German film exposes Guantanamo ’scandal’

by Roshan Muhammed Salih

aljazeera November 3, 2003

Guantanamo has been called a concentration camp

An international filmmaker has exposed America’s Guantanamo Bay
detention camp as a "human rights scandal".

Ashvin Raman has made a groundbreaking documentary for German television
which will be screened on Germany’s ARD channel on 12 November.

His film includes exclusive footage of Guantanamo Bay, as well as
interviews with released detainees and top American officials.

More than 600 foreign nationals have been detained without charge or
access to lawyers and family members in the US naval base since November
2001.

The US has refused to recognise them as prisoners of war, or allow their
status to be determined by a tribunal as required under the Geneva
Conventions.

Bad information

Raman said it was a scandal that two years after the US opened the camp,
people were still being flown over there from Afghanistan.

"Out of 660 people in Guantanamo Bay there are probably only five to 10
big names. The rest are just foot soldiers and ordinary people who were
in the wrong place at the wrong time"

Ashwin Raman, Documentary maker

He said: "Out of 660 people in Guantanamo Bay there are probably only
five to 10 big names. The rest are just foot soldiers and ordinary
people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The truth is that Afghans have a bad habit of informing on other
Afghans. They sell people off by saying they are terrorists and many
Afghan warlords have made a lot of money that way."

Raman, who presented a paper on Guantanamo to the European Parliament in
September, said the camp is just "a showpiece for the American people".

"It is there so that Bush can tell them that he is doing something about
terrorism. But you just can’t keep people locked up for such a long time
without charge or having access to lawyers."

Inhumane conditions

Indian-born Raman said conditions inside the camp have not improved much
since it opened.

"Things have only cosmetically improved. The fact is that if you are
being held in solitary confinement in a cell that is five metres squared
then that is not good. Don’t forget, in the last few months 32 prisoners
have tried to commit suicide."

He added: "The released prisoners that I spoke to just couldn’t believe
they had to spend a year of their lives there in the first place."

After the American war on Afghanistan in 2001, about 660 people from 42
countries were sent to Guantanamo Bay for interrogation.

The detainees were taken to a place outside US territory to minimise the
application of legal constraints that might otherwise apply.

The Guantanamo prisoners are in legal limbo

Enemy combatants

The Americans say the Guantanamo detainees are being treated humanely
and receive good food, excellent medical care, and the opportunity to
worship.

However, the US considers them as "enemy combatants", which means they
are outside the normal legal framework and can be held indefinitely
without trial or access to lawyers.

Washington says it cannot treat the detainees as normal criminals
because of their alleged links to Usama Bin Ladin’s al-Qaida network.

Neither are they regarded as prisoners of war under the Geneva
conventions, because they were not members of the regular Afghan armed
forces.

The Pentagon has announced that six Guantanamo prisoners are likely to
be tried by military tribunals.

The defendants may face prosecution on a number of charges, including
violations of the laws of war.

Depending on the particular charges, the death penalty may come into
force.

Aljazeera By Roshan Muhammed Salih

You can find this article at:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5929DF29-C01F-4BAA-A1A8-E702B3DCCE2B.htm