March 24, 2008
In an affidavit released last week, a Canadian-borne detainee
held in the US military-run prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,
has detailed coercion, torture and other crimes committed by his
American captors over the past six years.
The detainee, Omar Khadr, now 21 years old, has been held by
the US for more than a quarter of his life, on inconsistent allegations
and forced confessions, and in the most heinous conditions. He
was only charged in 2007—with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy,
spying, and providing material support for terrorism—after
being held for five years.
In his statement, Khadr said US interrogators threatened him
with rape, tortured him, and forced him to swear to false statements.
The affidavit was drawn up in February and released March 18—albeit
in heavily redacted form—after Canada’s Supreme Court
ruled that Khadr’s lawyers could present evidence before
the court that his detention violated international law.
Beginning with his nearly fatal wounding and capture after
a July 27, 2002 firefight, when he was only 15 years old, Khadr
has been subjected to extreme physical and psychological abuse.
The boy was flown to a tent hospital at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan,
along with US Sergeant Chris Speer, whom Khadr is charged with
killing with a grenade.
Interrogations began there almost immediately: "I was
unconscious for about one week after being captured.... During
the day I was guarded by a young blond soldier who ... had paper
and took notes." Two interrogations took place within three
days’ time after he regained consciousness.
This section of the affidavit is heavily blacked out; nevertheless,
the substance of the statement is clear. "Due to my injuries,
this caused me great pain.... I was unable to even stand at this
time, so I was not a threat," he stated. "I could tell
that this treatment was for punishment and to make me answer questions
and give them the answers they wanted."
Another soldier involved in the interrogations "would
often [redacted]. He would tell nurses not to [redacted] since
he said that I had killed an American soldier. He would also [redacted]
me quite often. There were no doctors or nurses present when I
was interrogated. During the interrogations, the pain was taking
my thoughts away."
Affidavits issued by other detainees have stated that Khadr
had been denied types of surgery and pain medication.
After two weeks at the hospital, Khadr was transferred to the
horrid Bagram prison, where he was "immediately taken to
an interrogation room." One of his interrogators "would
often [redacted] if I did not give him the answers he wanted."
"Interrogators threatened to have me raped, or sent to other
countries like Egypt, Syria, Jordan or Israel to be raped,"
he said.
During one particularly abusive interrogation, Khadr stated,
"the more I answered his questions and the more I gave him
the answers he wanted, the less [redacted] on me. I figured out
right away that I would simply tell them whatever I thought they
wanted to hear in order to keep them from causing me [redacted]."
Absurdly, US officials have justified the censorship by citing
security and strategic secrets. A March 18 report by Canwest News
Service said censors were concerned that "terrorists could
discover—and presumably prepare to resist—specific interrogation
techniques."
There is little doubt that Khadr, like other inmates, was tortured
at length in the makeshift prison camp at Bagram and at Guantánamo.
The redactions are merely crude attempts to obscure further evidence
of torture and war crimes that are committed routinely by soldiers,
with the encouragement and approval of military brass and the
Bush administration.
During his three-month imprisonment at Bagram, Khadr estimated
he was interrogated 42 times. For weeks he was brought in on a
stretcher. He said soldiers routinely videotaped dressing changes
for his wounds. Some statements refer to his being hooded, sexually
humiliated, being threatened with attack dogs, and the painful
handling of his still open bullet and shrapnel wounds. All of
these abuses were well established at Bagram, Abu Ghraib, and
elsewhere.
One of Khadr’s interrogators, Sergeant Joshua Claus, was
one of 15 US military personnel charged in connection with the
murder of two men at Bagram five months after Khadr’s arrival.
Claus, brought before military court on the most minor charges—assault
and "maltreatment of a detainee"—pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to a mere five months in jail.
Before being transferred to Guantánamo, Khadr said detainees
were denied any food or water for two nights and a day "so
that we would not have to use the bathroom on the plane."
Upon their arrival, a military official announced, "Welcome
to Israel." Then, "They half-dragged, half-carried us
so quickly off the plane that everyone had cuts on their ankles
from the shackles," Khadr stated. "They would smack
you with a stick if you made any wrong moves."
At Guantánamo, Khadr said, "I was not provided
with any educational opportunities, no psychological or psychiatric
attention, and was routinely interrogated." He was also subjected
to prolonged periods of isolation, sensory deprivation, stress
positions, temperature exposure, and humiliation.
The affidavit also highlights the cowardice and complicity
of the Canadian ruling establishment in the "war on terror."
In 2003, Khadr stated that a Canadian delegation paid a visit
to Guantánamo, and that he tried to explain to them that
he had been threatened and abused into false statements. "I
showed them my injuries and told them that what I had told the
Americans was not right and not true," he said. "I said
that I told the Americans whatever they wanted me to say because
they would torture me. The Canadians called me a liar and I began
to sob. They screamed at me and told me that they could not do
anything for me."
Out of the hundreds of detainees that have been held at the
military prison, Khadr is one of only four Guantánamo detainees
that have been prosecuted under the 2006 Military Commission Act.
Details in a separate affidavit of his military lawyer, also released
last week, suggest that the decision to charge Khadr at that time
was motivated by political requirements of the Bush administration.
Khadr’s lawyer, Lieutenant Commander Bill Kuebler, described
a January 2007 discussion between former Guantánamo chief
prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis and James Haynes, the general
counsel at the Defense Department, in which Haynes told Davis
that it was "necessary" to charge Australian detainee
David Hicks.
According to the Canadian Globe and Mail, Davis objected
because the military tribunal system was not yet functioning.
The paper quoted a portion of Kuebler’s statement: "Mr.
Haynes also said that it would look strange if just Hicks were
charged and therefore asked Colonel Davis if there were any other
cases that could be brought at the same time.... Colonel Davis
indicated that Mr. Khadr’s case was one of two cases for
which charges were sworn so that Hicks would not be the only detainee
facing charges."
Omar Khadr’s affidavit is available in redacted form
here.
See Also:
"I’ve been tortured. I’m
a human being. I have not violated any law"
Guantánamo prisoner refuses to cooperate with military
show trial
[14 March 2008]
Towards the legalization
of torture in Canada?
[8 September 2007]
Air Force colonel
publicly rebukes US Supreme Court justice
[6 April 2006]
Another criminal violation of human rights
US admits jailing
children at Guantánamo Bay
[1 May 2003]