What we’ve done in Guantanamo has become an anti-American recruiting tool

http://www.tedkennedy.com/content/151/kennedy-on-guantanamo-bay-visit

“I’m impressed with the courtesies and professionalism of the men and women in our armed forces.

My visit to Guantanamo confirms my belief that the Administration’s handling of these detentions has made America less secure, put our own soldiers at risk, and makes it harder to win the war on terrorism.

What we’ve done in Guantanamo has become an anti-American recruiting tool for our enemies, and has made the world more dangerous for our troops and for millions of Americans traveling overseas.

We need to be vigilant in protecting America from the threat of terrorists. But we must do it in a way that is effective and consistent with the law.

Our nation stands by the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war not only because they reflect American values, but because they protect our own sons and daughters in times of war. There is no reason – even in facing the new threat of terrorism – to depart from those practices and principles.

Our Uniform Code of Military Justice has long enabled America to distinguish between innocent civilians and combatants and to treat them fairly in times of war. We’ve done it in Vietnam and in the First Gulf War. There’s no reason, even with today’s unique threats, to abandon these practical and time-honored rules.

Indefinite detentions without charge or trial feeds the view held by many in many parts of the world that the United States is anti-Muslim and anti-Arab. We can’t cut off communications with their families, disrespect Islam, and abuse detainees, and expect to win over the hearts and minds of people in the Islamic world. Our practices become an anti-American recruiting tool for our enemies, and make the world more dangerous for Americans and for our troops.

I continue to believe that Guantanamo should be closed and fair procedures should be used to determine who should be detained, for how long, and if necessary who should be tried for committing war crimes.

Above all, we must also hold accountable those in our own government who are responsible for many shameful abuses that took place. My visit to Guantanamo did nothing to shed light on who is responsible for the policies behind the torture and abuse that put this nation at risk. For the sake of our own security, we have to put an end to this stonewalling and ensure that this never happens again. If the Administration won’t properly investigate, then the Senate will take action. I will join with my colleagues to create an independent commission to investigate the detention and interrogation practices. We will not be able to erase the stain of these scandals and protect our own security until we have a thorough investigation of the allegations – not a white wash – and we know the legal guidance given to our military. We need more accountability, not more stonewalling.

It’s time to return to our principles, close Guantanamo, and move ahead with a more effective war on terror.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20050713-0837-guantanamo-abuseinvestigation.html

Investigators urged reprimand of former Guantanamo Bay commander

By John J. Lumpkin
ASSOCIATED PRESS

8:37 a.m. July 13, 2005

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Interrogators subjected a suspected terrorist to abusive and degrading treatment, forcing him to wear a bra, dance with another man and behave like a dog, military investigators reported Wednesday, saying that justified their call for disciplinary action.
They said they recommended that Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller be reprimanded for failing to oversee his interrogation of the 9-11 suspect at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said he overruled their recommendation and will instead refer the matter to the Army's inspector general. Craddock concluded that Miller did not violate any U.S. laws or policies, according to officials familiar with the report.

Investigators described their findings before the Senate Armed Services Commttee Wednesday. They were looking into allegations by FBI agents who say they witnessed abusive interrogation techniques at the Guantanamo prison for terrorist suspects. The chief investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt, described the interrogation techniques used on Mohamed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who was captured in December 2001 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

It was learned later that he had tried to enter the U.S. in August 2001 but was turned away by an immigration agent at the Orlando, Fla., airport. Mohamed Atta, ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, was in the airport at the same time, officials have said. Schmidt said that to get him to talk, interrogators told him his mother and sisters were whores, forced him to wear a bra, forced him to wear a thong on his head, told him he was homosexual and said that other prisoners knew it. They also forced him to dance with a male interrogator, Schmidt added, and subjected him to strip searches with no security value, threatened him with dogs, forced him to stand naked in front of women and forced him onto a leash, to act like a dog. Still, he said, "No torture occurred."

Al-Qahtani was provided food, water and medical care, he said. Together these techniques are degrading and abusive, he said. FBI agents raised their concerns about the techniques to Miller, and he should have monitored them, but he apparently took no action, Schmidt said. "It is clear from the report that detainee mistreatment was not simply the product of a few rogue miltiary police in a night shift," said Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the committee. Bush administration officials have sought to portray the excesses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as just that.

more.....

Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=63882060&p=6388z36z

US probe uncovers Guantanamo Bay prisoner abuse
13/07/2005 - 15:46:12

A US military investigation has found evidence of degrading and abusive treatment by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba, which is being used as a prison for terrorist suspects. The top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee Carl Levin said the investigation, which looked into FBI allegations of abuse of prisoners, showed that the purpose of the abuses recorded was to gather intelligence – and indicated that the problem was not an isolated one.

“It is clear from the report that detainee mistreatment was not simply the product of a few rogue military police in a night shift,” said Mr Levin. Bush administration officials have sought to portray the previous excesses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison as just that. But the armed services committee’s chairman John Warner, a Republican, did not agree. He said investigators had found only three instances out of thousands of interrogations in which military personnel violated Army policy. He did not immediately describe those incidents.

Senators also reported that the military investigators had called for the former prison commander at Guantanamo Bay to be admonished over the treatment of one terror suspect, but a top general had rejected their call. Looking into FBI reports of abuse at Guantanamo Bay, the military investigators found multiple instances, including the use of duct tape on at least one prisoner’s face, a threat to kill another prisoner’s family and inappropriate touching by female interrogators. But the investigators said in their report to the Senate committee they had decided that that behaviour did not reach the necessary level of torture or inhumane treatment.

Investigators said that the Guantanamo Bay interrogators had violated the Geneva Conventions and Army regulations three times. They also recommended that Army Major General Geoffrey Miller be reprimanded for failing to oversee the interrogation of a high-value detainee, which was found to have been abusive. But General Bantz J. Craddock, commander of US Southern Command, instead referred the matter to the Army’s inspector general. Craddock then concluded that Miller did not violate any US laws or policies. The military investigation was conducted after the FBI agents’ reports of abuse at Guantanamo surfaced last year. Craddock and the two investigators were to testify about their findings at today’s Senate armed services committee hearing.