Guantánamo files: at least 150 innocent people imprisoned
New WikiLeaks documents reveal children, elderly and mentally ill to have been locked up in the world’s most controversial prison.
WikiLeaks today began releasing 758 files on almost every single prisoner ever to have been detained at the world’s most controversial prison. The ‘Gitmo files‘ reveal a shocking picture of wrongful imprisonment, incompetence and abuse. One detainee, for example, an Al Jazeera journalist, was held for 6 years partly because the US hoped to gain information on the Arabic news network.
Over the years, the US has held children, senile old men, and physically mentally ill people at the prison, while at least 150 inmates appear to have been innocent. The youngest prisoner at Guantánamo was an innocent 14-year old kidnap victim, the oldest an 89-year old innocent Afghan villager who suffered from senile dementia. According to the Guardian:
In 2002 Guantánamo prisoners were described as “the worst of a very bad lot” by Dick Cheney, US vice-president. “They are very dangerous. They are devoted to killing millions of Americans, innocent Americans, if they can, and they are perfectly prepared to die in the effort.”
But the internal files on some prisoners paint a very different picture. A 2002 assessment of Guantánamo’s oldest prisoner, Mohammed Sadiq, who was then 89, revealed dementia, depression and sickness. “His current medical issues include major depressive disorder, senile dementia and osteoarthritis, for which he receives prescribed treatment.” The Afghan national was also being assessed for prostate cancer.
We’ve posted about this before, but people really need to know about the atrocities of Guantanamo & the kind of vital information Wikileaks is publishing that the US wants to keep secret.
(via warcrimenancydrew)
