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13/03/2004
Guantanamo Britons were 'chained to the floor and
beaten' By Sandra
Laville and Nick Britten
Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was last night
forced to address allegations that the American military subjected British
prisoners to psychological torture and beatings during their two years of
detention at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
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Al- Qa'eda and Taliban suspects on their knees at the American base
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Speaking for the first time since
his release this week, Jamal Udeen, 37, from Manchester, outlined a
brutal regime of oppression including being chained to the floor during
12-hour interrogations and having an unknown drug administered by
injection.
In a separate statement, Tarek Dergoul, 26, from east
London, said he had been interrogated at gunpoint, beaten and subjected to
"botched medical treatment" thought to involve amputation.
The men were seized in Afghanistan in late 2001 and
transferred to Cuba in hoods, blindfolds and chains that shackled them to
the floor of the aircraft. Challenged about the allegations that they were
beaten in the camp, Mr Powell said: "I think that unlikely . . . we don't
abuse people in our care. Now it is not a resort . . . in Guantanamo Bay,
but at the same time we did not abuse the individuals."
He said there were visits from the International Red
Cross and the charges levied at America were not warranted.
Lt Cdr Barbara Burfeind, for the Pentagon, said all the
interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo were within the standards of
international law.
The allegations surfaced after a week in which the men
had been released from Guantanamo, flown home, questioned by
anti-terrorist police in Britain and finally reunited with their families.
Dergoul described his treatment at Guantanamo Bay as
"horrific". Louise Christian, his solicitor, said the process of talking
about his experiences was proving painful and difficult.
"Tarek Dergoul has started to try to give his family . .
. an account of the horrific things that happened to him during detention
at Bagram, Kandahar and Guantanamo Bay," she said.
"This has included an account of botched medical
treatment, interrogation at gunpoint, beatings and inhuman conditions.
"Tarek finds it very difficult to talk about things and
his family believe his mental health has been severely affected by the
trauma."
In interviews with ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald and
The Daily Mirror, Udeen claimed prostitutes were taken to the camp and
used to degrade and insult the detainees' religious beliefs.
He alleged that men who were known to be devout or were
younger and unmarried were taken from their cells to a separate unit and
forced to watch the women strip.
"I knew of these practices happening about 10 times,"
said Udeen, from Manchester. "It seemed to be those who were very young or
known to be particularly religious who would be taken away. The Americans
obviously knew we wouldn't be shocked by seeing Western women, so they
didn't bother.
"It was a profoundly disturbing experience for these men.
They would refuse to speak about what had happened."
He also described a unit in the camp known as Extreme
Reaction Force - ERF - and claimed they beat him with batons, fists and
feet, shouting, "Comply, comply, comply" when he refused to have an
injection of an unknown drug.
He said he was then moved to the isolation cell where
bright lights were kept on throughout the night to stop him sleeping.
The father of three was discovered in a Taliban prison in
Kandahar after the militia retreated from the southern Afghan city
following the American bombing campaign in late 2001. He said he had been
travelling in Pakistan and was in Quetta when he realised war was
imminent.
Heading for Europe, he hired a local driver to take him
through Iran to Turkey, not realising that the route involved crossing the
border into Afghanistan.
On the Kandahar road the lorry was stopped by Taliban
soldiers and he was thrown into prison in the southern city and held for
three months.
When the Americans arrived in the city he was moved to an
airbase, interrogated and from there transferred to Guantanamo Bay in
chains.
He told the programme he was chained to the floor during
40 interrogations by the CIA, FBI and MI5 that lasted up to 12 hours a
time and involved them repeatedly demanding he admit to being a terrorist.
Martin Bashir challenged him: "Have you ever had any
connection with a terrorist organisation?"
"No, I think I've been asked that question for two years.
The answer's still no," he replied
"Are you a terrorist yourself?" Mr Bashir said.
"Obviously not," he replied. "Or else I'd be arrested,
I'd still be in Cuba or the Brits would have arrested me."
Asked if he wanted revenge, Mr Udeen said no. What he
wanted was for America to acknowledge the treatment was wrong and
apologise, he said. "I'd like them to be in court and admit it." |
13 March 2004
Guantanamo detainees say US military
tortured them By Robert
Verkaik and Ian Herbert
Two of the British men freed from Guantanamo Bay have accused their
American captors of inhuman treatment, which included being beaten and
interrogated at gunpoint.
Jamal al-Harith, 37, told yesterday's Mirror newspaper how a squad of five
US military police attacked him with batons, fists, feet and knives after
he refused to receive an injection. Mr Harith, of Manchester, said the
squad, from the US military's Extreme Reaction Force, chanted "comply,
comply. Do not resist. Do not resist," while conducting the attack. "They
were really gung-ho, hyped up and aggressive," he said. "One of them
attacked me really hard and left me with a deep red mark from my backbone
down to my knee." Half an hour later, a second attack was carried out on
him.
"The beatings were not nearly as bad as the psychological torture -
bruises heal after a week but the other stuff stays with you. The whole
point of Guantanamo was to get to you psychologically," Mr Harith, a
divorced father-of-three, told the newspaper, which paid him for his
story.
Tareq Dergoul, another of the five Britons released from the Cuban camp on
Tuesday, also alleges he was the victim of a botched operation which led
to the amputation of his arm in his first account of his two years'
detention. Mr Dergoul, 26, a former care worker from Bethnal Green, east
London, made it clear yesterday that he holds the British government
equally responsible for his ordeal.
Mr Dergoul is believed to have been captured by American forces near the
Taliban strong-hold of Tora Bora in Afghanistan before being taken to
Bagram airbase. It is understood that he suffered injuries to his arm and
had to have it amputated by an American medical team.
In a statement issued yesterday through his solicitor, Louise Christian,
it was clear that he was finding it difficult describing his terrible
experiences to his family. The statement said: "Tareq Dergoul has started
to try to give his family and his solicitor Louise Christian an account of
the horrific things which happened to him during detention at Bagram,
Kandahar and Guantanamo Bay. This has included an account of botched
medical treatment, interrogation at gunpoint, beatings and inhuman
conditions."
It added: "Tareq Dergoul condemns the US and the UK governments for these
gross breaches of human rights and demands the immediate release of all
the other detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
"Tareq finds it very difficult to talk about things and his family believe
his mental health has been severely affected by the trauma he has
suffered. We therefore appeal to the media to respect his privacy and not
to try and find him.
"His family do not anticipate that he will be speaking to any journalists
in the foreseeable future because of his poor health."
Ms Christian also made it clear yesterday that the publicist Max Clifford
would not be helping Mr Dergoul to sell his story. She said: "Max Clifford
has never met Tareq Dergoul and he never will."
In addition to the beatings, Mr Harith said the abuse at the camp included
US soldiers bringing in prostitutes and parading them naked in front of
devout Muslims.
On at least 10 occasions, prisoners who had never before seen an
"unveiled" woman would be forced to watch them parade up and down,
touching their own bodies. "It was a profoundly disturbing experience for
these men," he said. "They would refuse to speak about what had happened.
It would take perhaps four weeks for them to tell a friend." Mr al
Harithsaid he accidentally strayed into Afghanistan, believing he had paid
a lorry driver to take him to Turkey, via Iran. He was arrested there on
allegations of spying.
Camp X-Ray Regime
The regime, as Mr Harith describes it:
. Prisoners were shackled for up to 15 hours at a time in hand and leg
cuffs with links that cut into the skin
. They were kept in wire cages that were open to the elements, as well as
rats, snakes and scorpions
. Psychological torture included being denied water before prayers,
meaning Muslims could not wash according to their religion, and depriving
one inmate of food, while the others on a block ate
. Force feeding was used to end a hunger strike by 70 per cent of the 600
inmates, which started after a guard kicked a copy of the Koran
. When carrying out an amputation, US medical staff often removed more of
a limb than was necessary
. Prisoners were left malnourished by a diet of porridge and fruit. Some
food was 10 years out of date
. Treats included pizzas, ice cream and McDonald's and the occasional
chance to watch a James Bond film
13 March 2004 14:55
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Queen
Victoria
