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News Hemeceming 10,10 See page 11 Page 2 {The Blue Banner} Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Civil rights attorney discusses Guantanamo Bay issues Many prisoners not linked with al-Qaida, none convicted of a crime By Chris Fish STAFF WRITER CAFISH@UNCA.EDU Guantanamo Bay only links 8 percent of its detainees with al-Qaida, and holds no convicted criminals, according to government records. “Only 8 percent have been shown to be al-Qaida fighters. These figures are from the government’s own records. None of this is classified,” said Frank Goldsmith, a civil rights attorney and representative of one of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Goldsmith spoke to crowd of roughly 50 people at UNC Asheville last week. “Fifty-five percent were shown by gov ernment records not to have committed any hostile act against the United States. The law says to be detained, you have to have committed a hostile act. Of these numbers of detainees at the prison, none have been convicted of a crime. Again, these are government records.” Guantanamo Bay is a U.S. detainment facility located in Cuba. Since Oct. 7, 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan, 775 detain ees were brought to Guantanamo. Of these, approximately 420 were released without charge. In January 2009, ap proximately 245 detainees remained. This number further decreased to 215 by last November, according to government statistics. UNC Asheville students said statis tics about the prison clarified the issue, and showed them how the United States treats international laws. The numbers made them feel more aware of how the government views itself in relation to the rest of the world. “It really does help put things into per spective, being able to see numbers,” said Dylan Duffey, a UNCA student. “And seeing how you have politicians who are saying they are going to fix the problems and everything, and getting =v,' Shawn Hiatt- Staff Photographed Attorney Frank Goldsmith discusses the statistics and legal issues of the detainment facility in Cuba. Gold-; smith represents one of the remaining detainees at the center. to see numbers that show how transfers have dropped since Obama has taken of fice is good.” While President Obama continues to send detainees to the prison, he has not sent nearly as many as the Bush admin istration did. Many consider Guantanamo Bay a place where the worst of the worst ter rorists are kept, according to Goldsmith. However, he said the prison is holding non-violent individuals without evi dence. “One of the early releases was de scribed as being a shriveled old African man who was partially deaf. Another was a 90-year-old who walked around with a cane and would say, ‘No more ques tions,’ and would then stare out of the window. That is all the information you would get out of him,” Goldsmith said. “There were boys between the ages of 13 to 15 years old who were sold to the Americans, and were kicked and beaten by U.S. soldiers.” Torture, according to the United Na tions Against Torture, is an act that causes mental or physical pain to gain information, or inflicting punishment for a committed act or punishment based on discrimination. The Army Field Manual, a set of rules established for war, pro hibits the use of torture toward prisoners captured in battle. Despite this, torture has been an issue with the prison. The Bush administration was scruti nized for the use of torture to gain infor mation. According to Goldsmith, guards have been known to pepper spray pris oners while they are sleeping, and com mit other violent and humiliating acts toward them. The Bush administration wrote a loophole that created definitions of torture in order to protect itself. “By signing these international con ventions, we obligated ourselves to en act just such legislation,” Goldsmitit said. “Even though the field manual says it could not be unpleasant, they say what they were doing is not considered torture See bay Page 6
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