marinemom
03-12-04, 04:52 AM
March 12, 2004
Camp Delta Briton: 'We were chained and beaten'
By Andrew Clennell
London Times
Jamal al-Harith
The first British Guantanamo Bay inmate to sell his story claimed last night that inmates were given repeated punishment beatings and chained in irons for hours on end.
Jamal al-Harith, 37, a divorced father-of-three from Manchester, said that detainees were shackled with leg cuffs with metal links that cut into the skin.
He claims to have been questioned 40 times by FBI, CIA and MI5 agents and said that while he was interrogated he was bolted to the floor for up to 12 hours at a time.
As punishment in the camp, inmates were forced to lie in a ball for hours, he said.
"Sometimes you would be chained up on the floor with your hands and feet actually bound together. One of my friends told me he was kept like that for 15 hours once," Mr al-Harith told the Daily Mirror.
Mr al-Harith claimed the water served to inmates was foul - yellow in Camp X-ray and black in Camp Delta - and that the diet was rice and beans.
"They would shut off the water before prayers so we couldn't wash ourselves according to our religion," he said.
"They would play tricks on people by denying them things - you might be the only person on your block who didn't get any bread.
"They actually said 'You have no rights here'.
"After a while we stopped asking for human rights - we wanted animal rights."
He went on: "You would be punished for anything - for having six packets of salt in your cell rather than five, for hanging your towel through the cage if it wasn't wet, even for having your spoon and things lined up in the wrong order."
He said inmates were forced to use a bucket as a toilet in view of other inmates and guards.
"I never got used to it - we would all put our towels and clothes around us.
"We were only allowed a shower once a week at the beginning and none at all in solitary confinement. This was very tough because you were supposed to be clean when you pray. Gradually the number of showers rose to three a week. They were always cold.
"You could be chained by two MPs while you were still in the cage before being taken off for what they called 'rec and shower'."
Inmates were issued with "comfort items" - known as CIs - which would be removed sometimes as a punishment, he said. These included shampoo, towels, washcloths and boxer shorts.
Al-Harith said he refused "treats", such as watching a James Bond film.
"Some people were given pizzas, ice cream and McDonalds but they didn't offer them to me. I guess they knew bribery would work with some and not with others."
In Camp X-Ray, he said inmates were given Mills and Boon-style romance novels in Arabic, which they refused to read.
"When I did meet the other Brits, we would reminisce about home - particularly the food.
"We were all obsessed with Scottish Highland Shortbread - we wanted some so much.
"One of the Brits told me he was asked why he was a Muslim, because he ought to be praying to the Queen."
Of his experience, he said: "It was very, very hard at times, but I tried to think about nothing but survival.
"I kept my thoughts from home as much as possible because it would drive me crazy.
"About a year into my time, I had a dream. A voice said: 'You will be here for two years.
"In my dream, I said: 'Two years! You're joking'. But when I woke up, I was calmer because at least that meant I would be getting out one day.
"I was sent to Guantanamo on February 11, 2002 and left on March 9, 2004, so I was there for just over two years, just like the voice in the dream said."
Mr al-Harith was one of five detainees to be released without charge from Paddington Green police station after being questioned by anti-terrorist branch detectives.
Nine Britons were originally held at Camp Delta by the US. Four Britons remain in custody there, despite calls by their families and human rights
Camp Delta Briton: 'We were chained and beaten'
By Andrew Clennell
London Times
Jamal al-Harith
The first British Guantanamo Bay inmate to sell his story claimed last night that inmates were given repeated punishment beatings and chained in irons for hours on end.
Jamal al-Harith, 37, a divorced father-of-three from Manchester, said that detainees were shackled with leg cuffs with metal links that cut into the skin.
He claims to have been questioned 40 times by FBI, CIA and MI5 agents and said that while he was interrogated he was bolted to the floor for up to 12 hours at a time.
As punishment in the camp, inmates were forced to lie in a ball for hours, he said.
"Sometimes you would be chained up on the floor with your hands and feet actually bound together. One of my friends told me he was kept like that for 15 hours once," Mr al-Harith told the Daily Mirror.
Mr al-Harith claimed the water served to inmates was foul - yellow in Camp X-ray and black in Camp Delta - and that the diet was rice and beans.
"They would shut off the water before prayers so we couldn't wash ourselves according to our religion," he said.
"They would play tricks on people by denying them things - you might be the only person on your block who didn't get any bread.
"They actually said 'You have no rights here'.
"After a while we stopped asking for human rights - we wanted animal rights."
He went on: "You would be punished for anything - for having six packets of salt in your cell rather than five, for hanging your towel through the cage if it wasn't wet, even for having your spoon and things lined up in the wrong order."
He said inmates were forced to use a bucket as a toilet in view of other inmates and guards.
"I never got used to it - we would all put our towels and clothes around us.
"We were only allowed a shower once a week at the beginning and none at all in solitary confinement. This was very tough because you were supposed to be clean when you pray. Gradually the number of showers rose to three a week. They were always cold.
"You could be chained by two MPs while you were still in the cage before being taken off for what they called 'rec and shower'."
Inmates were issued with "comfort items" - known as CIs - which would be removed sometimes as a punishment, he said. These included shampoo, towels, washcloths and boxer shorts.
Al-Harith said he refused "treats", such as watching a James Bond film.
"Some people were given pizzas, ice cream and McDonalds but they didn't offer them to me. I guess they knew bribery would work with some and not with others."
In Camp X-Ray, he said inmates were given Mills and Boon-style romance novels in Arabic, which they refused to read.
"When I did meet the other Brits, we would reminisce about home - particularly the food.
"We were all obsessed with Scottish Highland Shortbread - we wanted some so much.
"One of the Brits told me he was asked why he was a Muslim, because he ought to be praying to the Queen."
Of his experience, he said: "It was very, very hard at times, but I tried to think about nothing but survival.
"I kept my thoughts from home as much as possible because it would drive me crazy.
"About a year into my time, I had a dream. A voice said: 'You will be here for two years.
"In my dream, I said: 'Two years! You're joking'. But when I woke up, I was calmer because at least that meant I would be getting out one day.
"I was sent to Guantanamo on February 11, 2002 and left on March 9, 2004, so I was there for just over two years, just like the voice in the dream said."
Mr al-Harith was one of five detainees to be released without charge from Paddington Green police station after being questioned by anti-terrorist branch detectives.
Nine Britons were originally held at Camp Delta by the US. Four Britons remain in custody there, despite calls by their families and human rights