“They continued force feeding me and I felt that my intestines will explode as a result of those pains.”

Mr Shabali (26th September, 2009)

Evidence released by detainees, lawyers and independent doctors, continue to reveal the ongoing ill-treatment and abuse tormenting prisoners within the walls of Guantanamo Bay. When President Obama was inaugurated, the detainees expressed a newfound hope that their situation would change1. Unfortunately, this hope was short-lived, and the reality is, that their confinement under Obama has reportedly worsened since the change in management.

As mentioned in a previous post, an investigation, ordered by the then new president, was commissioned to investigate whether the prison was in line with humane conditions of confinement outlined in the Geneva Conventions. The Defense Department report was released soon after, finding that Guantanamo went beyond complying with the Geneva Conventions, and that it was a “well run facility”2. On the same day, the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) also released a report that contradicted the Governments assertion that it is a well run facility.

The CCR report outlined serious abuses such as a step up in IRF’ings and forced feeding. Allegations include; guards severely beating detainees to the point of broken and disjointed bones, detainees being urinated on, continual solitary confinement, the continuation of sleep deprivation due to lights being kept on 24/7(sensory bombardment), detainees being left in uncomfortably cold cells causing health conditions, ongoing sexual humiliation, and the mistreatment of severely psychologically ill detainees. You can read a comprehensive summary of the report here.

Al-jazeera have also been contacted by detainees outlining worsening conditions. In April, they received a risky phone call from one of the detainees, Mohammed el Gharani who was a child when first captured. Mr Gharani recounted stories of IRF’ings, severe beatings, having pepper spray released into his room so he could not breathe, removing communal recreation for those in ‘segregation’, and taking all books away3. Al-Jazeera also received letters from detainees who wanted to remain anonymous to avoid any negative repercussions. In these letters, the men describe conditions worsening to the point of not fitting “the lowest standard of human living.”4 Read more about the reports to Al-Jazeera. Earlier this year, Ahmed Ghappour, a lawyer in contact with some detainees, echoed these sentiments by stating that conditions had "worsened significantly"5.

Most recently, evidence pointing to continued abuse has come from the letter released by Mr Shabali’s lawyers. Mr Shabali has been on hunger strike for four years. In his letter, he describes the agonising force feedings where a tube is shoved roughly into his nose, down his throat and into his stomach. He says that he has been fed with so many cans of Ensure that “I felt that my intestines will explode as a result of those pains.”6 Doctors have verified this allegation7. Records indicate that Mr Shabali has suffered such severe pain from force feedings that he “suffered tremors and was crying.”8. Doctors also report that Mr Shabali has been left strapped to the restraint chair (manufactured as a padded cell on wheels) for ‘periods much longer than necessary’9. The independent psychiatrist who examined Mr Shabali concluded that he is suffering from Major depression and Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) consistent with ‘coercive interrogations and other mistreatment’.

“It is uncontested that Mr Shabali needs to be fed more calories, otherwise he will die.”10

Dr Sondra Crosby, 2nd November, 2009.

An independent physician, Dr Crosby, has highlighted concerns around the problems with the naso-gastric tube being forced into the detainee’s stomach11. She states that having a tube inserted over 3000 times is unprecedented. She also pointed to the extreme pain suffered by Mr Shabali due to constant sinus and throat infections due to the feedings and the type of tube used.

This continued ill-treatment is a breach of the USA’s international law obligations. This form of cruelty is unacceptable and must stop. Click here to join Amnesty International in calling on President Obama and Congress to respect human rights, follow the law and counter terror with justice.

Related Information

U.N Commission on Human Rights. Situation of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Human Rights Watch. Locked up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo.

Human Rights Watch. By the Numbers: Findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project.

Physicians for Human Rights Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by the U.S.

Human Rights Center, International Human Rights Law Clinic & Center for Constitutional Rights. Guantanamo and its Aftermath: U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices and their Impact on Former Detainees.

Center for Constitutional Rights website

Physicians for Human Rights website

References

  1. Andrew Wander “Guantanamo Conditions ‘Deteriorate’”

  2. Department of Defense. "Review of Department Compliance with Executive Order on Detainee Condiditons of Confinement"

  3. Andrew Wander “Guantanamo Conditions ‘Deteriorate’”

  4. Andrew Wander “Guantanamo Conditions ‘Deteriorate’” para.13.

  5. Ahmed Ghappour, interview with Reuters, 25th February, 2009. “Exclusive: Lawyer says Guantanamo Abuse Worse Since Obama.” Luke Baker.

  6. Dr. Sondra Crosby’s declaration. Avaliable at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/291-2.pdf

  7. p.4 of Dr. Emily Keram’s declaration. Available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/291-3.pdf

  8. p.4 of Dr. Sondra Crosby’s declaration. Avaliable at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/291-2.pdf

  9. p.2 of Dr. Emily Keram’s declaration. Available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/291-3.pdf

  10. p.3 of Dr. Sondra Crosby’s declaration. Avaliable at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/291-2.pdf

  11. ibid.