It’s clear there are serious problems at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. holds about 540 prisoners – mostly “enemy combatants” suspected of terrorist activities or ties to al-Qaeda or the former Taliban regime. Captured since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, most of the prisoners are being held without charges.
Last month, Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, issued an indictment of the prison, which the organization called the “gulag of our time.” This hyperbole drew justified criticism, and Amnesty president William Schultz later said it wasn’t meant as “an exact or a literal analogy” to Soviet camps where millions died.
Exaggerated or absurd, the charge brought fresh attention to allegations of prisoner abuse or worse.
Former President Jimmy Carter said the prison should be closed, an idea that has been echoed by a rising chorus that includes Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida. At a conference in Atlanta, Carter said closing the Guantanamo prison would demonstrate Washington’s commitment to international human rights. “The U.S. continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation … because of reports concerning abuse of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo,” Carter said.
Administration officials say the prison won’t be closed, so it is essential that they clean up its operations. The status quo is unacceptable. Continuing revelations – such as Time Magazine’s account of bizarre treatment meted out to Mohammed al Qahtani, a Saudi suspected of ties to the Sept. 11 hijackers – stoke international rebuke.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that “as long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility will continue to be needed.” Vice President Dick Cheney, earlier, said, “the people at Guantanamo are bad people. I mean, these are terrorists for the most part.”
Even so, the U.S. needs to modify its “intensive” interrogation methods. Though they may not be as brutal as KGB techniques, they still may violate international conventions and common decency.
The White House must make absolutely sure that detainees are treated according to traditional American concepts of justice and humanity and international law.
