Human Rights at Guantanamo Bay

The film Zero Dark Thirty discussed the methods of torture that are used at Guantanamo Bay to extract information from detainees. The film portrays some intense torture scenes, but leaves the viewer wondering if it is worth damaging another human being sense of sanity (Bigelow). The detainees are been tortured, isolated from other detainees, sleep deprived and other techniques are being used to gather as much valuable information about future terrorist attacks. The belief behind the treatment of torture is to keep Americans safe. Guantanamo Bay was started by the Bush Administrative in 2002 to hold people that they felt were connected to terrorism. Guantanamo Bay is located inside a U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. Therefore, it is considered outside the U.S. legal jurisdiction. This means that they do not have the rights of a U.S. citizen under arrest or the rights of a prisoner of war (Murphy, Purdum, Rose, Sands, 1). The Geneva Convention is agreed upon by most of the countries in the world and sets rules about the treatment of prisoners of war. The Bush administration has agreed to apply the Geneva Conventions to all terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, bowing to the Supreme Court's recent rejection of policies that have imprisoned hundreds for years without trials (Badington, Abramowitz, 1). However, with the promise of the U.S. Government complying with the Geneva Convention are still not been met at Guantanamo Bay. On April 19, 2013 an article in The New York Times has reported that nearly 100 detainees have gone on hunger strikes. Currently in

Guantanamo Bay more and more detainees are hunger striking because of the harsh treatment that they are receiving (Savage, 1). Is torture ethical because it gets information that saves American lives? Or is it wrong because it is an unethical way to treat humans? Should detainees be torture for the safety of Americans? If the detainees at Guantanamo Bay had never hunger strike would President Obama have mentioned anything about Guantanamo Bay in the National Security Speech? With one-third of the detainees being force feed and a handful in the hospital with no clear end in sight where does the harsh treatment at Guantanamo Bay end? Would Americans or other international organizations have ever known of the inhuman treatment at Guantanamo Bay? Zero Dark Thirty portrayed the purpose of torture as a means to extract information from detainees that were involved with terrorist activities (Bigelow). This information was used to capture key members of Al-Qaeda, locate Osama Bin Laden and stop future terrorist attacks. Interrogation is traditionally conceptualized as the questioning of crime suspects, prisoners of war, defectors, refugees illegal immigrants, spies, agents of foreign powers, or other considered enemies of the state (Putman, 147). The idea behind torture is that the interrogator is not been provided with truthful information from the detainee. The fear of the detainees been acquitted on technicalities base on secrecy and the method of evidence been collected is routinely invoked due to the detainees involvement with terrorist activity in a civilian courts (Vladeck, 1547). In the twenty-first century human rights has emerged in the core of theater and performance (Becker, Hernandez and Werth, 1). Detainees hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay attracted the attention of the media. If the media would have never mentioned the detainees

hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay Americans would have being unaware of the treatment at Guantanamo Bay. President Obama would have never mentioned the treatment at Guantanamo Bay. Film has portrayed the behavior of torture in Zero Dark Thirty to be inhumane. The film makes the audience consider the fact of how the detainees are been treated by our own government. One scene portrayed a gallon of water being forced down the throat of one of the detainees. Then the interrogator left him hanging by two pieces of rope that were attached to the wall placed around his wrist and being forced to listen to loud music. The detainee did not respond with a truthful response so they took a dog collar. Then put the dog collar around his neck as if he was a dog. The detainee still refuses to provide his interrogator with the correct information that is needed. So the interrogator decides to put him in a box. Zero Dark Thirty displays torture as a tool that extracts information from detainees that led to the capture of key members of Al-Qaeda. However, when Bin Laden was located the question of what to do arises (Bigelow). After the Baltimore Sun threaten to sue the Central Intelligence Agency after publishing a four-part series on a manual. The manual highlighted the role of a 1983 manual in the training of the infamous Honduran Battalion 3-16 death squad known for kidnapping, torture, and murder during the 1980s. The Central Intelligence Agency denied any or all statements that were not consistent to U.S. Policy (Putman, 148). The Freedom of Information Act is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government (United States Department of Justice). With an act that allows

citizens to request certain information on their government does not mean that our government will hold any truth or responsibility to the information. Under the Freedom Information Act Frank W. Putman, MD requested information on the manuals that the Central Intelligence Agency holds on interrogation. With manuals on different techniques of torture from July 1963 the Central Intelligence Agency method of training on different techniques of interrogations used to extract information at no concern of the rights to a human being. Given the importance of obtaining true information, military, police, and government intelligence organizations have developed psychological and physiological approaches to extract information, which they hope is accurate, from interrogatees (Putman, 148). The Obama Administrative has promised to close down Guantanamo Bay, but the detention center remains open. With 66 detainees starving themselves and each day the number increases the treatment at Guantanamo Bay has not changed instead the medical assistants are force feeding the detainees. At one point the number of detainees on the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay was only 43 and now has risen from 52 to 63 (Savage, 1). Some of the detainees were promised to be released. But later they were denied their release. The detainees were denied counsel from legal representatives (Editorial). Four months in the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay has caused the detainees to use the hunger strike a reminder to the world of their existence at Guantanamo Bay and the inhumane treatment (Necero, 1). The detainees at Guantanamo Bay have no chance of being released. The detainees Qurans are being searched. The right of having legal representation is no longer allowed to visit at Guantanamo Bay. Nearly 100 detainees are on a hunger strike (Savage, 1). One-third of the detainees are being force feed and a handful is in a hospital. After four months President Obama

realizes the problem. However, Guantanamo Bay still remains open. President Obama National Security Speech ensures the reason behind the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Necero, 1). Khadre supported the Al-Qaeda and was later captured in sent to Guantanamo Bay in Afghanistan. Khadre is a Canadian citizen and was later returned to Canada. However, the 56 Yemenis are still being held at Guantanamo Bay (Austen, 1). Murat Kurnaz a legal resident of Germany was wrongfully accused of terrorist activities. Kurnaz had arrived almost five years earlier, shackled hand-to-waist, waist-to-ankles, to a bolt on the airplane floor and guarded by 10 guards (Kurnaz, 1). Because of the treatment that Murnaz received at Guantanamo Bay under the misunderstanding of his involvement with terrorist he is now mentally scared. He has being released from Guantanamo Bay, but the remaining detainees are still locked away at the detention center. With detainees hunger striking, force feed and in hospitals. The promises of closing Guantanamo Bay by President Obama, promise of Americans will not torture and President Obama promising to make sure of it has being a failed attempt. After the attack on America by Al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001 America went to war. Thousands of Americans killed, billions of dollars in damage, and now ten years of military and security measures in response, we are still living with the war, an uncertain future, and many unanswered questions (Reuter, 1). It is understood that torturing the detainees is necessary to keep Americans safe. However, the disregard to the detainees not been treated like human beings should not be ignored. They did involve themselves with terrorist activities. But these detainees did not commit the crime. They just have the necessary information that is needed to stop future terrorist attacks. These detainees are now homeless and without a country

to call home. The hope of the detainees release and visitation rights has been denied at Guantanamo Bay because they are not American citizens. Torturing another human being is unethical. However, the Bush Administrative has found a means to turn ethics in torture. The ethic base on torturing detainees at Guantanamo Bay is to extract information about future terrorist attacks. The detainees at Guantanamo Bay did not commit a crime. However, the detainees did involve themselves with terrorist attacks. The detainees are an accessory to a crime that they are being tormented for. The torment of never being released, having no visitation rights and having their Qurans searched at Guantanamo Bay is enough torture. The detainees rights as a human being has being stripped away.

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