Amnesty International News
Conditions in Guantanamo Detention Center Flout International Standards, Charges New Amnesty International Report
WASHINGTON,
Most detainees have suffered harsh treatment throughout their detention, confined to mesh cages or maximum security cells. Moreover, a new facility that opened in
"Guantanamo Bay is the festering symbol of the Bush administration's continued contempt for international law and disregard for human rights — further diminishing our country's moral standing," said
Detainees are reportedly confined for 22 hours a day to individual, enclosed, steel cells where they are almost completely cut off from human contact. The cells have no windows to the outside or access to natural light or fresh air. No activities are provided, and detainees are subjected to 24- hour lighting and constant observation by guards through the narrow windows in the cell doors. They exercise alone in a high-walled yard where little sunlight filters through; detainees are often only offered exercise at night and may not see daylight for days at a time.
The U.S authorities have described Camp 6 as a "state of the art modern facility" that is safer for guards and "more comfortable" for the detainees. However, Amnesty International believes that the conditions, as shown in photographs and described by detainees and their attorneys, contravene international standards for humane treatment. In some respects, they appear more severe than the most restrictive levels of "super-maximum" custody on the U.S. mainland, which have been criticized by international bodies as incompatible with human rights treaties and standards.
It appears that around 80 percent of the approximately 385 men currently held at Guantanamo are in isolation — a reversal of earlier moves to ease conditions and allow more socializing among detainees. According to the Pentagon, 165 detainees had been transferred to Camp 6 from other facilities on the base by mid-January 2007. A further 100 detainees are held in solitary confinement in Camp 5, another maximum security facility.
As many as 20 detainees are also believed to be held in solitary confinement in Camp Echo, a facility set apart from others on the base, where conditions have been described by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as "extremely harsh."
While the
Shaker Aamer, a U.K. resident and former camp negotiator, has been held in total isolation in Camp Echo since
"It seems that detainees are being placed in extreme lock-down conditions not because of their individual behavior, but because of harsher camp operating procedures," said Jumana Musa, Amnesty International USA advocacy director for international justice and domestic human rights. "Even men who have been cleared for release are being held in isolation."
Amnesty International urges the Bush administration to close the facility and detainees to be charged and tried under international fair trial norms or else released. U.S. authorities must take immediate steps to ensure that no detainee is subjected to prolonged isolation in conditions of reduced sensory stimulation and allow detainees more association and activities as well as regular contact with their families with opportunities for phone calls and visits. In addition, independent health care professionals and human rights experts should be able to examine and visit detainees in private.
"Secretary of Defense
For a copy of the new 26-page report, "USA: Cruel and Inhuman — Conditions of Isolation for Detainees in Guantanamo Bay," please contact the AIUSA press office at 202.544.0200 x302.
SOURCE Amnesty International
