Guantanamo detainees tell first independent visitor about scars from torture and hopes to leave 

This photo screened by US Military officials on September 7, 2021 shows a sign for Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 06 July 2023
Follow

Guantanamo detainees tell first independent visitor about scars from torture and hopes to leave 

  • The aging men known by their serial numbers arrived at the meeting shackled 
  • They talked about scant contacts with families, psychological and physical scars 

UNITED NATIONS: At the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the aging men known by their serial numbers arrived at the meeting shackled. Every single one told the visitor — for many the first independent person they had talked to in 20 years — “You came too late.” 

But they still talked, about the scant contacts with their families, their many health problems, the psychological and physical scars of the torture and abuse they experienced, and their hopes of leaving and reuniting with loved ones. 

For the first time since the facility in Cuba opened in 2002, a US president had allowed a United Nations independent investigator, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, to visit. 

She said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s true she came too late, because a total of 780 Muslim men were detained there following the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and today there are just 30 remaining. 

The United Nations had tried for many years to send an independent investigator, but was turned down by the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 

Ní Aoláin praised President Joe Biden’s administration for allowing “critical voices” into the facility. And she expressed hope other governments that have barred UN special investigators will follow Biden’s example. 

The Belfast-born law professor said she believes the cross-section of “high-value” and “non-high value” detainees she met with — the Biden administration gave her free rein to talk to anyone — “recognized the importance of sitting in a room with me.” 

“But I think there was a shared understanding that at this point, with only 30 of them left, while I can make recommendations and they will hopefully substantially change the day-to-day experience of these men, the vast majority of their lives was lived in a context where people like myself and the UN had no influence,” she said. 

Ní Aoláin, concurrently a law professor at the University of Minnesota and at Queens University in Belfast, said she has visited many high-security prisons during her six years as a UN human rights investigator, including some built for those convicted of terrorism and related serious offenses. 

But “there is really no population on Earth like this population that came to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the circumstances in which they came, rendered across borders,” she said. 

In her report issued June 26, Ní Aoláin said even though the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, were “crimes against humanity,” the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo was unjustified. The vast majority were brought there without cause and had no relationship to the terrorist attacks, she wrote, adding that all of the men still alive suffer from psychological and physical trauma. 

The Biden administration, which has said it wants to close the Guantanamo facility, said in a statement attached to the report that Ní Aoláin’s findings “are solely her own” and “the United States disagrees in significant respects with many factual and legal assertions” but it will carefully review her recommendations. 

In last week’s interview with the AP, Ní Aoláin talked about what she saw on a personal level. 

She said all US personnel are required to address detainees by their internment serial number, not their name, which she called “dehumanizing.” 

Ní Aoláin said she is especially concerned about three detainees who have not been charged and “live in a complete legal limbo,” which is “completely inconsistent with international law.” Of the others, 16 have been cleared to leave but haven’t found a country willing to take them and 11 still have cases pending before US military commissions. 

When the detainees were brought to meet her, they were shackled, which she said is not standard procedure even for those convicted of terrorism. Under international law, she said, people cannot be shackled except for imperative security reasons, and in her view at Guantanamo it should be prohibited and used only as a last resort in exceptional circumstances. 

“You’re dealing with an elderly vulnerable population who are incarcerated,” Ní Aoláin said. 

“These men, because they are torture victim survivors, they have difficulties concentrating, they have challenges with recurrent memory, somatic pain. Many of them struggle with mobility and other issues,” including permanent disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain and gastrointestinal and urinary problems, she said. 

Ní Aoláin said force feeding has been an ongoing practice in response to their hunger strikes, which along with suicidal ideas and self-harm “speak to the core finding of this report — which is the deep and profound despair of individuals who’ve been held without trial for 20 years, have not seen their family members, have had no access to the outside world” except their lawyers until she visited in February for four days. 

Practices like using restraints cause added psychological distress for many of the detainees, she said. 

For the report, Ni Aoláin also interviewed victims, survivors and families of those killed on 9/11, and she met with some of the 741 men who already had been released from Guantanamo, including approximately 150 resettled in 29 countries. The rest returned home, and 30 men have since died. 

What the men still at Guantanamo and those who have been released need most, she said, “is torture rehabilitation — every single one — and the US is a leader in torture rehabilitation.” 

She welcomed Biden’s “extraordinary statement” on June 26, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, reaffirming US opposition “to all forms of inhumane treatment and our commitment to eliminating torture and assisting torture survivors as they heal and in their quests for justice.” 

“That tells me … there is a capacity to remedy here,” she said. Rehabilitation is critical for all torture victims, she said, but also “for ourselves, because that’s what democracies do. … We look at our past, we take it onboard, and we address it, because democracies are self-correcting.” 

Ní Aoláin called the communal meals and communal prayer for all detainees — which the US emphasizes — very important. 

“The men themselves are enormously important to each other in their rehabilitation,” she said. “There is an enormous bond of support and fraternity and care among these men for each other.” 

Ni Aoláin noted the detainees have some privileges — they are able to watch television and read books — and there are language classes, some opportunities to learn about computers and art lessons. 

She said she was “really gratified” the Biden administration recently decided to allow detainees to take as much of their artwork “as is practicable” when they leave. 

“This creative work is enormously important to these men,” she said, noting that a detainee who recently returned to Pakistan had an art exhibition in Karachi some weeks ago. 

Among the many recommendations Ní Aoláin’s report makes is for torture rehabilitation and additional education and training, especially for those cleared to leave. 

“These men are going to go out into the world,” she said. “Many of them were young men when they were detained and rendered to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They’re now old men, middle-aged men, who have to figure out how to go back into life, and many of them have huge anxieties” about providing for their families and about being fathers after so many years. 
 


Top court intervenes in New Delhi pollution crisis as respiratory cases spike

People walk through a thick layer of smog as air pollution shoots up in New Delhi on Nov. 18, 2024. (AP)
Updated 18 sec ago
Follow

Top court intervenes in New Delhi pollution crisis as respiratory cases spike

  • Number of patients with respiratory diseases has increased two to threefold
  • Court orders Delhi authorities to set up checkpoints, prevent entry of commercial vehicles

India’s top court intervened on Friday to request policing measures in New Delhi to contain severe air pollution that over the past week has led to a surge in hospital admissions for respiratory diseases.

Residents of the Indian capital again woke to a thick layer of toxic smog, with an overall Air Quality Index reading of 373, or “very poor,” according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

While conditions have slightly improved since Monday, when a medical emergency was declared with pollution reaching the “severe plus” AQI score of 484, the prolonged crisis prompted the Supreme Court to order the central and local governments to introduce new measures to contain it.

The court said during Friday’s hearing that it was “not satisfied” with the Delhi administration and police efforts to address the pollution and ordered the authorities to “ensure that check posts are immediately set up at all 113 entry points (to the capital)” to stop trucks and commercial vehicles from entering the city.

The move follows the court’s order earlier this week to suspend all construction work in the whole of New Delhi and the National Capital Region.

“It is a constitutional obligation of the central government and the states to ensure that citizens live in a pollution-free atmosphere,” the court said.

As toxic smog has persisted for over a week, Delhi authorities have shut all schools and moved classes online, while half of the government employees have been allowed to work from home.

The continuing crisis is already reflected in a surge of hospitalizations for respiratory disease.

“The cases related to lungs and respiratory problems have significantly risen,” Dr. Nikhil Modi, pulmonologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, told Arab News, adding that the patients coming to the hospital with respiratory issues are “two to three times the normal” amount.

“Especially for those who already have underlying lung disease, the problem can be significant, and if they develop a secondary pneumonia or an infection, then they require emergency admission,” Modi said.

Toxic smog arrives in New Delhi every winter as temperatures drop, trapping toxic pollutants from tens of millions of cars, as well as construction sites, factory emissions, and waste burning. It is aggravated by farmland fires in the country’s northwest and southeast, where farmers clear stubble to prepare fields to plant wheat.


The US Embassy in London returns to normal after police carry out controlled explosion of package

Updated 1 min 39 sec ago
Follow

The US Embassy in London returns to normal after police carry out controlled explosion of package

  • London’s Metropolitan Police Service closed a road on the west side of the embassy
  • “Local authorities investigated and cleared a suspicious package outside the Embassy,” the embassy said

LONDON: The US Embassy in London returned to normal operations Friday afternoon after police carried out the controlled explosion of a suspicious package that was found in the area earlier in the day.
London’s Metropolitan Police Service closed a road on the west side of the embassy out of an “abundance of caution” as they investigated the incident, the embassy said in a statement. The embassy said it had returned to “normal business operations” by early afternoon, although all public appointments were canceled for the day.


“Local authorities investigated and cleared a suspicious package outside the Embassy,” the embassy said. ”Thanks to @metpoliceuk for your swift action, and thanks to all visitors for your cooperation and patience at this time.”
Also Friday, authorities evacuated the south terminal of London’s Gatwick Airport while they investigated a suspicious item found in luggage. Sussex Police said they had sent an ordnance disposal team to the airport as a precaution.


A proposed deal on climate cash at UN summit highlights split between rich and poor nations

Updated 15 min 10 sec ago
Follow

A proposed deal on climate cash at UN summit highlights split between rich and poor nations

  • “Our expectations were low, but this is a slap in the face,” said Mohamed Adow, from Power Shift Africa
  • “No developing country will fall for this. They have angered and offended the developing world”

BAKU: A new draft of a deal on cash to curb and adapt to climate change released Friday afternoon at the United Nations climate summit pledged $250 billion by 2035 from wealthy countries to poorer ones. The amount pleases the countries who will be paying, but not those on the receiving end.
The amount is more than double the previous goal of $100 billion a year set 15 years ago, but it’s less than a quarter of the number requested by developing nations struck hardest by extreme weather. But rich nations say the number is about the limit of what they can do, say it’s realistic and a stretch for democracies back home to stomach.
It struck a sour note for developing countries, which see conferences like this one as their biggest hope to pressure rich nations because they can’t attend meetings of the world’s biggest economies.
“Our expectations were low, but this is a slap in the face,” said Mohamed Adow, from Power Shift Africa. “No developing country will fall for this. They have angered and offended the developing world.”
Nations are still far apart on reaching a deal
The proposal came down from the top, the presidency of UN climate talks — called COP29 — in Baku, Azerbaijan. Delegations from numerous countries, analysts and advocates were kept in the dark about the draft until it dropped more than a half a day later than promised, prompting grumblings about how this conference was being run.
“These texts form a balanced and streamlined package,” the Presidency said in a statement. “The COP29 Presidency urges parties to study this text intently, to pave the way toward consensus, on the few options remaining.”
This proposal, which is friendly to the viewpoint of Saudi Arabia, is not a take-it-or-leave-it option, but likely only the first of two or even three proposals, said Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare, a veteran negotiator.
“We’re in for a long night and maybe two nights before we actually reach agreement on this,” Hare said.
Just like last year’s initial proposal, which was soundly rejected, this plan is “empty” on what climate analysts call “mitigation” or efforts to reduce emissions from or completely get off coal, oil and natural gas, Hare said.
Anger at ‘meagre’ figure for climate cash
The frustration and disappointment at the proposed $250 billion figure was palpable on Friday afternoon.
“It is a disgrace that despite full awareness of the devastating climate crises afflicting developing nations and the staggering costs of climate action — amounting to trillions — developed nations have only proposed a meagre $250 billion per year,” said Harjeet Singh of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
That amount, which goes through the year 2035, is basically the old $100 billion year goal with 6 percent annual inflation, said Vaibhav Chaturvedi a climate policy analyst with New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water.
Experts put the need at $1.3 trillion for developing countries to cover damages resulting from extreme weather, help those nations adapt to a warming planet and wean themselves from fossil fuels, with more generated by each country internally.
The amount in any deal reached at COP negotiations — often considered a “core” — will then be mobilized or leveraged for greater climate spending. But much of that means loans for countries drowning in debt.
Singh said the proposed sum — which includes loans and lacks a commitment to grant-based finance — adds “insult to injury.”
Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of Moroccan climate think-tank Imal Initiative for Climate and Development, said “the EU and the US and other developed countries cannot claim to be committed to the Paris Agreement while putting forward such amounts” of money.
Countries reached the Paris Agreement in 2015, pledging to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. The world is now at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the UN
Rich countries call for realism
Switzerland environment minister Albert Rösti said it was important that the climate finance number is realistic.
“I think a deal with a high number that will never be realistic, that will never be paid… will be much worse than no deal,” he said.
The United States’ delegation offered a similar warning.
“It has been a significant lift over the past decade to meet the prior, smaller goal” of $100 billion, said a senior US official. “$250 billion will require even more ambition and extraordinary reach” and will need to be supported by private finance, multilateral development banks — which are large international banks funded by taxpayer dollars — and other sources of finance, the official said.
A lack of a bigger number from European nations and the US means that the “deal is clearly moving toward the direction of China playing a more prominent role in helping other global south countries,” said Li Shou of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
German delegation sources said it will be important to be in touch with China and other industrialized nations as negotiations press on into the evening.
Analysts said the proposed deal is the start of what could likely be more money.
“This can be a good down payment that will allow for good climate action in developing countries,” said Melanie Robinson, global climate program director at the World Resources Institute. “There is scope for this to go above $250 billion if contributors decides to come on board.”
Rob Moore, associate director at E3G, said that whatever figure is agreed “will need to be the start and not the end” of climate cash promises.
“If developed countries can go further they need to say so fast to make sure we get a deal at COP29,” he said.


Ukraine’s parliament cancels session after Russia fired a new missile

Updated 22 November 2024
Follow

Ukraine’s parliament cancels session after Russia fired a new missile

  • Three Ukrainian lawmakers confirmed that the parliamentary session previously scheduled was canceled
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures

KYIV: Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session on Friday as security was tightened after Russia deployed a new ballistic missile that threatens to escalate the nearly three-year war.
Russian troops also struck Sumy with Shahed drones overnight killing two people and injuring 12 more, the regional administration said Friday morning. The attack targeted a residential district of the city.
Ukraine’s Suspilne media, quoting Sumy regional head Volodymyr Artiukh, said the Russians used Shaheds stuffed with shrapnel elements for the first time in the region. “These weapons are used to destroy people, not to destroy objects,” said Artiukh, according to Suspilne.
Separately, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky arrived on a visit to Kyiv. He posted a photo from Kyiv’s railway station on his X account Friday morning.
“I am interested in how the Ukrainians are coping with the bombings, how Czech projects are working on the ground and how to better target international aid in the coming months. I will discuss all of this here,” Lipavsky wrote.
Three Ukrainian lawmakers confirmed that the parliamentary session previously scheduled was canceled due to the ongoing threat of Russian missile attacks targeting government buildings in the city center.
Not only is the parliament closed, “there was also recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and NGOs that remain in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who added this is not the first time such a threat has been received.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures, a spokesperson said.
Russia on Thursday fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile in response to Kyiv’s use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address on Thursday.
It struck a missile factory in Dnipro in central Ukraine. Putin warned that US air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at 10 times the speed of sound and which he called Oreshnik – Russian for hazelnut tree.
The Pentagon confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.


Pope Francis to visit French island of Corsica on Dec. 15, local church says

Updated 22 November 2024
Follow

Pope Francis to visit French island of Corsica on Dec. 15, local church says

  • Short visit to the island’s capital city Ajaccio will mark his 47th foreign trip since becoming pope in 2013
  • Corsica’s population of some 356,000 is estimated by the Vatican as 81.% Catholic

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis will visit Corsica on Dec. 15, the local diocese said on its website on Thursday, in the first recorded trip of a pope to the French island in the Mediterranean.
The short visit to the island’s capital city Ajaccio, where Francis is expected to speak at a conference on popular religiosity across the Mediterranean region, will mark his 47th foreign trip since becoming pope in 2013.
Corsica, noted for its steep, mountainous terrain and as the birthplace of Napoleon, is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of France’s poorest regions, with government statistics estimating that about 20 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
The Vatican did not immediately confirm the local church’s announcement, but the trip is known to have been in preparation for weeks. Francis has made two prior visits to France, traveling to Strasbourg in 2014 to address the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, and to Marseilles in 2023 to attend a meeting of bishops.
But the pope, who turns 88 on Dec. 17, has never made a full state visit to France, a historic stronghold for Catholicism that is now widely secular and home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
French President Emmanuel Macron invited Francis to come to Paris for the Dec. 8 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, but the pope will be leading a ceremony at the Vatican that day to install new Catholic cardinals.
Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, originally from Spain, has led the Catholic Church in Corsica since 2021. Francis made him a cardinal, the highest rank in the Church below pope, in 2023.
Corsica’s population of some 356,000 is estimated by the Vatican as 81.5 percent Catholic.
Francis has traveled widely around the Mediterranean over his 11-year papacy, visiting Malta, the Greek island of Lesbos and the Italian island of Lampedusa.