By Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. Neve is currently at Guantánamo to observe the military commissions proceedings against detainee Omar Khadr.
I’ve arrived at Guantánamo Bay and spent much of the afternoon attending to a variety of practicalities and formalities. I’m here with observers from three US-based NGO’s as well and we’ve been escorted everywhere we’ve gone today by a very helpful US military officer. Tomorrow will be largely downtime as the start of Omar Khadr’s hearing has been postponed to Wednesday.
Guantánamo is truly a surreal place to be. Hidden away from where we’ve spent the afternoon are the various camps in which some 183 men remain in detention, many having experienced torture or other ill-treatment during their years in US custody and most having no prospect of any trial (let alone a fair trial) or, it seems, of being released at any foreseeable point. They include individuals who were previously hidden away for years in secret CIA detention at undisclosed locations, and subjected to so-called “enhanced” interrogation techniques such as “water-boarding” and sleep deprivation. Meanwhile we are surrounded by sportsfields, fast food chains, and an outdoor movie theatre.
What lawyers will be arguing about over the coming two weeks is critical. Omar Khadr’s legal team will be pushing to have various statements that he provided to interrogators excluded as evidence in his trial that is set to begin in July. They will lay out the detailed and harrowing descriptions Omar has provided as to the torture and ill-treatment he says he endured during those interrogations – both in Afghanistan and here at Guantánamo. They will highlight as well that the treatment was all the more cruel and coercive because he was so young at the time, having been only 15 years old when first apprehended in Afghanistan. They will stress that under international law and US law, there is no question – statements obtained through torture or other ill-treatment cannot be used.