The Other Guantanamo Bays
New Internationalist magazine,
June 2004
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, the arrest and detention
of suspected terrorists have been undermining what have hitherto
been regarded internationally as minimum acceptable standards
in criminal law procedures. While precise figures are unknown,
it is now estimated that up to ~ 5,000 people ore being held in
detention because of the 'war against terror': most without being
charged or tried; some in solitary confinement; all cut off from
their families, friends and an ability to defend themselves. The
US base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay is the most publicized venue
for this assault on human rights, where more than 600 people from
an estimated 40 countries have been detained without charge -
most for more than two and a half years. But the trend is worldwide,
as this Nl survey makes clear.
Diego Garcia
US officials say that nearly 3,000 al-Qaeda
members and their supporters have been detained worldwide since
11 September 2001. While the location of most of them is not publicly
advertised, the Washington Post has claimed that at least some
of these prisoners are being held on the island of Diego Garcia
- a 44-square-kilometre Indian Ocean island owned by Britain and
home to one of the largest US military bases in the world. There
is mounting speculation that prisoners are held at Camp Justice
on the island for a process of interrogation known as 'rendering':
a process where non-co-operators are kept standing or kneeling
for hours on end, hooded or clad in spray-painted goggles. At
times, they are held in painful or awkward positions and deprived
of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights under 'stress and
duress' (a tactic employed at Guantanamo Bay). These reports were
denied by the then British Foreign Office Minister, Baroness Amos.
However, Time (Asia) magazine reported last October that Riduan
Isamuddin (also known as Hambali, who is believed to be operations
chief of Jemaah Islamiah - the group behind the Bali bombing)
has been held on Diego Garcia. Meanwhile, campaigners Lindsey
Collen and Ragini Kistnasamy in Britain's Independent newspaper
claim that members of the Iraqi leadership are being held there.
Uzbekistan
For the past decade, the Government of
Uzbekistan has persecuted Muslims in a campaign that has resulted
in the arrest, torture, public degradation, and incarceration
of an estimated 7,000 people. This campaign - which has intensified
since 11 September 2001- is now officially justified in terms
of the rhetoric of the 'war on terror'. While many have been randomly
arrested and imprisoned, few have been charged with acts of terrorism
or conspiracy to commit terrorism. Human Rights Watch reported
in March 2004 that the targets of this campaign are non-violent
believers who preach or study Islam outside the official institutions
and guidelines, including independent imams and their followers
that the Government incorrectly term as 'fundamentalists'. Human
rights defenders are now also being caught in the net, with Yuldash
Rasulov, for example, being sentenced to seven years' imprisonment
for spreading 'religious extremism'. Numerous cases have now been
documented where victims have been tortured while in detention
- in 10 cases tortured to death. Examples include Muzafar Avazov
who was sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment for teaching classes
on Islam. His body was found with burns, bruises, open wounds
and no fingernails. As a consequence of the Government's abusive
human rights record $50 million in US aid to Uzbekistan is now
in the balance.
Egypt
Egypt has been governed by state of emergency
legislation almost continuously since 1958. The emergency law
gives the Government extensive powers to suspend basic liberties,
including powers to arrest suspects at will and detain them without
trial for prolonged periods, and to refer civilians to military
or exceptional state security courts. These tribunals allow no
appeal to a higher judicial body. Since 11 September 2001 the
use of these powers has intensified. In February 2003 Egypt extended
its state of emergency legislation for a further three years.
Reports of torture being used against those in detention is increasing:
17 are suspected of dying because of it in just two years. While
security forces used to reserve torture for political dissidents,
today 'ordinary Egyptians who find themselves in police custody
for any reason whatsoever risk being tortured,' says Joe Stork,
of Human Rights Watch. Thus the Egyptian Government arrested hundreds
of anti-war activists, demonstrators, journalists, and passers-by
during anti-war demonstrations in March 2003. While most of these
were released within 24 hours, dozens have been held for much
longer periods. Detainees told Human Rights Watch of beatings
by security officials using sticks, belts, fists and feet during
interrogations. Both male and female detainees reported sexual
violence and abuse including threats of rape, groping, and beatings
on the genitals.
Britain
In December 2001, the British Home Secretary
informed the Council of Europe that there was a national emergency
threatening the life of his country that was so extreme that Britain
needed to withdraw from its treaty obligation not to detain individuals
without trial. The resulting legislation - the Anti-Terrorism,
Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) - allows the Secretary of State
to designate foreign nationals as 'suspected international terrorists'
who can be detained indefinitely without any evidence being presented
at trial. While this designation can be appealed, the Act allows
evidence to be considered that is not disclosed to the detainees
or their lawyers and therefore cannot be effectively challenged
by them. No other country of the now 40-plus member states of
Europe has followed this lead. The morning after the new law was
passed 10 people were seized from their homes and taken straight
to Belmarsh Prison and Woodhill Prison near Milton Keynes. A total
of 14 foreigners (all of whom at some stage in their lives have
fled to Britain from persecution in another country) have been
certificated by the Home Secretary as needing to be indefinitely
detained. Lawyers have only been able to see limited evidence
against their clients, the quality of which they found extremely
questionable but which will never be tested in an open court.
New Zealand/Aotearoa
The extent to which national security
can override individual human rights has been very visibly played
out in the case of exiled Algerian politician Ahmed Zaoui who
sought asylum in New Zealand/ Aotearoa in December 2002. Before
his arrival, Zaoui had given speeches across Europe urging a peaceful
resolution to the conflict in Algeria that has seen an estimated
200,000 lives lost or disappeared. The Algerian authorities have
tried him in absentia, and sentenced him to death. After a six-month
inquiry, New Zealand's Refugee Status Appeals Authority - which
found him to be 'a passionate advocate of peace through democracy
in Algeria' - granted him refugee status. However, the New Zealand
Government continued to hold him on the basis of a Security Risk
Certificate issued by its Security Intelligence Service (SIS).
The reasons justifying the issuing of this certificate have not
been released to Zaoui, his lawyers or the public. Authorities
initially accused him of terrorist connections, alleging him to
be a member of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), but the Refugee
Status Appeals Authority was scathing about the material presented
by the SIS to justify their assessment. Now incarcerated for over
500 days -10 months of them in solitary confinement in a maximum
security prison - he awaits a review of this Certificate through
his only avenue of appeal: behind the closed office door of New
Zealand's Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
Israel
Described by Le Monde Diplomatique (France)
as Israel's Guantanamo Bay, Facility 1391 is a secret military
prison housed in an army intelligence base in northern Israel.
While exact prisoner figures are unknown, it is thought to contain
up to 660 prisoners. No independent organization has been given
permission to inspect the facility so what happens in there is
a mystery. However, many testimonies from former detainees have
painted an horrific picture of prisoners being confined in (often
solitary) dirty, dark cells with little idea of their exact location,
no access to legal services and no knowledge of why they are there.
The Guardian (UK) reports that one former inmate has filed a lawsuit
alleging that he was raped twice - once by a man and once with
a stick - during questioning. The prison has been used exclusively
for imprisoning foreigners: Jordanians, Lebanese, Syrians and
Iranians. The Israeli Government refuses to disclose any information
about the prison to 'prevent harm to the country's security'.
One Israeli Member of Parliament, Zahava Gal-On, is describing
Facility 1391 as 'one of the signs of totalitarian regimes'.
Compiled by Luke Trenwith and Chris Richards
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