Thursday, May 19, 2005
About the post below, I'd like to point out that the Dorsey & Whitney detainee statements were made by men who are still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. They haven't read news accounts about the US's treatment of other detainees regarding religious persecution or anything else. Therefore, to the extent that these statements resonate with the recent claims of religious persecution in America's gulags and, indeed, to the extent that they are similar in content to the testimonies of other detainees regarding abuse and torture, such as Britain's Tipton Three and Cuba Four, they are corroborating the earlier claims, supporting the Newsweek allegations, and supporting the veracity of the Dorsey & Whitney detainee statements themselves.
As just one example of nontrivial corroboration, former British detainee Jamal al-Harith told the Mirror that he was beaten with "fists, feet and batons" for refusing a "mystery injection" early in his imprisonment at Gitmo, whereas Abdullah Al Noaimi, one of the four men represented by Dorsey & Whitney, describes receiving a mystery injection early in his stay at Gitmo:
Jamal al-Harith and two of the D&W Four also provide strikingly similar accounts of the use of sexualized interactions with female interrogators to humiliate and degrade particularly religious detainees.
As just one example of nontrivial corroboration, former British detainee Jamal al-Harith told the Mirror that he was beaten with "fists, feet and batons" for refusing a "mystery injection" early in his imprisonment at Gitmo, whereas Abdullah Al Noaimi, one of the four men represented by Dorsey & Whitney, describes receiving a mystery injection early in his stay at Gitmo:
Within his first few days at Guantanamo, Mr. Al Noaimi was injected with an unknown substance which made him depressed and despondent. He was unable to control his thoughts and his mind raced. He also was unable to control his body and fell to the floor. Mr. Al Noaimi was asked if he wanted to hurt himself and he replied that he did not. He was asked if he wanted to be shot and he replied, "go ahead." Mr. Al Noaimi was then put in isolation for three days. Isolation consisted of a freezing cold metal cell without blankets. Bright lights were kept on constantly and he was awakened every hour. The medical staff also administered an unknown medicine to Mr. Al Noaimi that made him feel drunk. After several days he refused to take the medicine.
Jamal al-Harith and two of the D&W Four also provide strikingly similar accounts of the use of sexualized interactions with female interrogators to humiliate and degrade particularly religious detainees.
