New Doku about Gitmo exposes Scandal

Film exposes Guantanamo 'scandal'

english.aljazeera.net -Tuesday 04 November 2003

By Rose Sali

An international filmmaker has exposed America's Guantanamo Bay detention camp as a "human rights scandal".

Ashvin Raman has made a groundbreaking documentary for German television which will be screened on Germany's ARD channel on 12 November.

His film includes exclusive footage of Guantanamo Bay, as well as interviews with released detainees and top American officials.

More than 600 foreign nationals have been detained without charge or access to lawyers and family members in the US naval base since November 2001.

The US has refused to recognise them as prisoners of war, or allow their status to be determined by a tribunal as required under the Geneva Conventions.

Bad information

Raman said it was a scandal that two years after the US opened the camp,people were still being flown over there from Afghanistan.

He said: "Out of 660 people in Guantanamo Bay there are probably only five to 10 big names. The rest are just foot soldiers and ordinary people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The truth is that Afghans have a bad habit of informing on other Afghans. They sell people off by saying they are terrorists and many Afghan warlords have made a lot of money that way."

Raman, who presented a paper on Guantanamo to the European Parliament in September, said the camp was just "a showpiece for the American people".

"It is there so that Bush can tell them that he is doing something about terrorism. But you just can't keep people locked up for such a long time without charge or having access to lawyers."

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printed from New Doku about Gitmo exposes Scandal on 2004-06-03 11:03:23