Shock, Horror, But No Awe at Guantanamo Bay

Legal proceedings against the two Britons facing a military trial in Guantanamo Bay were suspended last night to allow talks between British and US legal officials.
Bush aids Blair by halting trial of Britons in Guantanamo Bay

>"There are nine Britons and two British residents among the 680 detainees at Guantanamo: more than from any other western country. The youngest of the Britons are 20; the eldest 36. Two of the men, Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi, a 23-year-old former computer studies student from Croydon, are among the first six detainees selected to face trial before a military tribunal. In the system devised by the Americans, military officers are judge and jury, with defence counsel handpicked by Washington. Conversations between lawyer and client are monitored by the military. The accused could face the death penalty. The US says they are either terrorists or linked to terrorism, although it will not elaborate on its suspicions, let alone the charges. Critics argue that the courts are loaded to ensure convictions. In the unlikely event of acquittal, the prisoners could still be detained indefinitely."

"The planned trials have provoked outrage around the world, not just from human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Fair Trials Abroad, but from usually steadfast supporters of America such as the former Tory ministers Douglas Hogg and Nicholas Soames. More than 200 MPs signed a Commons motion last week calling for the men to be given a fair trial. The mounting pressure has forced the government at least to be seen to be making serious efforts to have the Britons sent home to face any trial. This in turn has provoked scepticism, not least because of the unlikelihood of securing a conviction. The evidence the Americans have against Begg and Abbasi is probably too flimsy and circumstantial to satisfy a British criminal court, even if an appropriate charge could be decided upon."

"Guantanamo's newest and most notorious addition is Camp Iguana, which holds children whom the US regards as enemy combatants. It is less formidable than the adult version: the wire fence is just 12ft high and the all-night floodlights are softer. A 20ft long rectangle has been cut from the green canvas surrounding the camp, so that the children can see the Caribbean sea. "It adds a certain tranquillity to the environment," says Dave Wodushek, who runs Camp Iguana. He is saddened that people so young are held here: the four children, believed to be Afghans, are as young as 13. He blames those countries which use children as soldiers."

"General Miller blames the suicide attempts on factors such as pre-existing mental illness, rather than the stress of incarceration. But the Red Cross, which is allowed access to inmates, is uncharacteristically forthright about the regime's effects: "The uncertainty these internees face as regards their legal status and their future does have a very adverse impact on their physical and mental wellbeing," says spokeswoman Antonella Notari. "A lot of them are pushed to despair. It is a clear indication that these people are under extreme stress and anxiety."

An article similar to this appeared in the NY Times several weeks ago. It noted that the camp was not only "stressful" for the inmates but was having a similar depressing affect on the soldiers who ran it. This is a concentration camp that any reader of Solzhenitsyn would recognize in a flash. What is troubling beyond its existence and the conditions and behaviors found there is that it is creating the legal foundation for other that may and probably will not be limited to non US citizens.