Posted on 01/19/2002 4:53:50 PM PST by denydenydeny
The latest photographs from Camp X-Ray show the harsh, brutal conditions at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. Dressed in bright orange overalls, some with tight-fitting orange hats covering their shaved heads, the imprisoned terrorists kneel face down behind barbed wire fences as army officers inspect them.
Since their eyes are covered with goggles and their faces hidden by white masks, it is impossible to identify them. Even their manacled hands are covered with black cloth.
But Terry Hicks will still scrutinise these new images, hoping he will see something he recognises that will identify one of the men as his son David, according to his lawyer and spokesman Stephen Kenny.
"The family has already scanned a number of photographs looking to see if it's their son and they will do the same with these new pictures," said Mr Kenny, a South Australian civil rights lawyer who is acting on behalf of the family free of charge.
"To date they have not been able to recognise him due to the manner in which these people are being covered and contained. They are most anxious."
Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners wait in a holding area under the watchful eyes of military police.
The photographs have distressed Hicks's father Terry, his stepmother and stepbrother.
"It's just horrific. The family is extremely distressed about the conditions, knowing he is being kept in a wire cage," Mr Kenny said.
The latest photographs were expected to be shown to the family at their Adelaide home late yesterday.
Hicks is one of 110 Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners being held in the 1.8m by 2.4m outdoor chain link cells on the Caribbean island.
Human rights advocates have complained that the prisoners are being kept in inhumane conditions and are pressing the US Government to classify the captives as prisoners of war.
Four Red Cross workers visited the fortified camp on Friday and questioned the prisoners about their treatment in the first inspection by independent experts. The delegation included a physician, an expert on prison conditions and a linguist who speaks several languages, including Arabic. They met with military officials before visiting the prisoners' compound as part of the week-long visit. Interviews were to be voluntary and include questions about the prisoners' health, detention conditions and treatment.
Another prisoner is led away.
The prisoners are fed three meals a day - bagels for breakfast, beef stew and rice for dinner and various snack foods for lunch. They have access to showers and medical attention.
They are given a sheet, blanket and two towels - one for washing and one for praying. Two buckets are also provided, one for washing and one for bathroom needs. Shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush and soap are also on hand, as is a copy of the Koran.
They are allowed to walk around a heavily secured yard. The US maintains they are being treated humanely.
Hicks has not been charged with any crime and public pressure is mounting on the Federal Government to bring him home to face justice, although it is unclear what, if any, laws he has broken.
"It concerns us greatly that he has been in custody for over a month now and still the US has not brought forward any charges or any allegations and they have not allowed him any legal representation," Mr Kenny said.
"If he is not a prisoner of war and they are alleging he is a criminal then he is entitled to be charged, he is entitled to know what those charges are, he is entitled to know the evidence against him and have access to legal representation."
Forced to drink from fetid puddles, to stand for hours on end in sewage ponds and be continuously beaten about the head and shoulders until covered in dried fecal matter and barely able to walk, the prisoners of Castro's gulag faced seemingly endless despair and crippling treatment on a daily basis.
Forced labor, lack of food and fresh water, beatings and executions, being used as a toilet by Castro's thugs these are the glories of life for Cubans defined by Castro as "enemies of the Revolution."
I guess they were out of town then. Of course Valladares was in prison for 22 years.
These liberal weenies don't want to know what would have happened to those scum if I had my way.
I have NO sympathy for any complaints concerning Guantanamo Bay.
I wonder if it distressed these blatherskites that their precious baby was fighting on behalf of a monster who killed over 3,000 Americans in two hours?
If it were up to me, your "baby" would be at room temperature, and we'd be shipping him back to you in pieces.
Would they prefer a buried wooden box or under a pile of rubble in a cave?
My guess they should stop whining and be thankful he's alive
Yes, let's give all soverignty to a-holes like these and those fools that put together that Durban conference on racism that blamed us Americans for all the ills of the world.
It's not brutal enough...I'd chemically lobotomize these psychotic maniacs.
This is more then enough for thes scums
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