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Guantanamo Nurtures a Culture of Death

SUICIDES REFLECT U.S. DISREGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Editorial
June 13, 2006
San Jose Mercury News

Holding hundreds of prisoners in the 6-by-8-foot cages of a remote camp for more than four years, without charges, rights, decent treatment or hope that they'll ever get out is not only immoral, it's also a prescription for despair, unrest and tragedy.

And so the only surprise about the news this weekend that three prisoners hanged themselves at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is that it didn't happen sooner. It's not for lack of trying. There have been dozens of suicide attempts there, including 41 this year and a single incident in 2003 when 23 inmates attempted a mass hanging. And dozens of detainees who went on hunger strikes last year were strapped into restraint chains and fed by force.

That a senior State Department official callously called the suicides ``a good PR move to draw attention'' only shows how out of touch the Bush administration is. America long ago lost the PR war over its detainee black hole.

Among our friends, the indefinite detentions, the lack of due process and the repeated reports of abuse have turned Guantanamo into symbol of America's lost status as a defender of human rights. Among our enemies, it adds fuel to the brew of hatred and resentment toward the United States. Every day it remains open serves as a recruiting tool for Al-Qaida and other militant groups.

There are more than 450 prisoners at the camp -- some, no doubt, dangerous terrorists, others grunts in the Taliban army or individuals who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Only 10 have been charged with any crime.

After four years, the United States must be able to bring the terrorists among them to trial and send the rest back to their own countries -- or at least give them a chance to challenge their imprisonment.

As long as places such as Guantanamo stay open, America cannot hope to transform the Middle East or begin to win the war on terror.

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