Shut Down Guantanamo

The camp might have been modernized since the early days, but its murky legal status and questionable interrogation methods remain unchanged.

Post-Sept. 11, the White House has upheld the belief that when it comes to the war on terror, the end justifies the means. Apparently convinced that international terrorism cannot be combated by legal means, the Bush administration five years ago began flying suspects to this remote naval base camp in southeast Cuba -- located far from the world's prying eyes, and equally far from the rule of law.

In 2002, the first detainees captured in the US-led war on terror were flown to Guantanamo Bay. In subsequent years, over 700 prisoners have been held here without being charged.

But Guantanamo -- or Camp Delta as it is also known -- is no normal prison. More like prisoners of war than prisoners, the inmates crucially lack this status in terms of international law. Instead, the US government classifies them as "illegal combatants," which means that they do not have to be conferred the rights granted to POWs under the Geneva Convention.

Lawless prison

In its early days, Guantanamo Bay was a sordid detention camp in which prisoners were kept in cages and routinely humiliated. Today, conditions at Camp X-ray and the recently opened Camp 6 are no different to high-tech prisons in the western world. Cooperative detainees can even earn certain privileges, such as leisurewear, books and videos as well as expensive medical care.

But lawlessness is still rife in Guantanamo. Incidents of torture and ill treatment are still commonplace, as a recent FBI report documented in detail. Prisoners have been denied access to the Koran and menstrual blood has allegedly been smeared in to detainees' faces, others are beaten and left to lie for hours in their own vomit or urine in rooms where the temperature is either freezing or stifling. Such reports have badly damaged Washington's reputation around the world and fanned the flames of anti-US sentiment among jihadists.

Both Guantanamo and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have become symbols of the country's lack of humanity and disrespect for international law -- in the name of freedom and tolerance.

Condoning torture

The decision to tackle terrorism with methods many see as illegal was taken in the confused aftermath of Sept. 11. Even torture was considered an acceptable and necessary weapon in a war that could only be won with hawkish, unorthodox policies -- although the dirty work was done by private agents rather than the CIA or the FBI. According to President Bush, the intelligence gathered helped prevent further terrorist attacks and led to the arrest of many a dangerous terrorist.

But experts disagree. A number of Guantanamo's inmates might well be terrorists planning attacks on the US and the free world -- not least Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, allegedly the principal architect of the Sept. 11 attacks -- but others are innocent. And even if the end did justify the means, the last five years have seen a rise in international terrorism, not a drop.

Guantanamo is grist to the mill of Muslim fundamentalists -- and the military hearings that allow prisoners to challenge their detention are not enough to allay anyone's concerns.

The camp does considerably more harm than good to the security interests of the US and its allies -- and it should be shut. But for as long as George W. Bush remains in the White House, this will never happen.

Daniel Scheschkewitz is a correspondent for Deutsche Welle in Washington, D.C.