Exclusive: Inside Gitmo with Detainee 061
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FOR KURNAZ, the next two years were a blur of interrogations and hours spent locked in his cell. At one point, he claims guards roused him every few hours, part of a coordinated sleep-deprivation campaign dubbed Operation Sandman. He also says he was subjected to pepper-spray attacks, extreme heat and cold, and sexual humiliation at the hands of a scantily clad female guard, who he says rubbed herself against him.
On occasion, he says, punishments were doled out arbitrarily. Each morning a guard would appear at Kurnaz's cell door and ask him to shove his blanket through the slot. Even when he did so, he claims, he was sometimes accused of not cooperating and given a stint in solitary confinement.
Still, the detainee continued to plead his innocence, telling interrogators at one point that the idea of someone thinking he wanted to fight the Americans "made him feel sick," according to Pentagon intelligence reports. He also offered repeatedly to take a lie detector test. When asked what he would do if released, he said he would bring his wife to Germany and buy a motorcycle.
Then in June 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. courts had the authority under federal law to decide whether those held at Guantanamo were rightfully imprisoned. In a bid to keep detainees out of the U.S. justice system, the Bush administration created the Combatant Status Review Tribunals to determine whether detainees had been properly labeled enemy combatants.
Three months later, on September 30, 2004, Kurnaz was led out to one of the interrogation trailers on the fringes of Camp Delta, the main prison complex at Guantanamo. Inside, under the glare of florescent lights, sat three high-ranking military officers at a long table. The "tribunal president," or judge, was in a high-backed chair in the middle. At his side was Kurnaz's "personal representative," who was assigned with helping the detainee argue his case, though he hardly said a word during the proceedings. As for the charges, the only information Kurnaz was given was a summary of the unclassified evidence, which the prosecutor—or "recorder" in Guantanamo parlance—reeled off at the beginning of the hearing. Most of it was circumstantial, like the fact that Kurnaz had flown from Frankfurt to Karachi just three weeks after the 9/11 attacks, and that he allegedly received food and lodging from the Muslim missionary group Tablighi Jamaat. (An apolitical movement with more than 70 million members, it has no known terrorist links, but intelligence agencies worry that its strict brand of Sunni Islam may make it an ideal recruiting ground for jihadists.)
But Kurnaz was hit with one more serious allegation, namely that he was "a close associate with, and planned to travel to Pakistan with" Selcuk Bilgin, who the recorder said "later engaged in a suicide bombing." Clearly shaken by this charge, Kurnaz interrupted the session, blurting out, "Where are the explosives? What bombs?" according to transcripts of the hearing, which are not verbatim. The tribunal president responded that the details of Bilgin's fate were classified. Then he asked if the detainee wanted to make a statement. Kurnaz replied, "I am here because Selcuk Bilgin had bombed somebody? I wasn't aware that he had done that." Then he gave a meandering speech, mostly a reprise of things he had said during interrogations.
When he was done, the tribunal president asked him if he had anything else to submit, though it's unclear what more he could have offered; detainees are allowed only limited documentary evidence, and calls for witnesses are generally denied. (Even if prisoners could present more information, it would likely be trumped by the government's evidence, which, under the tribunal rules laid out by the Bush administration, is presumed to be "genuine and accurate.") Kurnaz said simply: "I want to know if I have to stay here, or if I can go home…If I go back home, I will prove that I am innocent."
Later that day, the tribunal determined by a "preponderance of evidence" that Kurnaz had not only been properly designated an enemy combatant, but that he was a member of Al Qaeda. According to the classified summary obtained by Mother Jones, the decision was based almost exclusively on a single memo, written by Brig. General David B. Lacquement shortly before the tribunal convened.
A version of that memo was recently declassified, albeit with large swaths redacted. Among the "suspicious activities" it said Kurnaz engaged in while at Guantanamo: He "covered his ears and prayed loudly during the U.S. national Anthem" and asked how tall a basketball rim was "possibly in an attempt to estimate the heights of the fences." U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green, who reviewed the unredacted version, later wrote that it was "rife with hearsay and lacking in detailed support for its conclusions."
In contrast to Lacquement's memo, at least three assessments in Kurnaz's Pentagon file point to his innocence. Among them is a recently declassified memo, dated May 19, 2003, from Brittain P. Mallow, then commanding general of the Criminal Investigation Task Force, a Pentagon intelligence unit that interrogates and collects information on detainees. It states the "CITF is not aware of evidence that Kurnaz was or is a member of al-Qaida" or that he harbored anyone who "has engaged in, aided or abetted, or conspired to commit acts of terrorism against the U.S." But the tribunal found these exhibits were "not persuasive in that they seemingly corroborated the detainee's testimony." In other words, the Pentagon's own evidence was ignored because it suggested the detainee was innocent.
What of the allegation that Kurnaz's would-be traveling companion, Selcuk Bilgin, carried out a suicide attack? As it turns out, Bilgin is alive and residing in Bremen with his wife and two small children. I tracked him down in early January with three phone calls and a visit to his parents' home, and we met a couple weeks later at his lawyer's office near the city center. A stocky man with large, dark eyes and a wiry beard, he arrived in a white Audi station wagon with car seats in the rear and was wearing olive cargo pants with a thick black jacket that cinched at the waist. Following his arrest in Frankfurt, he explained, he was held for a few days and then released. "After that, two people from the intelligence services came to talk to me," he told me. "Some journalists called. Then I just went on with my life."
Indeed, Bilgin was never charged with any crime, although he was initially suspected of influencing Kurnaz to go to Afghanistan and fight. (Kurnaz's parents also blamed him for their son's ordeal, and the two men no longer speak.)
As for the attack Bilgin was accused of carrying out, identified by the Pentagon as the "Elananutus" bombing, it never registered with the media in Germany or the United States (though there is a record of a November 2003 attack on an Istanbul synagogue, allegedly by a man with a similar sounding name—Gokhan Elaltuntas). The Pentagon never bothered to run that allegation by German police; German intelligence agencies were apparently kept out of the loop, too.
"A suicide bomber?" Jachmann, who led the intelligence gathering on Bilgin and Kurnaz, asked incredulously when I explained the allegations. "As far as we knew, he was living right here in Bremen the whole time."
Photo: Henning Schacht/Action Press/ZUMA Press
will be disappeared. A plague on the jerks who participated in these acts.
No, it is not OK to torture. The threat from within is far greater than the threat from "terrorist". Our government officials are the ones we need to keep our eyes on.
Yeah, it sounds good. War on Terror!!! Just like the War on Poverty, and the War on Drugs.
These wars are really profitable for some people.
I think we should have a war on people who care more about NASCAR than they do about liberty. Wake up people before it is too late.
Thank you Mother Jones. You have been fighting for a long time and I appreciate it.
How do we know Okame isn't an enemy combatant? How can he prove he isn't?
So you'd have us believe, would you, that being held for four years, for friggin NOTHING you ever did, isn't torture? Kept in solitary, paraded in leg- and handcuffs, by three MP's, down to the hearing room every couple of weeks, for another tribunal "review," that never can quite see that you don't belong there?
That isn't torture?
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kill your Faux "noose" channel.
Who gives a shiite what other citizens think of America!
Really, WHO GIVES A SHIITE? F.U.C.K. 'EM Ustah! Most of them are gonna hate us anyway, and if they're Islamic, they want to slit our throats regardless of what we do to appease them. Wise up, dumbazz.
And Katie is right - you people are a bunch of pansies! I think part of the problem is arm-chair-quarterbacking. You bunch of pissing, whining pansies have never been out in the rest of the world to see first hand what it's really like. Instead you rely on crap that is regurgitated here, or at the Daily Kos, or by Pig Woman Rosie O for your "knowledge". Get off the fuc-kin' computer, get a passport/join the Peace Corps/join the military and go out to see some of the shiiteholes of the world and what the US is doing to better their situations, instead of bashing your own fuc-kin' country first and foremost.
What a bunch of elite, socialistic losers.
Nice speech. Well written, calm, and insightful to the liberal mind. I take it you're on the squad of left wing arm-chair-quarterbacks who would rather sit back in the cushy confines of the safe, prosperous society that this nation provides, and berate that very nation rather than support or defend it against its enemies. Sure, you'll attend some bullshiite demonstration or rally and feel you're doing your part, but really. It's all just take, take, take for you folks. How do you live with yourselves?
I don't know if Mother Jones is a news web site as you state, or a commentary web site, since the "news" as they report it is obviously slanted, which is not a hallmark of news journalism. But I digress.
I do enjoy (to an extent) occasionally reading the whining and ranting of liberals - it lets me stay abreast of the mindset of those who wish to tear down our own country rather than defend it. I don't think I'll ever understand or agree with your positions, but it's an interesting read. (By the way, many of our Islamic enemies are now here within our own borders, many living as legal residents with millions of dollars coming in from the Saudis to support them, their schools, and mosques here in the US. That's not paranoia or Kool-Aid talking, just facts uncovered during a little research into Islam, the religion/way-of-life that commands its followers to slit the throat of Kefirs, Infidels, Unbelievers... Americans. But I suppose you don't have a problem with that... I'm sure you think that's America's fault too. Again I digress - that's another topic and argument for another day).
I have to wonder ma, since you don't watch TV, how do you know that, quote: "there is too much propaganda and garbage in it, like the constant lies and propaganda on the Fox News network, where most RW Bush worshipers get their misinformation, fear and hate... Bill Ocrazy should be charged with inciting hate crimes, he has incited many unbalanced angry racists to attack muslims and immigrants..." You get all that information without even watching the show? Interesting. Are you a sheep that just follows along with what others write about Fox/O'Reilly on the left wing hate sites? Being a Huffington Post adict doesn't seem like a good way to become informed and enlightened ma - you should know better. Personally, I can't stand most of the anchors on MSNBC anymore, so obviously twisted and slanted are their views and reporting. But, I watch them occasionally to get "the other perspective". (And having done so, I am amazed they can get away with such unabashed hate speech and outright slanted "journalism" and favoritism. But hey, they're on cable and they have the First Amendment, so I won't begrudge them their right. I just feel sorry for the saps who only watch that drivel and believe it is the true news.
When you say, "In war the old mentally balanced US always officially, followed the Geneva Convention, which sets humane reasonable rules for the treatment of prisoners of war...This was set up, so our own soldiers who were prisoners had a chance to survive the prison camps. In the middle east, no American soldier will have a chance if captured by enemies..They do have a chance of being tortured to death by very revengeful and angry radical terrorist types.." You sort of answer your own statement. Countries abide by Geneva Convention rules regarding POWs in hopes that enemies will treat captured soldiers in a likewise humane fashion. Obviously the North Vietnamese blew that theory out the window, with their incredible physical torture of our GIs. And the terrorists who capture our troops today would rather videotape their torture and decapitation than abide by any silly rules of war. Besides, no terrorist organization has ratified or signed the Geneva Convention rules, so in theory, we don't have to comply when we capture their fighters. However, the US Supreme Court did rule that we will provide at least the minimum of POW human rights to them, so we do. Do you know that there are Governors in the US who have visited Guantanamo Bay and commented afterward that the terrorists/enemy combatants being held there have it better than American citizen prisoners in many of our stateside prisons? Interesting eh? I wouldn't feel too sorry for captured terrorists, especially in light of the fact that they want to kill you personally, ma.
I love this... "the division between radical fascist, greedy, war monging right wingers and normal educated people who can think for themselves,is huge..." So in your eyes, left wing liberals are normal and educated, and can think for themselves, while the rest of us are knuckle-draggers bent on war, destruction and harboring our millions in blood money. Again, interesting insight into the liberal mind. Did you know that there are more "rich" Democrats in the US than rich Republicans? Not a big deal, but a fact that might not mesh with your ideas on greed.
"Bush and Gang deliberately misled, and lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so he could attack the country and occupy Iraq for profit, oil, and power..." Your inanity keeps me chuckling ma! So you mean to tell me that the FBI, CIA, British Intel, and Saddam's own Generals all were convinced that Saddam had WMDs, but it's Bush's fault and Bush misled the world? Don't you remember Saddam using nerve gas to kill Iraqi Kurds? And the UN passed 17 resolutions against Iraq/Saddam, pressuring him to come clean and let the inspectors do their job, but all were rejected. We went through 12 years of rejected diplomacy and resolutions before we took action, all the while Iraqi men, women and children were being tortured, raped, and killed by this madman while he maintained the means to transfer these WMDs to terrorists for use against the US. So, how much longer would you have waited to take action? (silly question, you're an arm-chair-quarterback who doesn't take action!) Tell me ma, how much profit, oil, and power are we getting out of this? Do you have an Iraqi oil pipeline coming through your neighborhood? Where was it ever in the plans to get any of the above? Or are you being a hate-site sheep again?
Just a couple final thoughts to try to correct your regurgitated liberal babble. (you really need to gather your own identity and integrity, and stop being such a tool for the left wing haters ma)
More Iraqis have been killed by Muslims/Islamists than by Americans. Stop your unfounded berating of America's military.
You say; "we have a new angry population of terrorist, who hate the crazy murdering invaders called Americans,... Bush and gang has made all Americans targets of hate,"
Well, let's see how things stack up ma. Shall we start with one of your heroes, Jimmy Carter? The Iranian militants captured the US Embassy and 70 Americans, holding them captive for 444 days – that’s over a year for the mathematically challenged liberals out there. Carter never did get them released… it took a strong willed conservative to get the job done. Then another of your heroes, Bill no-respect-for-women Clinton had the following take place under his watch: The World Trade Center bombing in 1993 (by another raghead group led by that blind shiek); the bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American Sailors while it was sat peacefully in a Yemeni port; the Khobar Towers got blown up in Saudi Arabia which killed 19 American military and wounded 372; two American Embassies got blown to smithereens at the same time in Africa and killed over 200 people; and of course, all the planning and staging for 19 homocide bombers who flew fully-fueled aircraft filled with people into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon soon after Bush took the reins from Clinton. Have you already forgotten? So how are your liberal heroes doing at protecting America ma?
Also, on more than one occasion, Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden, but he turned it down! The Sudanese government was going to hand OBL over to Clinton! And now the lunatic left blames Bush for not finding OBL in the high country of Afghanistan & Pakistan?!? Give me a break!
Can you enlighten me on this statement, as I AM VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR REPLY TO THIS: “We have watched our rights being taken away from us, we are no longer safe from harm by our own government...” Tell me ma, how have YOUR rights been altered? How has YOUR life been changed by your big, scary government? Me personally, I haven’t noticed one single change – not one! My life has not been affected one iota… but then again, I’m not a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer! I don't call terrorists overseas or donate to their causes. How about you, ma? Hell, I’ve even travelled into Muslim countries since Bush has been in office (But, I still don't trust the Islamists who are driven to kill all non-Muslims).
Start thinking for yourself ma - don't be a tool of radical left.
(MOST OF THE WORLD KNOWS MORE ABOUT
AMERICAN MISCONDUCT THAN WE DO.)
The article does not go into details,
which involve details of torture like
amputation of fingers of craftsmen,
beating a kid whose legs they cut off
and would not treat,
electro-shock,
poisoning,
beatings of the handicapped & elderly
(the oldest prisoner was about
90 years old)
etc...
Murat (and others)
they knew were innocent
(even the camp commandant said
most of their prisoners were innocent,
farmers living near the border
and farmers whose lands other farmers
(from other tribes) coveted, etc...
They were held and tortured
with the intention of never
releasing any of them,
partly because they knew most of them
were innocent, and they did not want to
admit they were wrong (GUILTY).
The people quoted below are
clearly reminiscent of Nazis:
Responding to
SATAN, the April Fool,
& other such slime
quoted below:
"a patriotic Nazi must do his duty and torture perverts everywhere. -SATAN
So what is the problem?? ...
This is the normal routine,
not any special punishment...
OH GROW UP ALL OF YOU PANSIES.
THIS IS THE REAL WORLD
AND THERE ARE REAL TERRORISTS OUT THERE
AND THEY WANT TO KILL AS MANY AMERICANS
PLUS THEMSELVES AS THEY CAN.
SO WHAT IF ONE GUY WAS INNOCENT.
I'D RATHER WE TORTURED
AND IMPRISONED ONE INNOCENT MAN
THAT SEE 3000 MORE AMERICANS DIE,
UNLESS IT WAS 3000 MORE IDIOTS
LIKE MOST OF YOU.
Posted by: KATIE April 1, 2008 8:34:13
Who gives a shiite what other citizens think of America!
Really, WHO GIVES A SHIITE? F.U.C.K. 'EM..."
*****************
The people quoted above are
clearly reminiscent of Nazis.
Responding to
SATAN, the April Fool,
& other such slime
quoted above:
READ THE BOOK BY MURAT KURNAZ
(MOST OF THE WORLD KNOWS MORE ABOUT
AMERICAN MISCONDUCT THAN WE DO.)
The article does not go into details,
which involve details of torture like
amputation of fingers of craftsmen,
beating a kid whose legs they cut off
and would not treat,
electro-shock,
poisoning,
beatings of the handicapped & elderly
(the oldest prisoner was about
90 years old)
etc...
Murat (and others)
they knew were innocent
(even the camp commandant said
most of their prisoners were innocent,
farmers living near the border
and farmers whose lands other farmers
(from other tribes) coveted, etc...
They were held and tortured
with the intention of never
releasing any of them,
partly because they knew most of them
were innocent, and they did not want to
admit they were wrong (GUILTY).
That fight is not necessarily fought with guns as most of the disillusioned right wing conservatives like the above posters tend to think.
However tempting to wish the loss of liberty and unjust prosecution on the above idiots, I will not. Ignorance is bliss, but then most of them are probably ignorant 12 year olds, or even worse grown insecure men with the mental acuity of a 12 year old. Either way they are the one's stuck having to live with themselves and the resulting dark view and olfactory tribulation that could only come from having their head lodged that far up their arse.