Posted on 02/22/2008 8:43:44 AM PST by syriacus
Riots inspired by the Newsweek report have broken out elsewhere in the region. But at least 17 people have died in Afghanistan, where the worst violence erupted in the town of Ghazni, south of Kabul.
The magazine said that notes from Marc Falkoff, who is representing 13 Yemenis held at Guantánamo, blamed a guard stomping on a Koran for an incident in August 2003 when 23 detainees tried to kill themselves. One of the 13 told Mr. Falkoff, according to his notes, that another detainee had attempted suicide "after the guard took his Koran and threw it in the toilet."
A series of military spokesmen have denied that such an incident took place, however.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Get Drudge on the case.......
Gee, those guards must be running out of the book by now. Better send them another carton.
“blamed a guard stomping on a Koran for an incident in August 2003 when 23 detainees tried to kill themselves.”
Cry me a river.
Some inmates have already complained of physical abuse Terror suspects held at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being subjected to routine religious humiliation, some detainees claim.[snip]Another of Mr Falkoff's clients said he had heard of an inmate being smeared with what was purported to be menstrual blood.
[snip]Mr Falkoff some of his clients have been threatened with rape.
Sheryl Crow has asked that they only use one page at a time when in the toilet.
Falkoff gave talks about Gitmo abuse at NIU Did the gunman attend any of them?
Yes, I bet those detainees are just little angels. Oh, wait a minute, in Islam, that must be little virgins.
WOW, nice find! Tattoo boy was into prison/correctional stuff, very interesting. Bumping to peruse later...
Media bows to US torture regime -- Newsweek retracts Guantánamo abuse story
Mentions Falkoff as a source of the allegations.
In the meantime, as part of his ongoing reporting on the detainee-abuse story, Isikoff had contacted a New York defense lawyer, Marc Falkoff, who is representing 13 Yemeni detainees at Guantánamo.
A Harper's Magazine interview with Falkoff
Playing Games With the Quran
Abusive interrogation techniques at Abu Ghraib had “migrated” from Guantánamo. Editor's Note: We are grateful to Mr. Falkoff for this exclusive interview with Vibes, despite the sensitivity of the issue. Here he has exposed, without reservation, new shocking reports of inhumane treatment that Guantanamo prisoners are subjected to. The American Press has yet to grasp the depth of the abuse.
'Religious abuse' at Guantanamo
Terror suspects held at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being subjected to routine religious humiliation, some detainees claim. They say interrogators use techniques - including sexual taunts - designed to break down devout Muslims.A lawyer who helped to compile the accounts, Marc Falkoff, told the BBC there was "systematic" religious abuse.
The Pentagon has declined to comment on the allegations, saying inquiries are under way.
About 540 non-Americans - many of whom were captured during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 - are still being detained at the naval base, many without charge.
"No-one should be subjected to that kind of treatment" Marc Falkoff Defence lawyer
Some of those who have been released have complained of physical abuse, including beatings.
The latest allegations are contained in newly declassified accounts from prisoners interviews' with lawyers.
Mr Falkoff, a New-York based attorney representing 13 Yemeni prisoners at Guantanamo, told the BBC News website: "The government is trying to use religion to humiliate them."
He said his clients had been forced to wear shorts - meaning they were not properly attired for prayer - and that they reported confiscation of religious items.
Sex taunts
One method of humiliation reportedly includes non-Muslim interrogators throwing the Koran on the ground and stepping on it.
Sexually suggestive techniques violating Muslim taboos about sex and contact with women have also been used, Mr Falkoff said.
One of his clients said a female interrogator wearing a tight T-shirt had asked him: "Why aren't you married? You are a young man and have needs."
Accounting to the account, the detainee felt extremely uncomfortable when she sat within inches of him and said: "Are you going to talk or are we going to do this for six hours."
Another of Mr Falkoff's clients said he had heard of an inmate being smeared with what was purported to be menstrual blood.
Mr Falkoff says he was first tempted to dismiss the account.
But last month he read in the media about a yet-to-be published book by a former army sergeant alleging that a Guantanamo prisoner had had red ink spilled on his face and was told it was menstrual blood.
Threats
According to another declassified account quoted by the Washington Post, one detainee said female interrogators wearing lacy lingerie rubbed themselves on him suggesting they "could have some fun" - until he head-butted one of them.
Mr Falkoff some of his clients have been threatened with rape.
"No-one should be subjected to that kind of treatment. We Americans would not want our POWs to be submitted to it," he said.
The Washington Post quoted Pentagon officials as saying wearing skimpy clothes or engaging in suggestive touching would be inappropriate interrogation techniques.
A US military spokesman told the newspaper it was too early to comment of whether the allegations were credible until another military investigation into abuse allegations had been completed.
December 10, 2007 by Joe King
Marc Falkoff, a professor in the NIU College of Law, co-authored a brief argued Wednesday, Dec. 5, before the United States Supreme Court, asserting that prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay should have the right to challenge their detentions in federal court.
Growing Old in Gitmo: Why is Mohamed Mohamed Hassan Odaini still in Guantanamo? By Tori Marlan Published: October 17, 2007
http://law.niu.edu/go.cfm?do=Page.View&ID=340
Course: 601 Section 1
Criminal Procedure
Instructor: M. Falkoff
Criminal Procedure: Investigation and Right to Counsel, Allen, Hoffman, et. al., Aspen, ISBN 0-7355-5193-6
Criminal Procedure: Supplement, Allen, Hoffman, et. al., (2007), Aspen
Gideon’s Trumpet, Lewis, paperback, ISBN 0-67972312-9
NIU Course: 661 Section 1
Federal Courts
Instructor: M. Falkoff
Cases & Materials on Federal Courts, Wells, Marshall, Yackel, Thomson/West, ISBN 978-0314-156143
2007 Supplement, Wells, Marshall, Yackel, Thomson/West, ISBN 978-0314-184009
Federal Jurisdiction, Chemerinsky, 5th ed., Aspen, ISBN 978-0735-564077
Camp 4 Described as Show Camp for the Press and Public OfficialsThe four attorneys who worked on the document analysis with Wikileaks are [snip] co-counsel Marc Falkoff (law professor at Northern Illinois University School of Law), ...
Kazmierczak's former landlord, Jim Gordon, said Kazmierczak moved out of DeKalb in June 2007
Falkoff is interested in prisons, social justice and the rights of alleged terrorists at Gitmo.
Kazmierczak was interested in prisons, social justice and Hamas.
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