[prisoner-rights] New Amnesty International report condemns conditions in Guantánamo

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement 
AI Index: AMR 51/060/2007
5 April 2007 00:00 GMT 

The large majority of detainees who remain in Guantánamo are held in cruel 
conditions of isolation which flout international standards, according to 
a new report, "USA: Cruel and inhuman -- Conditions of isolation for 
detainees in Guantánamo Bay", published by Amnesty International today. 

Most detainees have suffered harsh treatment throughout their detention, 
confined to mesh cages or maximum security cells. Moreover, a new facility 
which opened in December 2006, known as Camp 6, has created even harsher 
and apparently more permanent conditions of extreme isolation and sensory 
deprivation. 

Detainees are confined for 22 hours a day to individual, enclosed, steel 
cells where they are almost completely cut off from human contact. The 
cells have no windows to the outside or access to natural light or fresh 
air. No activities are provided, and detainees are subjected to 24 hour 
lighting and constant observation by guards through the narrow windows in 
the cell doors. They exercise alone in a high-walled yard where little 
sunlight filters through; detainees are often only offered exercise at 
night and may not see daylight for days at a time. 

The US authorities have described Camp 6 as a "state of the art modern 
facility" which is safer for guards and "more comfortable" for the 
detainees. However, Amnesty International believes that the conditions, as 
shown in photographs and described by detainees and their attorneys, 
contravene international standards for humane treatment. In some respects, 
they appear more severe than the most restrictive levels of 
"super-maximum" custody on the US mainland, which have been criticized by 
international bodies as incompatible with human rights treaties and 
standards. 

It appears that around 80 per cent of the approximately 385 men currently 
held at Guantánamo are in isolation -- a reversal of earlier moves to ease 
conditions and allow more socialising among detainees. According to the 
Pentagon, 165 detainees had been transferred to Camp 6 from other 
facilities on the base by mid-January 2007. A further 100 detainees are 
held in solitary confinement in Camp 5, another maximum security facility. 

As many as 20 detainees are also believed to be held in solitary 
confinement in Camp Echo, a facility set apart from others on the base, 
where conditions have been described by the International Committee of the 
Red Cross (ICRC) as "extremely harsh". 

Shaker Aamer, a UK resident and former camp negotiator, has been held in 
total isolation in Camp Echo since September 2005. Saber Lahmer, an 
Algerian seized in Bosnia, has also spent the last 10 months in Camp Echo. 
Both men are reportedly confined to small, windowless cells with little 
exercise and no possessions apart from a copy of the Qu.ran. Saber Lahmer 
reportedly refused to leave his cell for a pre-arranged visit with his 
attorneys in March, causing grave concern for his mental health. 

Security on the camp is reported to have significantly tightened following 
a protracted hunger strike and the deaths of three detainees from apparent 
suicide in June 2006. Many of those transferred to Camp 6 were previously 
held in Camp 4 where they lived communally in barracks and had access to a 
range of recreational activities. Camp 4 is now reported to house only 
around 35 detainees, down from 180 in May 2006. 

"It appears that detainees are being placed in extreme lock-down 
conditions not because of their individual behaviour" AI said "but because 
of harsher camp operating procedures". 

Among those held in isolation in Camps 5 or 6 are detainees slated for 
release or transfer. They include a number Uighars, Chinese Muslims 
cleared for release but who cannot be returned to China because of the 
risk of persecution. 

The organization is concerned that, as well as being inhumane, the 
conditions could have a serious adverse effect on the psychological and 
physical health of many of the detainees, exacerbating the stress inherent 
in their indefinite detention without trial or access to their families. 
Lawyers who have recently visited detainees in Camp 6 have expressed 
concern about the impact of the conditions on the mental state of a number 
of their clients. 

Amnesty International is calling for Guantánamo to be closed and for 
detainees to be charged and tried under international fair trial norms or 
else released. 
In the meantime, the organization is urging the US government to take 
immediate steps to alleviate conditions in the camp to ensure that all 
detainees are treated in accordance with international law and standards. 

Such steps include ensuring that no detainee is subjected to prolonged 
solitary confinement in conditions of reduced sensory stimulation, and 
allowing detainees more association and activities as well as regular 
contact with their families with opportunities for phone calls and visits. 

Amnesty International is also calling on the government to allow 
independent health care professionals into Guantánamo to examine detainees 
in private and to allow visits by independent human right organizations 
and UN human rights experts. 

For further information, see: "USA: Cruel and inhuman -- Conditions of 
isolation for detainees in Guantánamo Bay", AI Index: AMR 51/051/2007, 
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510512007.