David Hicks complained to Australian officials about flea-ridden bedding in his Guantanamo Bay cell just one day before being moved to solitary confinement as payback, his father says.US military lawyer Major Michael Mori also says his Australian client has been forced to wear the same clothes for three weeks. In an email update on Hicks' condition, Major Mori said Hicks was locked in his cell for 22 hours a day, unable to communicate with anyone, and his clothes smelled. "When I first saw Hicks, his clothes look very dirty and smelled. He said they had not changed his clothes in three weeks," he said.
"David is living in a cement room with a steel door. He cannot communicate with anyone. He is locked in the room for 22 hours a day."
| Even my digital sympathy meter doesn't register a twitch. This is no worse than a super-max prison like Marion. |
Three weeks ago, it was revealed the 30-year-old Australian had been moved to an isolation cell, but Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said at the time this was to accommodate a reduction in detainee numbers at the base.
Mr Hicks says the real reason is more sinister. "It was a stupid comment because where they put him is what they call Camp 5 and that is solitary," he said. "His bedding was flea-ridden. That was part of his major concerns to the Australian consulate ... I still think it's payback."
But Guantanamo Bay commander Colonel Michael Bumgarner has hit back at claims Hicks is being mistreated and is accusing the Australian prisoner of arrogance and an "ill mood". Hicks had refused to hand in his laundry and was always looking for special privileges, he said. "He is not overly cooperative with guards," Colonel Bumgarner told ABC Radio.
"He is a bit arrogant in his demeanour with us, but beyond that he doesn't really incite any type of disturbance.
Col Bumgarner said Hicks could wash his clothes in his cell. "Mr Hicks always sees himself as quite different than any other detainees here. He is always asking for special privileges and extra items beyond that which the other detainees get.
| "I'm big heat y'know!" |
But Hicks was not distressed, he said. "I don't certainly see him as despondent. He is just normally in a very ill mood."
| "He's normally just a jerk," he added. |
She said she did not know the exact date Hicks was moved to his current cell but said officials from the Australian Embassy in Washington last visited him on March 16.