What About Other USMil Prisons?

With all the recent hubub about the USMil being poorly trained for prison-guard duty, a South Carolina reporter poses the question, what's going on in other USMil prisons? Specifically, the naval brig in Hanahan, SC. That's where three major suspects in TWAT are being held. Jose Padilla, the so-called "dirty bomber" who hasn't bombed anything at last check, is being held there along with Ali Saleh al-Marri and Yaser Hamdi who have supposed connections to Al Qaida and the Taliban, respectively, are being held as enemy combatants at the brig.

So what's going on in Hanahan? No one there will talk, as this reporter found out.

Now, is this a good thing? When the eyes of the world (and the eyes of American tax payers) are on the USMil for its treatment of prisoners, wouldn't it behoove the entire USMil prison system to be forthcoming with proof that the treatment these three detainees and others are getting does not involve anal rape with glow sticks or playing naked fetch with a german shepard and a prisoner?

Then again, what we do know is that Padilla and the others are being held are being kept under tight lock and key, most likely in solitary confinement. Seeing as Padilla is an American citizen and should be entitled to due process, this treatment is already unfair and unjust. He has had limited contact with a lawyer and if you consider a quick and speedy trial being locked up for over a year, you've got different standards than me. And regarding the other two being held, just because they aren't US citizens doesn't mean they don't have a right to due process, as well. As I said in a recent post the Declaration of Independence says that "all men are created equal" - ALL men, not just AMERICAN men.

So, if you've got evidence that they committed a crime, get on with it. If not, let them go.

These people aren't military and no official declaration of war was made against Afghanistan or Iraq, or even Al Qaida, so they can't be Prisoners of War. That makes them regular old humans.

Oh, I could go on...

Read more about the naval brig at Hanahan, SC at Charleston.net.




From Charleston.net:

Naval brig in Hanahan cloaked in secrecy of fight against terror

Story last updated at 7:04 a.m. Wednesday, May 5, 2004

BY TONY BARTELME
Of The Post and Courier Staff

As the Iraqi prisoner scandal boiled over Tuesday, defense officials said the Navy inspector general would assess what has become one of the most secretive installations in the military's fight against terrorism: the Naval Consolidated Brig in Hanahan.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday in a news conference that it was "premature" to know if abuses similar to what happened in Iraq have happened at other prisons run by the U.S. military.

The Navy's brig in Hanahan is home to several high-profile terrorism detainees, including Jose Padilla, the alleged "dirty bomber," and Ali Saleh al-Marri, who authorities believe was a sleeper cell operative for al-Qaida.

A third detainee, Yaser Hamdi, also is being held as an enemy combatant after the military captured him with a Taliban unit in Afghanistan.

All three have been held in maximum security conditions with almost no contact with family, lawyers and other outsiders.

Navy officials at the brig and the Naval Weapons Station didn't immediately return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment, maintaining a consistent silence about the operation.

Since the brig became an important cog in the military's terrorism fight, the Navy has refused to answer even the most basic questions about it, including questions about treatment of terrorism and non-terrorism inmates.

Eight months ago, The Post and Courier requested detailed information about conditions under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The Pentagon has yet to respond with any information and declined numerous requests for visits to the facility.

Since 1992, accreditation teams with the American Correctional Association have inspected the facility four times and given it perfect scores after each visit.

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