DOD release to AP of Gitmo detainees under FOI identifies victim of TIME's Torture log

The Associated Press filed a lawsuit Monday March 15th 2006 against the US Department of Defense seeking the release of records and identities of Guatanamo detainees.In response the Pentagon have released a PDF file of 18 pages. 558 people with their stated nationality, 132 - came from Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan followed with 125, then Yemen with 107 in total 41 countries are named. Each name has an ISN (?) number and is listed numerically.

Released yesterday, 19th April 2006, it was accompanied by some 500 more pages of transcripts that the Pentagon said it "inadvertently omitted from earlier releases" that were previously obtained by AP using FOI legislation.

"Lawyers have been asking for this stuff for 2 1/2 years," said Mark Denbeaux, a law professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Some names are opaque, for example ... an Afghan (?) who prefers to be identified only as "Commander Chaman." ISN 1021 others who are "Muhibullah"ISN 546, "Obaidullah" ISN 782
"Kakai" ISN 0175 "Baridad" ISN 966

Notably the list reveals that Muhammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who reportedly was the 20th hijacker in the 9/11 charade is held at Guantanamo. His presence had been claimed, but the Pentagon resolutely declined to confirm it. His ISN No is 063 which is identical to the number of the unknown but guessed at detainee whose alleged log of his interrogation in Time published June 12th 2005.

According to this log ..."Al-Qahtani’s resilience under pressure in the fall of 2002 led top officials at Gitmo to petition Washington for more muscular “counter resistance strategies.” On Dec. 2, Rumsfeld approved 16 of 19 stronger coercive methods. Now the interrogators could use stress strategies like standing for prolonged periods, isolation for as long as 30 days, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair, playing on “individual phobias” (such as dogs) and “mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger and light pushing.” According to the log, al-Qahtani experienced several of those over the next five weeks."

" ...on Dec. 7: a medical corpsman reports that al-Qahtani is becoming seriously dehydrated, the result of his refusal to take water regularly. He is given an IV drip, and a doctor is summoned. An unprecedented 24-hour time out is called, but even as al-Qahtani is put under a doctor’s care, music is played to “prevent detainee from sleeping.” Nine hours later, a medical corpsman checks al-Qahtani’s pulse and finds it “unusually slow.” An electrocardiogram is administered by a doctor, and after al-Qahtani is transferred to a hospital, a CT scan is performed. A second doctor is consulted. Al-Qahtani’s heartbeat is regular but slow: 35 beats a minute. He is placed in isolation and hooked up to a heart monitor ....."

I tell you, the people who authorised this, the people who took the orders, the medics who let it all happen are seriously, seriously sick and deranged.

Full extracts from the log are available (if you really want to be made to feel sick and wonder why we send our sons and daughters ("Female invasion of body space")to do this ) is available on subscription US$1.99.

If Mr Alberto Gonzalez thinks this isn't torture I've a yen to try a little bit of the "Don't drink water , then wear it" philosophy.

Now of course after 4 years of this obscenity the Pentagon (nor anyone else) haven't a clue what to do with these people, they have no ideas what laws to apply, procedures to follow, very few of whom were directly arrested by US personnel but handed over by a variety of police/ border guards/ often with the promise of a bounty.