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Tag: Guantanamo Bay

  • Popular Songs The CIA Used To Torture Detainees

    One of the most potent ways of torture is without touch: first, confine the detainee in a windowless 6 x 9 ft. solitary cell, shackle them to the wall, leave a bucket for defecating and urination, and blast the Sesame Street theme song on repeat for a full 24 hours.

    The Senate Intelligence Committee’s CIA torture report  revealed the agencies’ assortment of “enhanced interrogation techniques” used in detention facilities on detainees after the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

    In 2008, Mother Jones reported a “torture playlist”, based on a leaked interrogation log, chosen by guards and interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

    The songs include:

    • Christina Aguilera: “Dirrty”
    • Drowning Pool: “Bodies”
    • Janeane Garofalo/Ben Stiller: chapter from the Feel This Audiobook
    • Matchbox Twenty: “Cold”
    • Rage Against the Machine: unspecified songs

    According to the CIA torture report, song repetition was an effective touch-less torture technique used to disorient detainees, induce sleep deprivation, signal the start of interrogations, create a “sense of hopelessness”, and drown out screams. White noise was also administered to manifest sensory deprivation and hallucinations.

    Although the recent CIA torture report itself never mentions specific songs, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, details some of the most popular songs used against detainees. “Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears was one of them.

    “You lose the plot and it’s very scary to think that you might go crazy because of all the music, because of the loud noise, and because after a while you don’t hear the lyrics at all, all you hear is heavy banging,” Ruhal Ahmed, a released Guantanamo prisoner, explained to Worthington.

    Songs by Metallica, Eminem’s “Slim Shady” album, Nine Inch Nails, and Queen’s “We Will Rock You” were also mentioned in Worthington’s book.

    Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails wrote in a blog post condemning the use of his songs as a form of torture:

    “It’s difficult for me to imagine anything more profoundly insulting, demeaning and enraging than discovering music you’ve put your heart and soul into creating has been used for purposes of torture.”

    For more information on torture techniques, check out this ABC style comic featured on VICE, with text by Oscar Rickett, and illustrations by Krent Able.

  • Hobby Lobby Ruling Used by Gitmo Detainees

    As if it weren’t enough that every armchair pundit in the United States is prognosticating about the unintended far-reaching effects of the Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, here comes the sworn enemy of the United States to weigh in on the debate.

    Lawyers for detainees at Guantanamo Bay are using the Hobby Lobby ruling in support of arguments for their clients, terrorist detainees. The detainees have previously complained that their freedom to worship is infringed upon by conditions at Gitmo. However the courts have ruled that Gitmo detainees are nonresident aliens. Therefore, the protections of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) afforded to U.S. citizens — and now to corporations, thanks to the Hobby Lobby ruling — are not applicable to them.

    Given the Hobby Lobby ruling, the detainees are trying once again to get some recognition of themselves as “persons”, and therefore have the RFRA applied to them. Their attorneys submitted a filing to that end.

    “Hobby Lobby makes clear that all persons—human and corporate, citizen and foreigner, resident and alien—enjoy the special religious free exercise protections of the RFRA,” the filing reads. “Guantanamo Bay detainees, as flesh-and-blood human beings, are surely ‘individuals,’ and thus are no less ‘person[s]‘ than are the for-profit corporations in Hobby Lobby or the resident noncitizens whom Hobby Lobby gives as an example of persons to whom the RFRA must apply.”

    “Thus, Hobby Lobby puts it beyond reasonable dispute that, as ‘person[s]‘ protected by the RFRA, Guantanamo Bay detainees enjoy rights of religious free exercise, including the right to pray in congregation.”

    The detainees have filed a motion asking for the court to order military personnel to allow communal prayer during Ramadan.

    Guantanamo detainees have been staging hunger strikes for years over what they see as abuses of their religious traditions.

    Image via YouTube

  • Benghazi Suspect Stirs Up US Justice System

    On June 15, special operations forces in Libya captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya – an attack which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. Following his capture, Khatallah was transported via Naval ship to New York. During his ten day ride across the Atlantic, Khatallah was interrogated heavily – both before and after he was read his Miranda Rights. Now, Khatallah currently awaits trial in a civilian court – a decision which has brought much controversy in Washington.

    The prosecution has charged Khatallah with the conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists, a claim to which Khatallah has pleaded not guilty. If found guilty, Khatallah will not face a death sentence for this offense. However, the US Justice Department has not shown all of its cards yet. Khatallah is still expected to face charges of murdering Americans and discharging a firearm in the commission of the attack – charges for which Khatallah could be executed.

    It’s not the charges which have brought controversy in this case, but rather the means by which Khatallah is being tried.

    The first spark of controversy came with the decision to read Khatallah his Miranda Rights. When President Obama decided to try Khatallah in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal, it meant that he must be granted his legal rights granted by the Constitution of the United States. The decision to Mirandize Khatallah was a mistake, according to most Republicans:

    “We do know that he’s been talking, but ten days is not sufficient to fully debrief a terrorist in terms of the intelligence value. Rather than prosecuting a war, we’re prosecuting criminal cases,” stated House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

    For McCaul, “… the military intelligence value outweighs a criminal case.”

    Many Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have corroborated McCaul’s opinion: “If they bring him to the United States, they’re going to Mirandize this guy, and it would be a mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights.” For many, that mistake is the loss of intelligence which could be gathered through harsh interrogation.

    “I have serious concerns that conducting a rushed interrogation onboard a ship and then turning Abu Khatallah over to our civilian courts risks losing critical intelligence that could lead us to other terrorists or prevent future attacks,” remarked Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire.

    For most, the solution is simple – try Khatallah in a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. However, since he has been in office, President Obama has not sent one person to Gitmo due to his belief that the United States justice system will do the right thing regardless.

    Fortunately for Khatallah, US Attorney General Eric Holder believes the same: “Now that Ahmed Abu Khatallah has arrived in the United States, he will face the full weight of our justice system. We will prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant’s alleged role in the attack that killed four brave Americans in Benghazi.”

    The controversy comes as campaigning for the 2016 presidency heats up. Hillary Clinton, who many people criticize due to her handling of the Benghazi situation during her tenure as Secretary of State, continues to press toward a Democratic nomination, despite the challenge from Elizabeth Warren. If Khatallah is fond guilty of all three counts and receives the death penalty, then perhaps Clinton will be relieved of the Benghazi monkey on her back. If the justice system does not sentence Khatallah to death, though, Clinton will most likely see an end to her presidential run, as the GOP will continue to rail the Benghazi gaffe as the reason as to why Clinton is unfit for the presidency.

    Image via YouTube

  • Guantanamo’s Final Three Uighur Prisoners Released

    Guantanamo Bay – made famous for its horrific treatment of prisoners on behalf of the U.S. against its war on terror.

    Gitmo – the nickname given to this military prison, is located in southeastern Cuba, on the coast of Guantánamo Bay. The U.S. leases the property from Cuba, which subsequently gives the U.S. access to detainees that were not covered under the U.S. Constitution – meaning they could be denied protection, and the U.S. could gain information using unsavory methods.

    Gitmo is famous for its ‘waterboarding‘ techniques – a form of torture not allowed in the U.S. – in an effort to extract information from its detainees – and uncover terrorist threats and to access information leading to the location and arrest of to top U.S. enemies.

    The United States has transferred three Uighur Muslim detainees to Slovakia from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. officials said Tuesday. They were the last members of the ethnic minority from China to be held at the military prison.

    Yusef Abbas, 33, Saidullah Khalik, 37, and Hajiakbar Abdul Ghuper, 39, have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay, to Slovakia where they are “voluntarily resettling,” officials said Tuesday. This trio was detained for over a decade, even though they had been cleared of any connection to al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

    The Slovakian government said the men it accepted had “never been suspected nor accused of terrorism,” the BBC reported.

    “The United States is grateful to the government of Slovakia for this humanitarian gesture and its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Defense Department said in a statement. “The United States coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure the transfer took place in accordance with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”

    The Pentagon described the transfer as a “significant milestone.” In this milestone – is Obama’s promise to close this torture chamber – and eight other prisoners have been moved since August.

    Unfortunately, 155 prisoners still remain at Guantanamo Bay.

    Image via YouTube