Click to read Media Guidelines for Gitmo
http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/09/10/14/Media_Grounds_Rules_for_Guantanamo_Bay.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf
“Hey, what kind of people vote to fund a prison that’s 95% full of men who haven’t been charged with a crime after eleven and a half years?” Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, (Airforce)http://rt.com/op-edge/guantanamo-transfer-hunger-strike-295/
Below is excerpts... Every American needs to know that MOST have not been charged with a crime. The abuse done to detainees will ONLY make them hate America. Maybe they can't be released due to the fear that they will speak out abuse and it will create more extremist terrorist attacks. A "real" discussion needs to take place.... This in NOT how America is supposed to treat people. Would we want one of our soldiers treated the "same" even if they were NOT charged with a crime?
RT: This vote by the House of Representatives must be a massive blow, not just to hunger strikers but to you and all those who represent them. You might as well give up now?
Barry Wingard: No. We’re not going to give up, so long as men are imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay we’re not going to stop fighting on their behalf. On Tuesday, yesterday, we spent with my client, Fayiz Al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti, we spent his 37th birthday here at Guantanamo Bay. He’s been at Guantanamo Bay 11 and a half years, a third of his life. We’re not giving up. Part of our discussion focused on the House vote today, when we met. And he asked me, “Hey, what kind of people vote to fund a prison that’s 95% full of men who haven’t been charged with a crime after eleven and a half years?” And I have to tell you, I had no answer for him. It is a mystery to me what kind of person says “We don’t care if you’ve done anything, you’re staying in Guantanamo Bay.”
RT: Now, in his recent speech Obama made it very clear he was determined to close down the prison. So, is he in a position to do just that without Congress?
BW: Well, let me tell you, under the National Security Waiver he can do that with the Secretary of Defense, he does have that power. He continues to blame Congress, and Congress continues to blame him. I mean, the words of May the 23rd are beginning to fade, it’s time for this administration to either put up, or to at least tell us what’s really going to happen. The President does have the authority to release men from Guantanamo Bay, to include men like Shaker Aamer back to London [England], an ally of the United States.
BW: Well, let me tell you, under the National Security Waiver he can do that with the Secretary of Defense, he does have that power. He continues to blame Congress, and Congress continues to blame him. I mean, the words of May the 23rd are beginning to fade, it’s time for this administration to either put up, or to at least tell us what’s really going to happen. The President does have the authority to release men from Guantanamo Bay, to include men like Shaker Aamer back to London [England], an ally of the United States.
RT: What about the force feeding issue, accusations that it in fact entails torture? If people are in fact on hunger strike the prisoners need to be kept alive, and the prison authorities are doing just that -- are they still force feeding them, and if so, it is justified isn’t it?
BW: No, we disagree. We believe that a person who is alive and can make a decision as to what to do with their own bodies can make that decision. I mean these men began a hunger strike over their hopeless situation of indefinite detention and instead of responding to their peaceful demonstration what we’ve seen is a lot of violence and retaliation, and solitary confinement and confiscations. We’ve seen aggressive searching -- my client reported to me today that when he was coming out to visit with us they went out of their way to aggressively search him, in a very uncomfortable way. I mean, that’s not accidental, that’s intentional.
BW: No, we disagree. We believe that a person who is alive and can make a decision as to what to do with their own bodies can make that decision. I mean these men began a hunger strike over their hopeless situation of indefinite detention and instead of responding to their peaceful demonstration what we’ve seen is a lot of violence and retaliation, and solitary confinement and confiscations. We’ve seen aggressive searching -- my client reported to me today that when he was coming out to visit with us they went out of their way to aggressively search him, in a very uncomfortable way. I mean, that’s not accidental, that’s intentional.
RT: How is it going to be resolved? What are the next steps you are going to take along with others who are representing detainees, what’s the next step for you now after what seems to be a fairly pessimistic result there from Washington?
BW: Well, I’m going to go back to the fact that the President does have the ability to release these men. I represent the men from Kuwait, where they’ve built a $40 million rehabilitation center. This whole argument that there is nowhere for them to go -- we’re going to continue to fight, we’re going to continue to demand justice. This isn’t about soccer fields or Arabic libraries, we’re going to continue to fight in the media, we’re going to continue to fight in the habeas corpus arena. The military commissions are no solution, they’ve done seven cases in eleven years. So we’re going to try and get these guys real justice from the federal court system.
BW: Well, I’m going to go back to the fact that the President does have the ability to release these men. I represent the men from Kuwait, where they’ve built a $40 million rehabilitation center. This whole argument that there is nowhere for them to go -- we’re going to continue to fight, we’re going to continue to demand justice. This isn’t about soccer fields or Arabic libraries, we’re going to continue to fight in the media, we’re going to continue to fight in the habeas corpus arena. The military commissions are no solution, they’ve done seven cases in eleven years. So we’re going to try and get these guys real justice from the federal court system.
No progress ending Guantanamo hunger strike or prisoner transfers ...
RT-5 hours ago
President Obama announced his intention to resume cleared prisoner transfers out of GuantanamoBay in May. However, according to Lt. Col.
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