Abuses found at military prison

[Judi Lynn]

Abuses found at military prison

Pentagon study documents 8 cases; critics dispute report
November 5, 2004


BY CAROL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- How badly have guards behaved at this detention and interrogation center for terror suspects?

In answer to a weeks-old query, the Pentagon has released details of eight confirmed abuse cases. Among them were an instance where a woman soldier took off her uniform blouse during an interrogation, exposing her T-shirt, then climbed onto the lap of a prisoner and rustled his hair; and a case where a medical team found bruises on a prisoner's knees from a now-forbidden interrogation technique.

They stand in contrast to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and allegations by four Britons who sued the U.S. government for $40 million last week, claiming gross abuses while they were held for two years in Guantanamo.

"In every respect, the standard of physical and medical care applied here is fully consistent with the Geneva Conventions. They've not been mistreated, they've not been tortured in any respect," Army Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, the prison commander, said in an interview Wednesday.
(snip/...)

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/gitmo5e_20041105.htm

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Friday, November 05, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Pentagon lists abuses at Guantánamo

By The Associated Press and Knight Ridder Newspapers


GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A female interrogator ran her fingers through a prisoner's hair and sat in his lap, a barber gave reverse Mohawks and a detainee was forced to kneel so many times he was bruised, the Pentagon says in the most detailed accounting of eight abuse cases at its Guantánamo Bay prison for terror suspects.
Those responsible for the abuse have been demoted, reprimanded or sent for more training, according to an 800-word U.S. military response to a written query from The Associated Press.

The findings after a weekslong inquiry stand in stark contrast to abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and allegations by four Britons who sued the U.S. government for $40 million last week, claiming gross abuses while they were held at Guantánamo, where 550 suspects have been held for nearly three years.

CBS' "60 Minutes" on Wednesday aired a report featuring Army Spc. Sean Baker, a Kentucky National Guardsman, who alleges he suffered brain damage while being manhandled by fellow Guantánamo guards during a rehearsal for the forced removal of prisoners from cells. Baker describes confusion in the drill, during which he acted as a prisoner and wore an orange jumpsuit, over whether he was a real prisoner and argues that he escaped worse injury by persuading his guards that he was a fellow soldier.

"I've seen detainees come outta there with blood on 'em," Baker said. "If there wasn't someone to say, 'I'm a U.S. soldier,' if you were speaking Arabic or Pashto or Urdu or some other language in the camp, we may never know what would have happened to that individual."
(snip/...)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002082789_gitmo05.html

[JSJ]

1. our 'beloved, if somewhat kooky, troops' would never do anthing...

...like that. Now,would they?

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Support the Troops --

just like the white folk supported the troops in Wounded Knee.

Racism, bigotry and sadism --

[JSJ]

3. support the bloody-handed troops!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Kicking.....

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. It is kind of pointless to investigate that place

or any other possible military wrongdoing. It is clear that they have the power to create a plausible excuse for anything. The ammo dump story was just about all the proof I needed to see how they can snuff out any scandal that surfaces.