By Erica Laster Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, United States – Newly released Wikileaks documents reinforce human rights activist’s beliefs that Guantanamo Bay detainees receive improper and abusive treatment at the hands of U.S. government officials. Still more of the documents indicate that many of the detainee cases may be based upon flawed evidence. The documents’ release only serves to further fuel the controversy over the inadequate system used to hold detainees and the inability of the government to close the prison permanently.
The newly released documents span two administrations ranging from 2002-2009. Jay Carney, White House spokesman, emphasized the fact that readers must realize much of the content is attributable to the Bush Administration. “A detainee assessment brief in 2006 may or may not be reflective of the administration or the government’s view of that particular detainee in 2011,” Carney stated.
The documents detail the number of inmates that have been transferred out of Guantanamo Bay since inception and the level of threat that each detainee poses to national security upon release. These are referred to as Detainee Assessment Briefs (DAB’s), the documents indicate that 604 inmates have been released while 172 remain in Guantanamo Bay as inmates.
The Brief’s further contain photographs of the detainees and suspected terrorists and details of more than 700 detainee interrogations.
“These documents are remarkable because they show just how questionable the government’s basis has been for detaining hundreds of people, in some cases indefinitely, at Guantanamo,” stated Hina Shamsi, ACLU’s National Security Project Director.
Shamsi further stated that the assessments provided are not only one-sided, but confirm torture allegations and speculations on the part of detainees and human rights activists fighting to end the process of indefinite detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
The Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement which indicates their belief that the documents “provide more public detail on the many innocent men at Guantanamo, many of whom remained and remain there long after the government knew they were innocent.”
According to the Washington Post, U.S. officials responded by criticizing news and media outlets decision to publicize the leaked documents considering that they contain “sensitive information.” The files were released by European and American newspapers.
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Washington Post – Guantanamo Bay: Why Obama hasn’t fulfilled his promise to close the facility – 23 April 2011
ABC News – WikiLeaks Guantanamo Files Reveal Faces, Lives of ‘Enemy Combatants’ – 25 April 2011
Washington Post – Guantanamo Documents Revive Debate – 25 April 2011
Washington Post – Leaked Gitmo documents provide fresh information on background of terror suspects – 25 April 2011
