1]

5. The investigation itself is a bit of a surprise

Yes, they are investigating themselves and the results - well they will be what is for the good of the service so to speak, but really why bother with the investigation at all??