Opinion
Fixing America’s torture debacle
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Also by Ammar Al Marzouqi:
- Initiative critical for campus progress (April 9, 2009)
- Economic cures lie in gray zone (March 25, 2009)
- America and its violent problem (March 5, 2009)
- Madison renters need competition (February 5, 2009)
- Fixing America's torture debacle (January 22, 2009)
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Twenty-five is the number of detainees left in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, out of the original 800 sent there by the Bush administration. This means that over 95 percent of the supposed worst of the worst were in fact innocent. Hence, it’s no wonder that in the mind of any objective person, the legacy of Camp Delta will be a disgraceful one characterized by torture and unjustified incarceration.
It’s also no wonder that true to his promise, President Obama has ordered a halt in proceedings of the special military tribunals set up by the previous administration. This initial step will hopefully culminate in the eventual closing of the camp itself. Yet it’s the manner through which the new administration goes about closing the camp that will show whether they closed it because they believed the conditions there were inhuman and the pretexts unjust, or because the camp has become too much of a political burden.
They must ensure that there isn’t any continued imprisonment of the detainees in other prisons, whether military or civilian, without giving them fair and public trials. Furthermore, the defendants must have the right to know the evidence against them, even if the CIA and the military believe it should remain classified. It is ludicrous to expect civilians to go into witness protection but still testify and not expect intelligence operatives to endure the same risk in order to ensure that those who pose a threat to the American public remain behind bars. Also, the lawyers of those held captive in Guantanamo should no longer be required to prove the innocence of their clients. Instead, the position of the court should be the assumption of innocence until guilt is proven.
They must also put a stop to the policy of pretending that those who were held at Guantanamo for years without charge and then released don’t exist. They must receive appropriate reparations and apologies for the unjust pain and suffering they endured. A clear example of one of these people is Sami al Haj, a cameraman for Al-Jazeera who was held in Guantanamo Bay without charge for six years. He was released last year and dropped off in Sudan in miserable health without even an apology.
Also, the testimonies of those released from the prison camp must be heard and action taken to punish those responsible for the suffering they endured. They must not be told the suffering they endured was justified because of mere suspicion or because of the extraordinary circumstances of the “post-9/11 world.”
And the administration shouldn’t stop there. Related policies such as rendition — where suspects are handed off to countries like Morocco, Jordan and Syria to be tortured using methods American interrogators are still not allowed to use — need to stop. Those who were victims should receive formal and full apologies and appropriate reparations. And for those who are skeptical of the validity of the claim that the U.S. government would do such a thing to innocent people, I present the example of Maher Arar.
He is a Canadian citizen who was rendered to Syria by the U.S. and regularly tortured for almost a year. After his release to Canada he was publicly cleared by the Canadian government of any wrongdoing and received a $10.5 million settlement and a formal apology from the Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper. Yet even after he was cleared by both the Canadian and Syrian governments, the previous administration still maintained him and his family on the terror watch list and the Bush White House still refused to apologize or admit any wrongdoing.
Yet in the midst of the pain and suffering, there still remains a glimmer of hope that this legacy will not be the only deciding factor in how the United States is viewed abroad. I, for one, will never forget the answer ex-Guantanamo prisoner Juma Mohammed Al Dossary gave when asked of his memories of the camp. He said that though his detention was filled with suffering caused by severe sleep deprivation and prolonged exposure to frigid cold and hunger, the moment which stuck out in his mind the most was when, during one of the numerous periods of sleep deprivation, an American guard approached him at night and gave him some cookies and a warm drink. When he thanked him, the soldier said he wasn’t after praise, but he hoped instead that Al Dossary would keep in mind that not all Americans approve of what he’s going through and that most of them would stand against it if they knew.
Indeed it is the good nature of the majority of the American people that enables an incoming president to boldly promise to close an institution so closely tied to the post-9/11 war efforts a mere seven years after the tragic events themselves. Yet one can’t help but wonder how much earlier it would have been closed had the American people been adequately informed of the magnitude of the atrocities committed there, in their name.
Ammar Al-Marzouqi (almarzouqi@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in computer science.
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This means that over 95 percent of the supposed worst of the worst were in fact innocent.
Well I guess you missed the report were 61 of those released have AGAIN been detained for terrorist activities.
I could certainly be wrong, but I’ve seen reports all week saying there are over 200 detainees still left in Guantanamo and over 200 habeas corpus petitions pending in federal district courts. While I am glad this number has dwindled, it is a bit of an exaggeration to say that we now know that 95 percent of the original detainees were innocent.
Just a clarification: I got the 25 detainee number off an AP article.
Also, I am aware of the reports that some of the detainees were detained again. Though the authenticity of these reports - and the figures they contain - is questioned by Amnesty International and other NGOs. That is why I did not include them in the article.
The reason I said that they were innocent is that they were released, which implies that the US government lacked any legitimate evidence against them. Nevertheless, I admit that there are exceptions to my conclusion and that there are detainees who were released and who were indeed guilty.
“Just a clarification: I got the 25 detainee number off an AP article.”
AP, a name you can trust!
Ammar, check your facts before you write something!
Maybe we should just adopt Islamic methods and cut off their heads?
For those wondering about the figures of ex-detainees going “back to the fight”, this link is very informative. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/23/the-worst-of-the-worst/
Informed readers will recall Gitmo Commander Jeffrey Gordon’s statement on Sami al-Haj, “There is a significant amount of information, both unclassified and classified, which supports continued detention of Sami al-Hajj by U.S. forces.” A four-page government statement written on July 8, 2005, and now declassified, accuses al-Hajj of delivering money to the “charity” Al-Haramayn $473,000 “at least eight” visits to Azerbaijan; he was denied entry on a final attempted entry in January of 2000. This “charity” then funneled the money to Chechen jihadists. http://wwww.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.aspx?GUID=258B1B3C-08C9-42CD-BB9E-3EF97956E438
Al-Hajj’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, admits one or two such visits. Similarly, Smith admits his client met with Osama bin Laden’s “Deputy in Sudan,” al-Qaeda founder Mamdouh Mahmoud Salim, who was implicated in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tazania and later received 32 years in prison for stabbing a Manhattan prison guard in the eye. Smith simply claims al-Hajj made the trips and met Salim on behalf of his employer and did not know why this was being done. However, Osama bin Laden closed his May 23, 2006, audio message by calling on Allah to free all Guantanamo Bay detainees - mentioning al-Hajj by name.
And this taqiya vendor now has the temerity to use the Badger Herald as a podium to climb up on his hind legs and howl for Americans to pay al-Haj “reparations”?
Welcome back to September 10th, folks.
Ah, another muslim college student here in the US for what purpose? Ammar, since you believe it is such a good idea why don’t you be the first to volunteer financing for reparations?
Use some of your student aid you are receiving from the infidel US government. It is the right thing to do to show solidarity to your muslim brothers.
Free the Gitmo prisoners - send them right over the fence into Cuba.
Today’s AFP news link reports that there are at least 240 prisoners remaining in Gitmo. The same link also reports about a new video posted by 2 ex Gitmo detainees, who have rejoined Al Qaeda & have in fact been raised to a very high position in the Yemeni wing of the terrorist group.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hZfIcWnHqBz4kQR90lC_pXaHeW4Q
These 2 terrorists agreed that they were imprisoned in Gitmo for their militant jihadism & now they can pursue their goal once again - that is to kill innocent Americans as they did on 9/11. (So we can imagine how dangerous the rest of the unreleased Gitmo detainees can be!)
And regarding that CNN’s Anderson Cooper link given above……..So why don’t we just release the rest of them? I’m sure only a few will return to terrorism. Or better yet, let’s bring them here, to the US. They’re no threat to us. What a bunch of baloney! How in the world can the DoD present any kind of accurate statistics on the rate of return to the fight? Only if the released detainees are caught again. It’s not like we’ve microchipped them and follow their every move. The DoD provides a statistic because that’s what the press and the American people want. Is it accurate? No. It’s a stab in the dark. Is the figure really higher? I have no doubt it is, much higher. But let’s just continue to tell ourselves and the rest of the world how we have done these guys wrong, pat them on the head, and send them on their way. We’ll all feel much better. Until the next attack on the US.
“Twenty-five is the number of detainees left in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, out of the original 800 sent there by the Bush administration. This means that over 95 percent of the supposed worst of the worst were in fact innocent.”
See, this is the problem. You have no facts as to “why” they were released. Pressure by an ignorant public, a biased media filling the heads of the ignorant public with non-facts, and crooked politicians trying to make a name for themselves resulted in war criminals being released. Your assumption that just because someone was released automatically makes them innocent, just goes to show you how ineffective a college degree is.
The situation is this. Guantanamo Bay Navy Base is the Prisoner of war camp. In war, there are two outcomes for a soldier on either side (normally) and they are, you die in combat or you are taken prisoner for the duration of the war. Sometimes prisoners become bargaining tools during and at the end of the war. The prisoners we have could have simply been killed on the battlefield. They were spared, but prisoners do not automatically get American civil rights, much to the ignorant public’s surprise. They are protected under the Geneva Conventions only which are a set of guidelines and suggestions for proper and humane treatment of prisoners, NOT rules and NOT the law.
I am a veteran of the US Military. We understand that prisoners of war are used to get information about the enemy. American prisoners have been tortured to death, taken prisoner and disappear forever, used as bargaining tools, and some get returned to America. The lucky few. Americans in war treat the enemy FAR better than any other country in the world. So get off your high horse and blatantly ignorant assumptions. THe public needs to stay out of things they don’t understand(military matters), or pick up a rifle and fight the good fight.
And if you are going to be a reporter or journalist, you better get your facts right and support your claims if you want ANY kind of credibility at all, or, you can continue on this path and become just another mainstream media journalist working your way up through the ranks by getting ratings for your employer at any cost, including lying, fabrication, glorifying, exaggerating, and misrepresenting then claim absent malice and freedom of press to wash your hands of your sins.