Guantánamo Bay prison "celebrates" its 12th birthday. $4.7bn has been spent running Guantánamo. Nearly 800 men have been imprisoned with 155 remaining detainees, at the cost of $1.7m per man, per year. . Nine have died. 45 hunger strikers were strapped down and force-fed twice a day.They were refusing food to protest their indefinite detention. The US military had taken away their lives as they knew them. They would be kept alive by force. Detainees are allowed to speak to their families, via Skype, only four times a year. Detainees are forbidden to speak with the press. According to Rear Admiral Richard Butler, who is responsible for prison operations, this is to avoid "making a spectacle" of them, which is forbidden by the Geneva Conventions. But Brandon Davis, who served as a guard in 2002, soldiers were instructed that the Geneva Conventions were not in effect. All the information we have suggests that every detainee has been tortured. A 2002 memo by military lawyer Diane Beaver approved waterboarding, beatings, extreme temperatures, and making a detainee believe his family was in danger of death. Mr Davis admitted he and fellow guards beat detainees.
According to Major General Michael Lehnert, Guantánamo's first commander, many of the detainees should never have ended up there at all. Guantánamo's chief prosecutor General Mark Martins has said , only 20 were even chargeable with crimes. Obama, has so far failed to keep his promise to close Gitmo.
In the UK a 250-page dossier, detailing allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock executions and sexual assault, has been presented to the International Criminal Court, and could result in some of Britain's leading defence figures facing prosecution for "systematic" war crimes. The dossier draws on cases of more than 400 Iraqis, representing "thousands of allegations of mistreatment amounting to war crimes of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".
They range from "hooding" prisoners to burning, electric shocks, threats to kill and "cultural and religious humiliation". Other forms of alleged abuse include sexual assault, mock executions, threats of rape, death, and torture. The complaint argues that "the pattern of abusive treatment by UK services personnel in Iraq continued over almost six years of military operations".
Professor William Schabas, a renowned expert on human rights law, based at Middlesex University, said: "There is definitely a case for an investigation by the ICC," and claimed "there's no doubt" that war crimes were perpetrated by British forces in Iraq. "
According to Major General Michael Lehnert, Guantánamo's first commander, many of the detainees should never have ended up there at all. Guantánamo's chief prosecutor General Mark Martins has said , only 20 were even chargeable with crimes. Obama, has so far failed to keep his promise to close Gitmo.
In the UK a 250-page dossier, detailing allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock executions and sexual assault, has been presented to the International Criminal Court, and could result in some of Britain's leading defence figures facing prosecution for "systematic" war crimes. The dossier draws on cases of more than 400 Iraqis, representing "thousands of allegations of mistreatment amounting to war crimes of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".
They range from "hooding" prisoners to burning, electric shocks, threats to kill and "cultural and religious humiliation". Other forms of alleged abuse include sexual assault, mock executions, threats of rape, death, and torture. The complaint argues that "the pattern of abusive treatment by UK services personnel in Iraq continued over almost six years of military operations".
Professor William Schabas, a renowned expert on human rights law, based at Middlesex University, said: "There is definitely a case for an investigation by the ICC," and claimed "there's no doubt" that war crimes were perpetrated by British forces in Iraq. "
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