06/08/2006
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Guantanamo as seen by Cubans
Almost everyday we hear about the United States prison in Guantanamo and we know
more or less everything: abuse of detainees, torture carried out by US soldiers,
imprisoned minors and suicide attempts of prisoners.
Call for closure. Also in recent days the committee against torture of the United Nations has
clearly said that all secret United States prisons found abroad have to close.
Starting with the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.
Vox populi. But there are also other voices from Cuba talking about Guantanamo. ”There’s
not much to say about the base,” says Gioia Minuti a journalist from Havana, “only
that it’s totally illegal, and that the Cuban administration has never accepted
a single penny in ‘rent’ for it. Whoever knows even the smallest amount of history
and isn’t prejudice against Cuba, can’t do anything more than conclude that the
US army has occupied Guantanamo Bay. Cuba has said more than once that the United
States has to leave. This is without talking about somewhat unpleasant incidents
over the past few years, such as various armed clashes with the Cuba army.” Sebastian,
underlines the fact that at international level so much is said about rights denied
in Cuba but at the end “it’s the United States themselves that don’t respect human
rights.”
The call. But it appears that President George W. Bush is having difficulty understanding
the call made by the international community regarding the base at Guantanamo.
Despite the existence of numerous documents that have been gathered together:
prisoners’ testimonies of bad treatment and the long waiting period for trials.
News in recent days with regards to the treatment of prisoners, the is that 75
of them are continuing their hunger strikes. At the start of the protest there
were only five prisoners gradually the number has risen. But the Americans have
the solution to the prisoners’ hunger strike in hand: force them to eat by tying
them to chairs.
The prison in question is always at the centre of some polemic, and the entire
world questions its purpose.
Call for closure. Also in recent days the committee against torture of the United Nations has
clearly said that all secret United States prisons found abroad have to close.
Starting with the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.But has anyone ever thought to ask Cubans what they think about the US prison?
PeaceReporter has tried, contacting by telephone residents of the area and also
talking to the office of the President of Guantanamo province.
“What would you think if for more than a hundred years foreigners occupied the
country in which you were born?” The answer leaves you clear. “For sure I’m not
happy,” a woman that wants to remain anonymous tell us. “I was born here, I’m
46 years old and I have never seen this area without US soldiers. It’s unacceptable;
it’s time to stop it.”
The same reaction from Sebastian that explains over the telephone: “It doesn’t
make me happy knowing that within our territory there are Yankee soldiers. And I’m also not happy that they use violence against prisoners, regardless
of what they’ve done. Guantanamo is Cuban.”
Vox populi. But there are also other voices from Cuba talking about Guantanamo. ”There’s
not much to say about the base,” says Gioia Minuti a journalist from Havana, “only
that it’s totally illegal, and that the Cuban administration has never accepted
a single penny in ‘rent’ for it. Whoever knows even the smallest amount of history
and isn’t prejudice against Cuba, can’t do anything more than conclude that the
US army has occupied Guantanamo Bay. Cuba has said more than once that the United
States has to leave. This is without talking about somewhat unpleasant incidents
over the past few years, such as various armed clashes with the Cuba army.” Sebastian,
underlines the fact that at international level so much is said about rights denied
in Cuba but at the end “it’s the United States themselves that don’t respect human
rights.”The call. But it appears that President George W. Bush is having difficulty understanding
the call made by the international community regarding the base at Guantanamo.
Despite the existence of numerous documents that have been gathered together:
prisoners’ testimonies of bad treatment and the long waiting period for trials.
News in recent days with regards to the treatment of prisoners, the is that 75
of them are continuing their hunger strikes. At the start of the protest there
were only five prisoners gradually the number has risen. But the Americans have
the solution to the prisoners’ hunger strike in hand: force them to eat by tying
them to chairs.But the thing that is of major concern is the high number of suicide attempts
of prisoners. The commander of the military forces present in the Cuban Bay, Robert
Durand, sustains that the suicide attempts and the hunger strikes are methods
used by members of Al Qaeda to call attention to their cases. The prisoners that
have attempted suicide and that for whatever reason have participated in the hunger
strike have been in isolation for months and their condition has worsened.
“You won’t ever find a Cuban that says they are happy about the situation in
Guantanamo,” concludes Sebastian.
Alessandro Grandi
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