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| Caribbean |
| Gitmo Reward Plan Lets Prisoners Earn Perks |
| 2003-09-16 |
| Military officials at the US Naval Base in Cuba have introduced a reward program that lets Afghanistan war prisoners earn perks and more comfortable quarters by dishing out intelligence and following camp rules. Behave and they get checkerboards, decks of cards or the right to choose a book from a carefully screened library cart. Throw water on a guard or ignore orders to leave the exercise yard on schedule and prisoners forfeit a game or book. Establish a consistent record of good behavior and a select few prisoners - up to 40 - can move from the isolation of the single-celled maximum-security units into medium-security units where they live, read and pray in groups. Sure sounds like a death camp to me. âWhat this has done is dramatically increase our cooperation,â said Brig. Gen. Jim Payne, deputy commander for the prison operation. During a recent visit to the base, military officials led reporters on a limited tour inside Camp Delta, where the 660 suspected Al-Qaeda and Taleban prisoners are held. Reporters were not allowed to speak to prisoners, seen only in shadow through small screened windows, but toured empty cellblocks. Prisoners in the maximum-security blocks live alone in small metal-mesh cells with shelf-style beds, floor toilets and low basins for washing. They get the basic package of âcomfort itemsâ - a thin mattress, blanket, sheet, gray foam prayer mat, towel, washcloth, prayer cap, prayer beads, toiletries, orange uniforms, rubber flip-flop shoes and a copy of the Holy Quâran. Meals are delivered in foam containers by guards wearing rubber gloves. Prisoners are shackled at the hands and legs when they are taken two at a time to the showers or to the exercise yard for 30-minute recreation periods twice a week. Just your basic US maximum security prison Every 30 days, camp officials review detailed computerized records on each prisoner and decide who has earned a spot in the medium-security blocks completed in March. Making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out whoâs naughty or nice... Detainees there live in four dormitory-style rooms with 10 beds. They get white uniforms, thicker mattresses and dine together at an outdoor picnic table under a concrete shade. Exercise increases to an hour a day, in groups big enough for team sports like soccer and volleyball. They get red Oriental rugs for prayer mats, an extra pair of canvas shoes, and more puzzles, books and games. Club Med. âWe never take away the Quâran. We never take away anything that would be a health item -â blankets or food,â Payne said. The reward system also recognizes cooperation during interrogations. Camp officials wonât discuss specifics. "I can say no more" But they said that although some prisoners have been at Guantanamo for 20 months and have no current information about pending attacks, they provide information about terrorist organizations, financing and recruiting. âTactical intelligence decays very rapidly but operational and strategic intelligence is viable, valid and enormously useful,â Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who commands the prisoner operation, told Reuters. âWe knit together golden threads as we come to be able to understand what terrorism is all about.â Someday we might find out what theyâre learning. The ultimate reward is release from Guantanamo and 68 prisoners have been returned to their home countries since the prison operation began in January 2002. To earn that, prisoners must convince military officials that they have no more useful information to give and that they are not a threat to the United States. Miller recommends which prisoners should be released, recognizing those who âunderstand the consequences of their actions, this unspeakable action that they have taken.â âMany of them were duped into terrorism or sometimes kidnapped into being, supporting terrorism. So when taken out of these despicable people then they are cooperative.â Iâm sure that a little bird whispers in their ears just before release, "Donât get caught a second time". |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 John, Steve: everyone knows you have to run the wire internally as much as possible too. Go for the gusto big guy |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-16 4:54:09 PM |
| #3 Cards? Teaching them Texas Poker? Gambling??? Twinkies, cupcakes and happy meals. Some will have stories to regale(?) their grandchildren with. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-9-16 3:52:50 PM |
| #2 John, you did remember to run a wire from the tin foil to the thumbtack in the heel of your shoe, didn't you? Got to give those energy waves a path to ground. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-9-16 3:41:32 PM |
| #1 Always figured Gitmo is actually a CIA recruitment centre. things feel much better when I put on my foil hat. |
| Posted by: john 2003-9-16 3:34:55 PM |