Breaking point: Inside story of the Guantanamo uprising (Independent / UK)

The camp commander's claims of a co-ordinated revolt are challenged by new details of the violence.

By Severin Carrell
Published: 21 May 2006

The prison camps at Guantanamo Bay were gripped by a series of uprisings and disturbances last week which suggest a state of near revolt, it emerged yesterday.

Reports from within the controversial detention centre in Cuba claim the base's military commanders believe there were links between a series of suicide attempts, medical emergencies and the violent clashes between 20 inmates and guards on Thursday ..

Moazzam Begg, the Birmingham bookshop owner released from the camp last year, said the detention cells were too closely monitored and controlled for inmates to organise a revolt so well. Clive Stafford Smith and Brent Mickum, defence lawyers who regularly visit clients in the base, said they suspected the official accounts were "rubbish" ..

Mr Stafford Smith and Mr Mickum, who represent detainees with close ties to the UK, said these unusually detailed and immediate accounts by the US authorities confirmed the Bush administration had begun a public relations offensive to rebuild support for the camp ..

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article549504.ece

at Guantanamo without the LIHOP of the people running the place.

And why would they allow it? To be able to say this:

snip>

It was "probably the most violent outbreak" in the camp's four-year history, claimed Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the detention and interrogation centre's commander. "These are dangerous men and determined jihadists," he said.

snip>

"staged" suicide attempts designed to draw the guards into a fight.

Which, of course, is complete bullshit. First of all, the people were fully aware that there was no way that they could actually overpower the guards. They were fighting armed millitary guards with FAN PARTS. And three people wouldn't overdose on drugs if it was just for show. The only reason the story would be distorted like that would be to make them appear violent and dangerous. But it says something, that they entered a fight they knew they couldn't win so that others could try to escape. And it says something about the American government, too, that death is a preferable escape.

uncle ho