Interview: Moazzam Begg On Rendition, Guantanamo, And Obama

With Obama coming into office in a matter of weeks, I chatted to Moazzam Begg, the spokesman for the Guantanamo Detainee Support Group, Cage Prisoners, to see what changes he sees coming about after Bush & Co. leave office. I also wanted to get a feel for how the current detainees are feeling about this, and to get some sort of an overall picture on how they have, and are, being treated. And a frightening tale unfolded.

In what turned into quite a lengthy conversation about many aspects of Guantanamo, and related stuff like rendition, I got a lot of information from Moazzam, and some very disturbing information indeed. But, there is a feeling, that this is a moment in time, where something could actually be done about it. The Obama administration is coming in, and although Moazzam doesn't see this as being the end of these illegal US activities, it does seem that it will be a small chink in the armour. Armour that has been protecting these disgraceful practices for so long. Moazzam also revealed how some of the former Guantanamo guards, and interrogators, have begun to come forward, to speak out about their actions, and to apologise for how they treated the detainees.

January.07.2009 - George Valentine Corr, Blatant News Editor
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Keep reading to hear what Moazzam had to say on these, and lots more aspects of the plight of rendition victims. He should know something, having been held by the US at Kandahar, Bagram, and Guantanamo, for 3 years in total. In this time he was kept in solitary confinement, interrogated over 300 times, and he received death threats and torture, aswell as witnessing the killings of two fellow detainees. Check the bottom of the page for a full Moazzam Begg biography. And if you are living in the UK, Moazzam and another ex-Guantanamo detainee, along with an ex-Guantanamo guard, will be doing the Two Sides - One Story [National Tour] from January the 11th to February the 4th.

OVERALL TOTAL OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
I began by asking Moazzam the basics about Guantanamo. He explained that there are thought to be about 800 detainees that have, at one time or another, been held at Guantanamo. The reason he says "about" 800, is there is no official or verifiable figure available. Included in that figure are scores of people that have either disappeared in 'secret squirrel' op's, which are run by the CIA, or those who have been confirmed as being picked up by US intelligence, by the US itself, and who have disappeared since. Generally, the US has since denied that it ever held these people, but there is a large group in particular of the 'disappeared' that are thought to have been at Guantanamo at some point, with witnesses seeing them there, amongst other evidence pointing to this.

You get a sense from Moazzam, that what is confusing the numbers, is the fact that the US has so many of these secret torture & detention centres, hidden in all corners of the globe, and it refuses to confirm even their existence, never mind who was held there, or what was done to them. And with almost all governments complicit, either knowingly or not, there is no public info, or appetite for it. Some of these people that disappear will never be found. We will never know where they went to, what was done to them, and what has become of them, but Cage Prisoners, for whom Moazzam is a spokesman, are doing their best to stay on top of what we do know, and helping to build up the clearest picture we have had yet.

THE CURRENT GUANTANAMO POPULATION + TOTAL CONVICTIONS
Moazzam said there are about 240 detainees currently being held at Guantanamo. He explained that an unknown number, but over the 50-60 generally quoted in mainstream media, have already been cleared by the US, and are just waiting for a willing & safe country to allow them asylum. He says that there have been 10 detainees charged so far, with just 3 convictions. That's 800 detainees, with 3 convictions. A success rate that only Eddie the Eagle could be proud of. These convictions included Osama Bin Laden's former driver who has already served his time, and is released, and Australian David Hicks, who signed the confession in return for being freed and sent back home straight away. Moazzam makes it perfectly clear that he doesn't see any of the detainees being convicted on evidence, and this has so far proved to be the case.

We spoke about the charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and what transpired is that Moazzam feels the way most informed people feel. The confessions he has made could not all be true. He could not have planned, and carried out, all the 'terrorist operations' he has said he has done. Moazzam said that current information suggests that Khalid was waterboarded over 100 times, and that his children were actually tortured in front of him. Khalid was also kept in tiny dark cells for 5 years before he even reached Guantanamo. And as Moazzam points out, who wouldn't confess, to so much, with all that going on?

THE PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH CARE OF DETAINEES
The torture of Guantanamo prisoners, including Moazzam himself, is well documented. We have all heard about the waterboarding, the sleep deprivation, the noise torture, the physical beatings, the electric-shock treatment, the psychological drugs, the threats on the detainees, and the psychological stuff like threatening to harm their families, but I was very curious to hear how they are being looked after now, when, presumably a large section, having being cleared by the US, would not be receiving any torture. What he said shocked me. Moazzam said that the detainees would refer to the psychiatrists as "hitchcocks", after Psycho, because they would be more than complicit in the detainees' torture. He said that both medical, and psychiatric staff, play a vital part in the overall Guantanamo terror-machine. These doctors would administer the heavy drugs that detainees were forced to take, and play a lot of roles that are un-befitting of a doctor.

Firstly, they would give the interrogators access to the detainees' medical files, which, as Moazzam points out, is a massive breach of their Hippocratic oath. Moazzam also described how the cells were built suicide-proof, but that one of the psychiatrist's had visited him in his cell to reveal ways of killing himself. One way the psychiatrist forcefully suggested was by using a sheet, and his trousers, in a combination that works. I don't want to explain it here for obvious reasons, I don't want to give anyone ideas, but it sounded very effective. These doctors on Guantanamo sound very frightening indeed. And this is why, according to Moazzam, up to half of the current detainees have never received any medical and psychiatric care. They just don't trust these doctors anymore, and who would blame them? There have so far been 5 admitted deaths on Guantanamo. The US administration says that 4 detainees committed suicide, and 1 detainee supposedly died of cancer. Moazzam explained that a few of those bodies, belonging to Saudi nationals, were flown home. Independent autopsies were done, and even though the bodies were decomposed to the point of not being able to point to a cause of death, and had their vital organs removed due to the earlier US autopsy on Guantanamo, the Saudi officials ruled that they could not be suicide cases. These were murders.

The detainees would not have the Red Cross to turn to either, for a few reasons. Moazzam says Red Cross access would be very limited and strictly controlled, and there was also an element of suspicion on the part of the detainees, as some would view some Red Cross staff as being complicit. Of course one can also assume, that with them being told this is a holy war by their interrogators, a Christian aid organisation would be the last people a frightened Muslim would turn to. The more I spoke to Moazzam, the more I got a picture of Guantanamo as being the type of place that you would not even trust your own shadow. And of course there is also the lack of knowledge of what's going on in the outside world, the isolation, and not knowing how your family are. Sure they didn't even get any legal representation for 3 years. And again in the case of Lawyers, the detainees would find it hard to trust a guy that walks in, who they have never met before, and who was not chosen by them. This could be just another interrogator/torturer, using a new ploy, and Moazzam explained that they had been known to use this ploy. Some detainees have remained without legal representation for this very reason.

THE COMING OF OBAMA
Moazzam's replies to all answers about the coming of Obama saddened me. But he is only expressing the feelings of everybody right now. He says the whole OBAMA = FANTASTIC = CIVIL RIGHTS buzz, of the summer, is totally gone now. He, aswell as the current and past detainees, and their support group, Cage Prisoners, all lost hope for "change" a long time ago. He says that Obama's promise to close Guantanamo, will possibly be coupled with some changes in laws that continue to facilitate the illegal gathering and holding of prisoners by US military and intelligence, so this practice of rendition and detainment looks set to continue. And with it, the torture too.

He also points out that, although Obama has promised to take troops out of Iraq, he has vowed to build up troop numbers in Afghanistan. Moazzam says this can only make matters worse, and particularly for detainees at current US prisons in Afghanistan. He made the point that prisons that are in, or near, active war zones, are known to be more brutal places to spend your time. This is because of that aggressive war mentality that is just outside your door. It often steps inside, and things are taken out on the prisoners, with prisoner abuse always rife. Moazzam says that the prisoners who came from Afghanistan would actually be looking forward to getting to Guantanamo.

WHERE CAN THE EX-DETAINEES BEGIN TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES?
Guantanamo hit the headlines, a few weeks back, when Portugal sent out a letter to other European countries, to try and get some agreement on re-settling the ex-detainees that currently have nowhere that will take them. Moazzam says that Portugal has, by far, been the most positive country pushing this issue, but that there is other positive noises, very recently, coming from countries like the UK & Spain too. He says that European countries are currently trying to put together some legislation to bring these guys to safety in Europe, and give them somewhere to try and rebuild their lives from. He also pointed to the hypocrisy of some of these EU countries, some of whom were complicit in their rendition atleast, and all of whom will talk about the need to close it, but now, when they finally have the chance to do something to physically help the prisoners, they seem unwilling to get involved whatsoever. He gives an example of the complicity. There have been 18 British nationals, and residents, that have been held at Guantanamo. 13 made it back to the UK, 2 were refused re-entry to the UK, and 3 are still at Guantanamo Bay. All 18 of these men, have at one point, been interrogated by British intelligence, during their illegal detention by the US. If that isn't complicity, I don't know what is.

But the main reason the European countries are refusing to take these ex-detainees, they say, is they can't vet them properly for asylum. Which Moazzam points out, is ridiculous. They have been vetted, and cleared by, amongst others, the CIA and FBI. He says that these men, are in fact, THE most vetted people on the planet, and you can understand his point. The District Court in DC at one point ordered that 17 "Chinese" Uighurs could be re-settled in Washington, but Bush vetoed that, saying they were a threat to national security. But these guys would prefer to stay at Guantanamo, than return to China, for Chinese treatment. They considered Guantanamo the Hilton, as compared to that. Another sad part of this story, is what happens to the detainees that do make it home to safety. Moazzam says that the 13 guys who have made it back to the UK have received no financial support from the social services. So not only do they need to start getting their heads sorted, after years of torture and abuse, they are left with no means to feed themselves. The guys who made it back to the UK are currently being supported by various Human Rights groups, and local communities. The UK says that this is because the men were out of the country for a long period, so are not entitled to benefits. Overall, Moazzam doesn't believe that the re-settlement will be done by secret methods, as it just wouldn't be possible. He expects it to be a public event of sorts.

EX-GUARDS SHOWING REMORSE
One glimmer of hope that Moazzam pointed to, is the fact that some of the ex-Guards from Guantanamo are now beginning to approach CAGE PRISONERS, to express remorse, and disgust at their actions. Namely, the torture and abuse of Moazzam and the other detainees. He says that they have come, asking forgiveness, and that some of these Guards are now joining their legal fight, and acting as witnesses against the US administration and military. This is a fantastic development, and a human development, so lets hope that this helps to bring about justice, and an end to the practice of torture. The US administration will, however, attempt to discredit these people, and has already started on that, according to Moazzam. It seems everything will be a battle in this journey for justice, but with good people like Moazzam leading the fight, there can hopefully be some light at the end of this dark tunnel.

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