[Imc-newsroom] POW'S TREATMENT

[Steve]

PLEASE SEE THAT THESE PHOTOS GET THE DISTRIBUTION THEY DESERVE. U.S. MEDIA
COVERING THIS UP.


Indy site: http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=45994&group=webcast


Pentagon trying to find out who released photos of terror suspects
Fri Nov 8, 6:33 PM ET

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) was investigating Friday to
find out who took and released photographs of terror suspects as they were
being transported in heavy restraints aboard a U.S. military plane.


Four photographs of prisoners ‹ handcuffed, heads covered with black hoods
and bound with straps on the floor of a plane ‹ appeared overnight on the
Web site of radio talk show host Art Bell.


"Anonymous mailer sends us photos taken inside a military C-130 transporting
POWS," the headline said.


The photos are the first giving a glimpse into security measures aboard any
of the airplanes used over the past year as prisoners were transferred to
prisons in and around Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere around
the world, including to the high-security prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


It has long been known that prisoners were heavily restrained, and photos of
prisoners bound and kneeling after arrival in Cuba early this year created a
stir among human and prison rights groups.


The plane in the latest photos was a C-130, said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col.
Dave Lapan. But it wasn't yet determined Friday where it was going or when
the photos were taken. Officials believe it was not an authorized photo and
know its release was unauthorized, he said.


The Air Force and U.S. Central Command were investigating the breach, said
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.


"We have very, very tight restrictions on any images of the detainees for
security purposes and because we have no interest in potentially holding
detainees up for any kind of public ridicule," she told a news conference.


It is at least the third time prisoner photos have troubled the Pentagon.


Though the Defense Department has limited the news media in the kind of
photos it can take of prisoners from the counter-terror war, officials
discovered that troops posed for photos with American Taliban captive, John
Walker Lindh, as he was handcuffed and wearing a blindfold carrying an
obscenity they had apparently scrawled across it.


The military itself takes photos for documentation and individual soldiers
often take their own photos as souvenirs of deployments.

In a court motion, Lindh's lawyers also said earlier this year that
unofficial photos and videos of Lindh were taken aboard the amphibious
assault ship USS Peleliu, where he was confined. Officials said an officer
confiscated cameras and film and erased digital images.

Also as part of a court filing, Lindh's lawyers released a picture of him in
Afghanistan, blindfolded, strapped to a stretcher and naked. Defense
officials have said that while that photo may have appeared shocking, he was
naked as part of his preparation for medical treatment.

=====================================
Article on photos: 
http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20021110162533397

Guantanamo Photos Cause Alarm among Human Rights and Prisoners Rights Groups
Sunday, November 10 2002 @ 04:25 PM GMT

WASHINGTON (PC) - Last week, images appeared ³mysteriously² on the internet,
pictures taken from inside an American military C-130, an aircraft that
transported prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay.
The images caused alarm among Human Rights and Prisoner Rights groups, as
well as the Pentagon. In response to the release of the images, Pentagon
spokeswoman, Victoria Clark stated, ³We have very very tight restrictions on
any images of the detainees for security purposes and because we have not
interest in potentially holding detainees up for any kind of public
ridicule.² 

Prisoners Transported to Guantanamo
    
Rights groups are growing more concerned about breaches of human rights as
information leaks out regarding the US conduct in Guantanamo Bay.

In recent articles published in various US newspapers, reporters asserted
that recently released prisoners said that were not tortured and were
treated well during their one year imprisonment in the US-owned Cuban prison
camp. 

In an interview with the Washington Post, one elderly man, who claimed to be
105 years old said, ³We were not torturedŠWe were not unhappyŠThe Americans
treated me well, but they were not Muslims, so I didn¹t like them.²

The Washington Post article went on, explaining that one of the complaints
the elder had was that ³there was not enough okra and eggplant.²

However, the same elderly man was interviewed by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera
satellite television, where he presented a very different case:

³They kept us in cages like animals,² he said, referring to chain-link
open-air cells where hundreds of prisoners, mostly Afghans are held. He
continued, saying, ³We were only allowed out twice per week, for half an
hour.² 

According to the elder, Hajji Faiz Mohammed, the Arabs who were held were
treated the worst, because they refused to speak. He said that they would be
beaten and tortured so badly, that they would lose consciousness.

Mohammed, like the other two prisoners release also said that they were
chained constantly in their cells, and prisoners were not allowed to talk to
one another. Finally they staged a hunger strike and this policy was
revoked, allowing them to speak. They were not allowed to recite the call to
prayer or to pray in groups. Their meals were delivered hastily and were
taken away after 10 minutes, whether the prisoners had eaten or not.

According to Mohammed, he didn¹t even know what al-Qaeda was until he
arrived in Guantanamo Bay.

625 prisoners from several countries are still be held in Guantanamo Bay,
under the category of ³enemy combatants².

Another released prisoner, a 35 year old farmer named Jan Mohammed said that
many of the prisoners are so desperate, they are considering committing
suicide. ³There are still many of us left in that prison...They think
they¹ll die there,² Mohammed lamented.

So far, three prisoners have been released from the Cuban prison camp. They
were awarded $500.00 as compensation. The $500.00 was divided between them. 

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