Meyer, Josh. “Pentagon calls Guantanamo humane; The prison meets Geneva
standards, a report for Obama says.” Los Angeles Times. 2009 (Publisher: Tribune Publishing
Company. Web May, 2014.
The Pentagon has concluded that the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay meets the
standards for humane treatment of detainees established in the Geneva Convention accords.
In a report for President Obama on conditions at Guantanamo, the Pentagon recommended
some changes -- mainly providing some of the most troublesome inmates with more group
recreation and opportunities for prayer -- said an administration official who read the report
and spoke on condition of anonymity, citing its confidential nature.
The lengthy report was done by a top Navy official, Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, in response to
Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to close the U.S. military detention facility in Cuba within a
year.
The report, which has not officially been released, "has been completed and will be delivered to
the White House in accordance with the president's executive order," said a Pentagon
spokesman, Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Gordon.
Some of the most dangerous inmates at the naval base have been prohibited from meeting
with other prisoners for prayer or socialization; they are kept in their cells for as long as 23
hours a day. That includes self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and
other self-styled Al Qaeda leaders charged with overseeing the 9/11 attacks, who would be
likely to be affected by the proposed reforms.
Obama has criticized the detention center, and human rights advocates have condemned it as
violating the Geneva Convention, a series of international rules established to protect the rights
of those detained by other countries, including in times of war.
The administration official said the report's primary conclusions supported the Department of
Defense's long-standing contention that Guantanamo was in compliance with the global
convention, including Article 3, which requires the humane treatment of prisoners taken in
unconventional armed conflicts, such as the war on terrorism.
"The bottom line is that the report found that Guantanamo is in compliance with the Geneva
conventions, which we have maintained for several years. So the report essentially validated
our procedures and processes," the official said.
Human rights groups are planning to take issue with Walsh's finding that Guantanamo complies
with Geneva requirements.
"We strongly disagree with the government's basic conclusion that the conditions at
Guantanamo comport with international standards for humane treatment," said Pardiss
Kebriaei, a staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents detainees.
"That assessment is difficult to digest when our clients in Camps 5 and 6 are physically and
psychologically breaking down because their conditions and isolation have become so
unbearable."
Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday appointed a senior Justice Department official, Matthew
Olsen, to head an interagency task force looking into how to deal with the more than 200
Guantanamo detainees after the prison closes.
Meanwhile, the administration said Friday it was not ready to extend legal rights to the
prisoners held at the U.S. air base in Bagram, Afghanistan. An administration lawyer told a
judge reviewing the issue that the government, for now, "adheres to the previously articulated
position" of the Bush administration.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners held at Guantanamo had the right to
challenge the case against them in a federal court. The justices said these prisoners had been
held for years in a prison that is, for all practical purposes, part of U.S. territory.
It was not clear, however, whether this ruling was limited to Guantanamo detainees or could be
extended to other long-term prisoners in the war against terrorism.
Lawyers who represent several men held at the Bagram prison said their clients were entitled
to legal rights as well.
Bush administration lawyers disagreed. They said that the U.S. did not exercise sovereign
control in Afghanistan, and that the prisoners were held in a "theater of war."
When the new administration took power, U.S. District Judge John Bates gave officials a month
to decide whether they wanted to change policy.
--
Name:
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
NAIC:
928110;
Name:
Department of Defense
NAIC:
928110
Title
Pentagon calls Guantanamo humane; The prison meets Geneva standards, a report for Obama says.
Author
Meyer, Josh
Publication title
Los Angeles Times
Pages
A.13
Publication year
2009
Publication date
Feb 21, 2009
Year
2009
Dateline
WASHINGTON
Section
Main News; Part A; National Desk
Publisher
Tribune Publishing Company
Place of publication
Los Angeles, Calif.
Country of publication
United States
ISSN
04583035
Source type
Newspapers
Language of publication
English
Document type
News
ProQuest document ID
422287945
Document URL
http://search.proquest.com/docview/422287945?accountid=46304
Copyright
(Copyright (c) 2009 Los Angeles Times)
Last updated
2011-09-23
Database
National Newspapers Core
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