Brutal Conditions inside Cuban Cage

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | 1/20/02 | Vickie Maye

[denydenydeny]

The latest photographs from Camp X-Ray show the harsh, brutal conditions at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. Dressed in bright orange overalls, some with tight-fitting orange hats covering their shaved heads, the imprisoned terrorists kneel face down behind barbed wire fences as army officers inspect them.

Since their eyes are covered with goggles and their faces hidden by white masks, it is impossible to identify them. Even their manacled hands are covered with black cloth.

But Terry Hicks will still scrutinise these new images, hoping he will see something he recognises that will identify one of the men as his son David, according to his lawyer and spokesman Stephen Kenny.

"The family has already scanned a number of photographs looking to see if it's their son and they will do the same with these new pictures," said Mr Kenny, a South Australian civil rights lawyer who is acting on behalf of the family free of charge.

"To date they have not been able to recognise him due to the manner in which these people are being covered and contained. They are most anxious."

Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners wait in a holding area under the watchful eyes of military police.

The photographs have distressed Hicks's father Terry, his stepmother and stepbrother.

"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.

The latest photographs were expected to be shown to the family at their Adelaide home late yesterday.

Hicks is one of 110 Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners being held in the 1.8m by 2.4m outdoor chain link cells on the Caribbean island.

Human rights advocates have complained that the prisoners are being kept in inhumane conditions and are pressing the US Government to classify the captives as prisoners of war.

Four Red Cross workers visited the fortified camp on Friday and questioned the prisoners about their treatment in the first inspection by independent experts. The delegation included a physician, an expert on prison conditions and a linguist who speaks several languages, including Arabic. They met with military officials before visiting the prisoners' compound as part of the week-long visit. Interviews were to be voluntary and include questions about the prisoners' health, detention conditions and treatment.

Another prisoner is led away.

The prisoners are fed three meals a day - bagels for breakfast, beef stew and rice for dinner and various snack foods for lunch. They have access to showers and medical attention.

They are given a sheet, blanket and two towels - one for washing and one for praying. Two buckets are also provided, one for washing and one for bathroom needs. Shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush and soap are also on hand, as is a copy of the Koran.

They are allowed to walk around a heavily secured yard. The US maintains they are being treated humanely.

Hicks has not been charged with any crime and public pressure is mounting on the Federal Government to bring him home to face justice, although it is unclear what, if any, laws he has broken.

"It concerns us greatly that he has been in custody for over a month now and still the US has not brought forward any charges or any allegations and they have not allowed him any legal representation," Mr Kenny said.

"If he is not a prisoner of war and they are alleging he is a criminal then he is entitled to be charged, he is entitled to know what those charges are, he is entitled to know the evidence against him and have access to legal representation."

[denydenydeny]

Where exactly were all these human rights warriors when, in Cuba, Armando Valladares was

Forced to drink from fetid puddles, to stand for hours on end in sewage ponds and be continuously beaten about the head and shoulders until covered in dried fecal matter and barely able to walk, the prisoners of Castro's gulag faced seemingly endless despair and crippling treatment on a daily basis.

Forced labor, lack of food and fresh water, beatings and executions, being used as a toilet by Castro's thugs these are the glories of life for Cubans defined by Castro as "enemies of the Revolution."

I guess they were out of town then. Of course Valladares was in prison for 22 years.

[rockfish59]

'human rights'= 'new communism'

[Arkinsaw]

I think these parents concern about their son is a little late. Perhaps they should have shown this level of concern when he ran off and joined Al-Qaeda.

[Gillmeister]

I totally agree....The Human rights violations when the WTC towers collapsed were ridculous. Who cares how we treat them, they get 3 squares aday, and a copy of the Koran. Get over it.

[LibKill]

BooHooF-----gHoo.

These liberal weenies don't want to know what would have happened to those scum if I had my way.

[null and void]

My heart bleeds for these Talibastards. Not.

[joeyman]

So what! Those creeps are lucky to even be alive. I remember reading the WSJ years ago where it talked about a favorite way Afgans killed their prisoners was to literally skin them alive and then watch them bleed to death. Sounds a lot less horrific than sitting in a cage in GITMO (matter of fact it sounds a lot less horrific than going through REFTRA (refreasher training) in the 80s on ships about to reenter the fleet.

[mombonn]

Conditions inside the Twin Towers, Pentagon, and Flight 93 were vastly more brutal.

I have NO sympathy for any complaints concerning Guantanamo Bay.

[dighton]

Excellent point.

Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag

[FITZ]

If conditions are rotten enough, they'll just think they're back in some Islamic country.

[sinkspur]

"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.

I wonder if it distressed these blatherskites that their precious baby was fighting on behalf of a monster who killed over 3,000 Americans in two hours?

If it were up to me, your "baby" would be at room temperature, and we'd be shipping him back to you in pieces.

[vavavah]

Hopefully Mr. Hicks your son David is dead and rottting in Afganistan......Woops did I say that....Damn there I go thinking out loud......

[tbeatty]

No way do we declare them POWs. If they are POWs, they have to be released at the "end of hostilities". Let's fire up the tribunals and end the debate on these clowns.

[jwalsh07]

When I was real young I worked in the islands for a few years building roads and airports. There cells sound like my pad, basically a screened room and a slab where the plants ad I got watered when it rained.

[He Rides A White Horse]

These are the same people vowing to kill their captors before they leave Gitmo.........

[Honcho]

Minus 1000 points. You didn't use a barf alert.

[JZoback]

The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage,...

Would they prefer a buried wooden box or under a pile of rubble in a cave?

My guess they should stop whining and be thankful he's alive

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Bring them to the mainland...we all know how safe our prison system is. On second thought, not a bad idea, lots of lonely men needing wives in the pokey.

[Benrand]

WHere were these people when women were being beaten in the streets of Kabul and elsewhere?

Yes, let's give all soverignty to a-holes like these and those fools that put together that Durban conference on racism that blamed us Americans for all the ills of the world.

It's not brutal enough...I'd chemically lobotomize these psychotic maniacs.

[Kaslin]

The prisoners are fed three meals a day - bagels for breakfast, beef stew and rice for dinner and various snack foods for lunch. They have access to showers and medical attention.

This is more then enough for thes scums

[da_toolman]

Poor babies

Reckon it ain't as BRUTAL as it was in the twin towers...

[wretchard]

I would actually pay to lead a life like that, if I didn't have to be restrained. When I retire, I am going to put up hammock in the a garden under a shed and close out my days reading books. If I can get the Marines to make my meals, without my ever having to cook, and provide security, it would be gravy. But I guess they deserve the bars. Too bad about the bars.

[Kaslin]

thes= these

[set the record straight]

Maybe we should just execute the son and send him home to his PAPA.

[kayak]

The prisoners are fed three meals a day - bagels for breakfast, beef stew and rice for dinner and various snack foods for lunch.

That is one whole heck of a lot better diet than the grass patties and bread made out of grass that those poor people in Afghanistan are having to eat. Those sub-animals should be thankful for their bounty.

[Exit148]

Daddy is distressed because of a 'wire cage'?? would he prefer an enclosed room where the air doesn't freely circulate? (with that pail, yet!?) I've never been to Cuba, but I think it can get quite hot there, and I think I'd take the wire, anytime!

Besides, who could trust the b------s if they weren't constantly watched?

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Among the--at last count--8 million meanings of the Islamic term "jihad" is "to struggle."

These thugs wanted a jihad, and we're giving them their jihad.

Why is this a problem?

[denydenydeny]

Daddy wants air conditioning, I'll wager.

[rockfish59]

'POKEy'
lol!

[dts32041]

Understand one of the guards was bitten today. Looks like it is time for 100 MPH tape again.

Either that, or keep them hooded when moving them.

[contessa machiaveli]

i'd be in favor of throwing tomatoes at the little twerp. who the hell cares what the conditions are in camp x-ray.

[rockfish59]

blatherskites

looked it up and what a great word!!!

[kassie]

I just can't feel sorry for these people.

[AM2000]

less?

[rockfish59]

let's not forget the harsh, brutal treatment that's gone on on the OTHER side of the base fence!

can you say, ELIAN???

[magellan]

"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.

I've got a better idea. Let's take Mr Kenny's son to the top of a tall building, set the building on fire, and give his son the choice of burning alive, or leaping to his death.

[Rainbow Rising]

"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.

Many American families are extremely distressed, knowing that their loved ones lie crushed and burned and dismembered beneath the remains of two 110-story towers, thanks to this punk's comrades-in-arms. He made his bed -- are we supposed to be upset because he can't sleep in it?

[Wagonmaster]

Now there's a thought!

[Musket]

maybe they should be put on the front line of a chain gang on their hands and knees cleaning up the WTC site. I'm sure they could use some help down there.

[usconservative]

Human rights advocates have complained that the prisoners are being kept in inhumane conditions and are pressing the US Government to classify the captives as prisoners of war.

Send these "human rights" advocates to ground zero and let 'em dig for one of our 3,000+ missing and see if that changes their minds.

This liberal shat makes me want to vomit. They are more concerned with these ANIMAL'S "rights" than the damage they caused to America. Sickening.

[1 FELLOW FREEPER]

Brutal conditions? What, no dancing? Give me a Hillerich& Bradsby......I'LL get them to dance !!

[rockfish59]

a good idea!
but the firemen would tear them to pieces!
(not that i'm suggesting anything)

[Noumenon]

If it were up to me, your "baby" would be at room temperature, and we'd be shipping him back to you in pieces.

On this, at least, we can make common cause. A tip 'o the hat...

[JSteff]

"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.

Uh, Mr. Kenny, tell the families we think they are selfish and small in their concerns. We would like to know where the families were when their beloved children were shooting at other human beings. We would like to know why they were with known terrorist organizations who have killed thousands and were planning to kill more. We would also like to know why, since they were combat soldiers with those terrorist organizations why they think that bathing, three squares a day, clean clothing, towels, and balankets, sleeping outside in a tropical paridise is inhuman?

They should have received the same their organizations have given their victims, death with no warning. So Mr. Kenny tell the families to consider your sons as very, very lucky considering.

[spokeshave]

Where were the civil rights clowns being concerned about a particularly brutal killing developed by the talibans that involved filling the lungs with petrol...setting fire to it and cheering the victim dancing around

[Anamensis]

If it were up to me, every last one of these creatures would get a bullet in the head and an unmarked grave. Period.

[Brad C.]

Or we could offer to transfer the prisoners over to the Cuban prisons. I hear that they use actual prison cells over there, so the prisoners wouldn't be exposed to the elements. They might even enjoy the local food more than that trash we are feeding them. Don't the Cubans eat a lot of pork?

[Pushi]

Understand one of the guards was bitten today.

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Time to call a dentist for a few extractions.