In 50 or 60 years, as historians write about this period, they will detail the formative experiences of a prominent anti-American leader. We know quite a bit about this man already, but one thing we don’t yet know is his name. For the sake of convenience, let’s call him Ismail.
Ismail, as his name suggests, is a Muslim. He is one of 675 Muslim men currently being held prisoner at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since we expect Ismail to have long career ahead of him, let’s say he’s in his early 20s. Although Ismail was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, he may or may not be Afghani. The men held at Guantanamo Bay are from 40 countries and speak 17 languages. Many of the men are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt; some are from France, Spain and Australia.
The men held at Guantanamo are called “enemy combatants” by the Bush administration, but what is an enemy combatant? According to the Geneva Conventions, to which the U.S. is a signatory, all combatants captured during an armed conflict must be treated as prisoners of war, unless a competent tribunal determines otherwise. U.S. Army regulations also require that a military tribunal must be convened to determine the status of person captured during armed conflict.
Ismail and the other Guantanamo detainees have been imprisoned for a year and half; none of them have faced a tribunal to determine their status. During that period, they have been subject to solitary confinement, sensory deprivation and repeated interrogations.
Who are these people, Ismail and his fellow prisoners? Some of them are Taliban soldiers and militia. Under the Geneva Conventions and international law, Taliban soldiers and militia must be considered POWs. The United States is no longer at war with the Afghan government. Hostilities ceased in December 2001 and the government of Hamid Karzai has been in place for one year this month. Although everyone concerned admits the Karzai government is the flimsiest of facades, its weakness cannot be used as an excuse for the unlawful detention of prisoners of war.
Some of the men at Guantanamo are members of al Qaeda. As such, they should not be considered soldiers or prisoners of war, but terrorists and criminals. That being the case, they should be tried as criminal and those trials should preserve their due process rights and their right to a presumption of innocence until proof of guilt.
Some of the men at Guantanamo Bay – 59 to be precise – are not Taliban and they are not al Qaeda. According to an investigation published by the Los Angeles Times in December, 49 Afghanis and 10 Pakistanis imprisoned at Guantanamo are civilians who did not take up arms against the United States. U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan told the LA Times that these civilians – farmers, taxi drivers, laborers, cobblers and a firewood vendor – did not meet the screening criteria for transfer to Gauntanamo, but they were sent anyway.
So, let’s narrow it down. Let’s say Ismail is one of these 59 men. Ismail is a civilian, trying to stay out of trouble, trying to provide for himself and his family without offending the Taliban’s religious police, or the warlords or the U.S. military. Something went wrong and Ismail was swept up by the Army and the tide of history and sent to Guantanamo Bay for – well, for at least a year and a half. In the process, he was punished for things he did not do, he was humiliated, his rights were denied, his captors tried to break his spirit. Eventually, he will make it back home, but the life he knew will probably be gone. In time, he may become what he had once been wrongly accused of – a soldier, a guerrilla, perhaps a terrorist. It depends on your point of view.
A year and a half after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay, the military is finally preparing to bring its prisoners before tribunals or what they call “commissions.” Courtroom rules have been established, military prosecutors and defense attorneys have been selected and plans for the construction of an execution chamber are underway.
Call Him Ismail
In 50 or 60 years, as historians write about this period, they will detail the formative experiences of a prominent anti-American leader. We know quite a bit about this man already, but one thing we don’t yet know is his name. For the sake of convenience, let’s call him Ismail.
Ismail, as his name suggests, is a Muslim. He is one of 675 Muslim men currently being held prisoner at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since we expect Ismail to have long career ahead of him, let’s say he’s in his early 20s. Although Ismail was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, he may or may not be Afghani. The men held at Guantanamo Bay are from 40 countries and speak 17 languages. Many of the men are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt; some are from France, Spain and Australia.
The men held at Guantanamo are called “enemy combatants” by the Bush administration, but what is an enemy combatant? According to the Geneva Conventions, to which the U.S. is a signatory, all combatants captured during an armed conflict must be treated as prisoners of war, unless a competent tribunal determines otherwise. U.S. Army regulations also require that a military tribunal must be convened to determine the status of person captured during armed conflict.
Ismail and the other Guantanamo detainees have been imprisoned for a year and half; none of them have faced a tribunal to determine their status. During that period, they have been subject to solitary confinement, sensory deprivation and repeated interrogations.
Who are these people, Ismail and his fellow prisoners? Some of them are Taliban soldiers and militia. Under the Geneva Conventions and international law, Taliban soldiers and militia must be considered POWs. The United States is no longer at war with the Afghan government. Hostilities ceased in December 2001 and the government of Hamid Karzai has been in place for one year this month. Although everyone concerned admits the Karzai government is the flimsiest of facades, its weakness cannot be used as an excuse for the unlawful detention of prisoners of war.
Some of the men at Guantanamo are members of al Qaeda. As such, they should not be considered soldiers or prisoners of war, but terrorists and criminals. That being the case, they should be tried as criminal and those trials should preserve their due process rights and their right to a presumption of innocence until proof of guilt.
Some of the men at Guantanamo Bay – 59 to be precise – are not Taliban and they are not al Qaeda. According to an investigation published by the Los Angeles Times in December, 49 Afghanis and 10 Pakistanis imprisoned at Guantanamo are civilians who did not take up arms against the United States. U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan told the LA Times that these civilians – farmers, taxi drivers, laborers, cobblers and a firewood vendor – did not meet the screening criteria for transfer to Gauntanamo, but they were sent anyway.
So, let’s narrow it down. Let’s say Ismail is one of these 59 men. Ismail is a civilian, trying to stay out of trouble, trying to provide for himself and his family without offending the Taliban’s religious police, or the warlords or the U.S. military. Something went wrong and Ismail was swept up by the Army and the tide of history and sent to Guantanamo Bay for – well, for at least a year and a half. In the process, he was punished for things he did not do, he was humiliated, his rights were denied, his captors tried to break his spirit. Eventually, he will make it back home, but the life he knew will probably be gone. In time, he may become what he had once been wrongly accused of – a soldier, a guerrilla, perhaps a terrorist. It depends on your point of view.
A year and a half after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay, the military is finally preparing to bring its prisoners before tribunals or what they call “commissions.” Courtroom rules have been established, military prosecutors and defense attorneys have been selected and plans for the construction of an execution chamber are underway.
Even now, the future’s history is being written.