1 For convenience, we sometimes refer to Guantanamo Naval Base as "Guantanamo" and sometimes simply as "the Base."
2 Although there is a dearth of official reports as to the conditions at Guantanamo, there have been a number of newspaper stories reporting on the subject, including interviews with Afghani and Pakistani citizens released without the filing of charges. Some of the prisoners released have said that the uncertainty of their fate, combined with linguistic isolation from others with whom they could communicate, confinement in very small cells, little protection from the elements, and being allowed only one one-minute shower per week led a number of detainees to attempt suicide multiple times. See Carlotta Gall & Neil A. Lewis, Threats and Responses: Captives; Tales of Despair from Guantanamo, N. Y. TIMES, June 17, 2003, at A1; see also Neil A. Lewis, Red Cross Criticizes Indefinite Detention in Guantanamo, N. Y. TIMES, Oct. 10, 2003, at A1 (reporting that in 18 months, 21 detainees have made 32 suicide attempts, a high incidence which human rights groups attribute to the uncertainty of their situation).
Of course there have been numerous trips to GITMO by Congresscritters and others but why would Rhineland inquire of them when he can ring Neil Lewis?