thedrifter
03-03-07, 07:50 AM
Bahrain 'job for Bay guard'
By Geoffrey bew
MANAMA
RIGHTS activists and MPs have slammed news that US Marines who served in Guantanamo Bay could be posted to Bahrain.A report in the Los Angeles-based paper the Whittier Daily News stated a Marine previously based at Guantanamo Bay was preparing to be transferred to Bahrain this month.
It said 2nd Fast Company 5th Platoon member, Lance Corporal James Patterson, had been based at the prison camp for six months and worked in the security forces.
A US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman has since confirmed to the GDN that soldiers who served in the prison camp could work in Bahrain and said it would be part of a normal transfer.
"It is a very good possibility because we have security personnel here and it would just be a normal transfer," she said.
She declined to reveal how many Marines could be sent to Bahrain and said it would be impossible to know if they had been involved in any allegations of mistreating prisoners.
"We would be taking on base security personnel so they would have had limited civilian contact (with detainees)," she said.
"If they were involved with any (sensitive) dealings out there, we would not release that to anyone for their own safety and security."
The spokeswoman confirmed that no one from Abu Ghraib, the notorious Iraqi prison, would be sent to Bahrain because it was staffed by army personnel and not the navy.
But Bahrain Human Rights Society committee member Abdulnabi Al Ekri said the possibility of guards from Guantanamo Bay coming to Bahrain was disrespectful, given the fact two of the country's men were still at the detention facility. "This is an unwelcome step," he said.
"People will not be happy to know that some guards who could have been involved in atrocities against Bahrainis or others could be stationed here.
"Bahrain should be spared this humiliation."
Muharraq MP Adel Al Maawada, parliament's foreign affairs and national committee affairs chairman, said it would be an "injustice" if any Guantanamo Bay guards were allowed to work in Bahrain.
"They are totally not welcome here and we will resist their entrance into our country," he said. "All of them are not welcome, but especially those whose hands are dirty with the torture of our people."
He admitted it may be difficult to confirm if security forces from the detention centre had arrived in Bahrain, but said if any information emerged he would raise the issue in parliament.
The two Bahrainis still being held at Guantanamo Bay after more than five years of detention without charge or trial are Isa Al Murbati, 41, and Juma Al Dossary, 32.
Three other Bahrainis - Adel Kamel Hajee, Abdulla Al Nuaimi and Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa - were released in November 2005, while Salah Al Blooshi was freed and returned to Bahrain in October last year.
Ellie
By Geoffrey bew
MANAMA
RIGHTS activists and MPs have slammed news that US Marines who served in Guantanamo Bay could be posted to Bahrain.A report in the Los Angeles-based paper the Whittier Daily News stated a Marine previously based at Guantanamo Bay was preparing to be transferred to Bahrain this month.
It said 2nd Fast Company 5th Platoon member, Lance Corporal James Patterson, had been based at the prison camp for six months and worked in the security forces.
A US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman has since confirmed to the GDN that soldiers who served in the prison camp could work in Bahrain and said it would be part of a normal transfer.
"It is a very good possibility because we have security personnel here and it would just be a normal transfer," she said.
She declined to reveal how many Marines could be sent to Bahrain and said it would be impossible to know if they had been involved in any allegations of mistreating prisoners.
"We would be taking on base security personnel so they would have had limited civilian contact (with detainees)," she said.
"If they were involved with any (sensitive) dealings out there, we would not release that to anyone for their own safety and security."
The spokeswoman confirmed that no one from Abu Ghraib, the notorious Iraqi prison, would be sent to Bahrain because it was staffed by army personnel and not the navy.
But Bahrain Human Rights Society committee member Abdulnabi Al Ekri said the possibility of guards from Guantanamo Bay coming to Bahrain was disrespectful, given the fact two of the country's men were still at the detention facility. "This is an unwelcome step," he said.
"People will not be happy to know that some guards who could have been involved in atrocities against Bahrainis or others could be stationed here.
"Bahrain should be spared this humiliation."
Muharraq MP Adel Al Maawada, parliament's foreign affairs and national committee affairs chairman, said it would be an "injustice" if any Guantanamo Bay guards were allowed to work in Bahrain.
"They are totally not welcome here and we will resist their entrance into our country," he said. "All of them are not welcome, but especially those whose hands are dirty with the torture of our people."
He admitted it may be difficult to confirm if security forces from the detention centre had arrived in Bahrain, but said if any information emerged he would raise the issue in parliament.
The two Bahrainis still being held at Guantanamo Bay after more than five years of detention without charge or trial are Isa Al Murbati, 41, and Juma Al Dossary, 32.
Three other Bahrainis - Adel Kamel Hajee, Abdulla Al Nuaimi and Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa - were released in November 2005, while Salah Al Blooshi was freed and returned to Bahrain in October last year.
Ellie