Guantanamo Never Existed?

Guantanamo continues to be a place of exception, only showing what it wants to. PÚBLICO went to visit the prison and is following the trials.

In a Guantanamo court Wednesday, an officer with 20 years of American military experience had to answer the question: “What is your view on closing down Guantanamo?” The officer, a bald man whose identity was not revealed, was not a witness, but a prospective member of the Military Commission (equivalent to the jury in civil courts) who will dictate the verdict of a Canadian citizen detained at the age of 15 in Afghanistan and brought to Guantanamo eight years ago. The question was asked by the prosecution, representing the American government in the case of “United States vs. Omar Khadr,” and was repeated each time one of the prospective jurors gave up his chair to another, to answer the questionnaire intended to determine their impartiality in the trial. But no one answered like he did. “The detention facility should be closed. It has eroded America’s moral authority in the world.” And when the prosecution insisted, the officer with academic experience in international relations said, “I don’t think my views differ from those of the president.” And he listed his reasons: prisoners who never get a trial, the use of torture to extract information, the existence of secret [detention camps].

The journalists present in the courtroom commented among themselves about what the officer had just concluded. That evening, the defense and the prosecution returned to plead their reservations about the prospective members of the Military Commission. Out of the 15 officers examined, seven remained. The prosecution and the defense had to justify their motivations and put forth why they were asking for the exclusion of certain members of the jury. But both the prosecution and the defense had a right to an “automatic dismissal” — that is to say, they could remove a juror even after the judge had rejected their allegations. The officer who defended the closing of Guantanamo, identified only as Number 16, was excluded upon request from the prosecution.

It is an example of the paradox that is Guantanamo: Two days after taking office as president of the United States, Barack Obama ordered the closing of the detention camps within one year. But 18 months later, they continue to operate, and the first two trials under the new administration — those of Omar Khadr and Sudanese Ibrahim al Qosi, former cook to Osama bin Laden — only began this week. The standard rigmarole shaped the press releases and was repeated by the insistence that Guantanamo is “safe, humane, legal and transparent,” but the American naval base situated in southeastern Cuba, which the Bush administration reconverted into a terrorist prison, in breach of federal and international law, continues to be the exception.

“Short and Sweet”

More than 30 journalists, including PÚBLICO, were invited to Guantanamo to follow the trials. The press pack given upon arrival is detailed about the number of journalist visits in 2009 (221), more or less equivalent to the current prison population (“approximately 180 detainees”). Guantanamo provides guided tours of the detention camps, but they are brief, superficial and limited — like a guided tour of a tourist attraction. It feels like being a guest in someone else’s house — a guest who cannot cross the only room that was tidied up to impress visitors. The journalists are only taken to the less restrictive detention camps which have “privileged” conditions, like Camp 4 — for “cooperative” prisoners, where there is a community system. The detainees live in small communal houses, and they have recreational and exercise areas, air conditioning, TV, etc. When leaving Guantanamo, the journalists showed what they had been shown: the arrows on the floor indicating the direction of Mecca, the library and the prayer rug.

Only a month and a half ago, the 54-year-old head of Guantanamo, Admiral Jeffrey Harbeson, welcomed journalists to his headquarters — the only carpeted room seen by PÚBLICO since our arrival in Guantanamo. He is a diplomatic man who says he is only carrying out orders from the Department of Defense, and that it is “inspiring to serve with the men and women” who are stationed in Guantanamo. “The arduous conditions” that these soldiers work in is “the true story,” he maintains. And when the journalists insisted on speaking about the prisoners, he said, “Since 2005, all the interrogations have been voluntary.” “We are extremely careful with meals. The detainees have six options: a normal meal, spices, no salt, with a high fiber content, vegetarian, vegetarian with fish. We have a nutritionist that attends to requests made to us. And we serve ice cream twice a week. We take cultural differences very seriously, if you do not want sliced garlic…” Harbeson repeats the expression “secure, humane, legal, transparent” countless times. The conversation with journalists is witnessed by two soldiers from public relations. When Harbeson says that the next day journalists will probably see Camps 4 and 6, he is interrupted by one of them. “Sir, the plan for tomorrow is to visit only Camp 4. We’re keeping it short and sweet.” The officer who said this brought his own tape recorder.

In the Library

Camp 7, where the prisoners of “high value” are allegedly located, was kept secret up until 2008, when an officer confessed its existence to the Associated Press. But to this day, it has not been acknowledged to any reporter, and its location is unknown. In the press pack, Camp 7 is nonexistent.

Jennifer Turner, a monitor for the American Civil Liberties Union, came to Guantanamo to follow the Khadr trial. She explained to PÚBLICO that NGOs like the one she belongs to refuse to visit the detention camps because they demand full access. They do not want a short visit to be used as certification for Guantanamo.

PÚBLICO entered Camp 4, but did not go beyond the library — a prefabricated room near the entrance and, strictly speaking, outside the prison area. To the right of the library door, a plaque fixed to a green mesh that was covering up all that Guantanamo does not want to be seen, said, “Prisoners in the neighborhood. Keep quiet.” Inside the library, a soldier opened the USA Today newspaper in front of the cameras to prove Guantanamo’s respect for those “cultural differences” of its own prisoners. The face of Michelle Obama photographed during her visit to Spain, was a blur of black marker. Female faces are blacked out. “They do not like seeing female faces,” explains the librarian, who neither wanted to be photographed, nor to answer “personal questions” — like everyone, military or not, inside the detention camps.

On the road that passes close to Camp 4, the speed limit is 15 mph. On the other side, the limit is the Caribbean blue sea, which the detainees cannot see. Camp 4 is a huge rectangle fenced in by green mesh and barbed wire. It is a prison best seen from the outside.

Editor’s Note: The above quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.