Shame on us
779 men have since 2001 been unlawfully detained at Guantanamo by the US military. Some of them were considered to be terrorists, some of them just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Others were sold to the US military for a minimum of 5 000 dollars – which makes the US military guilty of trafficking.
There are still 166 humans beings unlawfully detained at Guantanamo.
Guantanamo is a part of Cuba that was rented from Cuba until the 1950:s when Castro demanded that the US leave. Since then Guantanamo is an illegal occupation of a sovereign state similar to Israel´s unlawful occupation of the West Bank, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.
Of the 166 detainees currently 73 are on hunger strike.
These 166 detainees are locked up without basic rights and have been tortured and humiliated for eleven years without knowing when and if they ever will get a court hearing or a sentence. In many cases they have not even been told what the charges are – if there are any – against them.
Of the 73 on hunger strike 46 are being daily force feed in a painful process with a tube through their nose. Force feeding is unethical and has been condemned by WHO and AMA among others.
41 of these detainees have been so desperate that they have tried to commit suicide
Of the 41 suicide attempts 6 detainees have succeeded. A spokesperson for the US Government, Colleen Graffy, called the suicides “a smart PR coup”.
Of the 779 prisoners only 6 have been charged for a crime.
Among them is Mohammed Qahran who admitted having been a member of Al-Qaida after being tortured. He was depraved sleep, he was dog-collared and made to crawl on all four and bark, his mother and sister were called whores, drenched with cold water at the same bringing down the temperature of his cell so that his pulse went down to 35/min., water was forced down his throat as he was strapped to a chair until he peed on himself. No court of law in a democratic country accepts a confession given under torture.
Each prisoner costs the US tax payers over 8 million dollars a year. That money would do a lot of good for example help battle one of the world´s richest countries alarmingly high rate of illiteracy, and child poverty.
Every day around 2 000 soldiers work at Guantanamo. Most of them are around 19 – 20 years old. They ordinarily stay around nine months before they are relieved. In 11 years that means that around 30 000 young men and women have been part of the inhuman handling of prisoners. Can they sleep at night or are they so indoctrinated that they believe their government has the right to break all international rules and treaties against “enemy combatants”? What do these 30 000 men and women teach their children about ethics, human respect, religion and other cultures? What is the long term impact of this on the American society?
Former president Bush should be put in front of the International Court in Haag for his crimes against humanity, where Guantanamo is just one of several charges. If president Obama doesn´t live up to his promise to close Guantanamo he also should be sent to Haag.
The USA should be ashamed of having allowed Guantanamo to be opened and to stay open for eleven years. The United Nations and all other countries should be ashamed that not more pressure has been mounted against the USA forcing them to close Guantanamo. During apartheid ther was international pressures against South Africa. Pressure is brought against Iran and their nuclear program. Why not against the USA? (Or Israel and their illegal occupation?)
The citizens of the USA should be ashamed. People in the world who have the possibility to demonstrate, to speak up, to make their voices heard should be ashamed. I am ashamed.