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Friday, May 27, 2005 - Posts

WinningThePeace - Notes from the FBI

posted Friday, May 27, 2005 2:34 PM by hussain
Here're the snippets from the summaries of FBI interview of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, provided by FOIA via the ACLU referencing "Qur'an" (emphases mine; 03/18/2003, #8, is particularly telling):

  1. 04/11/02 - Records detainee stating that "some unknown detainees are not talking in retaliation to an incident where a guard kicked the Qur'an."
  2. 07/30/02 - Notes that "[t]he Camp Delta detainee uprising which occurred on or about 19-20 July 2002, was started when one detainee claimed that a guard dropped a Qur'an. In actuality the detainee dropped the Qur'an and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim and this initiated the uprising."
  3. 08/01/02 - Notes that "[p]rior to his capture, REDACTED had no information against the United States. Personally, he has nothing against the United States. The guards in the detention facility do not treat him well. Their behavior is bad. About five months ago, the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Qur'an in the toilet. The guards dance around when the detainees are trying to pray. The guards still do these things."
  4. 01/08/03 - Notes that, "REDACTED claimed that detainees were often put in freezing cold isolation cells with no blankets for days at a time. He also stated that they (the detainees) are only given the equivalent of 12 hours of exercise per year. REDACTED also said that the guards often beat the detainees when they search their cells . . . . He also said it was not right to use the Qur'an as reward/punishment; doing so is disrespectful of the Qur'an."
  5. 01/21/03 - Notes that "REDACTED complained about detainee treatment by the guards. REDACTED stated he had heard a detainee had been severely beaten by a guard and had died. REDACTED advised he heard the altercation between the detainee and the guards began when the guards disrespected the Qur'an. REDACTED complained the guards would take away the Qur'an as punishment and he believed this punishment was unjust as the Qur'an is extremely important to Muslim detainees. "
  6. 01/22/03 - Noted that detainee "stated that a lot of the brothers were still upset about the detainee who had attempted suicide six days earlier. Several of the brothers were still saying that he was beaten by the guards. He wanted to know if his brother was still alive and wondered if a couple of brothers could visit him to ensure that he was not dead. He further commented that several of the brothers were extremely upset, and he was afraid that others might attempt suicide . . . .REDACTED stated the issues regarding the Qur'an led to this . . . He commented that the Qur'an should not be used as a form of punishment. Also the searching of the Qur'an needs to be looked into. The guards need to be made aware of how they are humiliating the Qur'an."
  7. 02/04/03 - Notes that "REDACTED advised that he has been detained for a long time and the Americans should know the guilt or innocence of every detainee by now. He further noted that he understands America's reaction to 9/11 because it was something new; however the treatment at Guantanamo Bay is unbearable. REDACTED advised it was worse than Hitler's treatment of the Jews. . . . He commented that the older guards are usually very nice and the younger ones cause a lot of the problems. They often disgrace the Qur'an by throwing it on the cell floor and frequently use profanity which many of the detainees find extremely offensive."
  8. 03/18/03 - Notes, "Detainee REDACTED, however, reiterated the statement he made during his previous interview on 3/14/03, that he would not provide any information until the U.S. Government and interrogators in Camp Delta changed the way it treated the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an. When asked for examples when he had personally witnessed the mistreatment of the Qur'an, REDACTED could offer none. Instead REDACTED referred to general examples of claimed abuse, wherein soldiers, who were non-believers, had touched the book when searching it. Later in the conversation. REDACTED stated it was the interrogators he wanted to specifically single out as violators of any regulations regarding the Qur'an. For this he stated he had a specific message which he wished to pass to all interrogators. The us of the Qur'an as a weapon against detainees, REDACTED stated, had failed. Interrogators who had taken the Qur'an from individual detainees as a reprisal or as an incentive for cooperation had failed to sway the brothers and would continue to fail. The brothers REDACTED continued, would remain strong even without the Qur'an. The only thing which would result from these actions, REDACTED stated, would be the damage caused to the reputation of the United States once what had occurred was released to the world."
  9. 03/28/03 - Notes that "Detainee REDACTED stated that the treatment of the Qur'an continued to be the reason for his unwillingness to cooperate. REDACTED was asked how the mistreatment of the Qur'an had taken place. REDACTED stated that the issue continued to be based on what the detainees perceived as the use of the Qur'an as a weapon. It was taken from them and returned at will, with little consideration for the value which they placed in the book. REDACTED was asked if he had ever seen the Qur'an mistreated or intentionally mishandled. He had not. REDACTED was asked if he had ever seen the Qur'an thrown around, tossed on the ground or mistreated in any way. He had not . . . . REDACTED was informed that his case for the proper treatment of the Qur'an had been taken to higher levels and presented as a serious issue. The effort had been hurt, however, because it had been found that detainees were hiding things within the pages of the Qur'an. As a result, the guards were required to look through the Qur'an for their own safety. REDACTED was asked if he could assure camp officials that none of the detainees would ever hide any objects of any kind in their Qur'ans. He stated he could not.
  10. 03/30/03 - Notes that detainee "reiterated the statement he made during his previous interviews, on 3/14/2003 and 3/18/03, that he would not provide any information until the U.S. Government and interrogators in Camp Delta changed the way it treated the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an. Moreover . . . an incident in the camp yesterday, which cause some areas of the camp to be locked down, was based on the guard's abuse of the Qur'an. As a result of this incident and what REDACTED claimed were the resulting beatings and further mishandling of the Qur'an, he was going to shut down and refuse to talk at all. . . . Yesterday the detainees in isolation were removed from their cells for physical exercise. When they returned, they found that their Qur'ans, which had been removed earlier, had been returned by the guards. REDACTED stated that it was an abuse of the Qur'an for non-believers to handle the Qur'an."
  11. 04/08/03 - Records detainee's concerns that his Muslim brothers "violated small rules of the camp and were sent to isolation. As an added punishment, they were forced to shave their beards. . . . REDACTED indicated that many detainees are very angry about these brothers who were forced to shave their beards, and consider it as an attack on their religion. He said that other actions by camp guards have also angered the detainees, such as some guards making fun of them while they are praying and having their Qurans taken away as punishment for breaking rules. Although the guards no longer make fun of their prayers, and they do not take away their Qurans unless they are in isolation, the detainees still see these incidents as evidence their religion is being threatened."
  12. 04/23/03 - Notes that detainee was informed by FBI agent " that he was able to convince the Commanding General to allow the interviewing agent to return the Qur'an to REDACTED. In reality, a Department of Defense order from the Secretary of Defense mandated all detainees, regardless of reward level, would have a Qur'an which could not be taken away. In an effort to use this to his advantage, the interviewing agent made it appear as if he was able to win something back for REDACTED."
  13. 07/27/03 - Notes that detainee " is presently on a strike regarding talking with interrogators due to an alleged incident involving an interrogator humiliating the Qur'an during the interrogation of another detainee. REDACTED did not witness the incident and only heard about it through hearsay. . . . Beginning today, they are also starting a hunger strike. REDACTED stated the strike would end once the detainees saw something in writing regarding the prohibition of acts that humiliate the Qur'an and/or Islam."
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Pakistan - Still blowing stuff up

posted Friday, May 27, 2005 1:56 PM by hussain
How Pakistan keeps on operating is boggling to me. Some Sunni blew himself up at a Shi'a sufi mosque there, apparently following some Al Qaida / Sunni agenda to get rid of Shi'a muslims. More than 150 people were injured and more than 24 died. Those theorists that want to claim that Islam is in a state of internal struggle and turmoil'll use this to justify their marginalizations of Islam as a religion that advocates violence, internally and externally. In that way, it's really damaging. For Pakistan, this image of limping along and slowly decaying like a leper's probably the best they're going to get. My position on Pakistan's always been they get what they deserve and that a real war on terror would start there and in Saudi. Waiting for an unconcered America, american corporation or American government to intervene (apart from the negotiations necessary to surgically extract OBL from Pakistan's northwest territories) is a futile exercise - Pakistan is in sore need for an intervention and only the rest of the world's muslims can do it.

Edit: Another brief article: A Bloody Holiday in Pakistan, Time, May 30, 2005
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