Do modern-day concentration camps exist? Is Guantanamo the concentration camp of the United States? Is there a difference in the treatment of living prisoners?
It can be said that there is no comparison since there are no gas chambers. There have been internment camps all over the the world. We don’t generally hear about them because they are closed off from the rest of the world. They are the little dirty secrets that countries don’t want to have in the press. During WWII, most countries had some form of these camps, including Canada and the United States. People of Japanese heritage were interned simply because of their origin. It’s commonly known, yet still swept under the carpet.
The proper term for these camps is Internment. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. It also refers to the practice of neutral countries in time of war in detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment in their territories under the Second Hague Convention.
Today’s version of the internment camp is Guantanamo. It’s a federal military prison and interrogation camp. Prisoners, though, do not have to have a trial. They are not innocent until proven guilty. They are guilty. Even when there has been a trial they often remain behind the barbed wire fences. A danger to the American way.
The detainment camp is run by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO). The prisoners are suspected by the executive branch of the U.S. government of being al-Qaeda and Taliban operative. Along with the suspects are those who are waiting to be relocated after being cleared. The majority of the prisoners were captured in Afghanistan.
There are actually three camps at the base. Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray. Common names for the camp itself are, Guantanamo, Gitmo and Camp X-Ray.
The prisoners are often interrogated. There are rumors of torture.
The U.S. administration claims that those held are not subject to the Geneva Convention’s protections of prisoners. They are labeled “enemy combatants.” Roughly translated, it’s someone who wasn’t wearing a uniform when captured in an act of war. That rule was changed though and the Geneva Conventions were to be put in place on July 7, 2006.
(Little side note: During the American Revolution most of the militia didn’t have uniforms. Guess if they were at war now they would be termed the same and not entitled to basic human rights either)
Most of those held at this camp are not scheduled for any trial. As of November 2006 there were 435 prisoners. Prior to that there had been 775 detainees. 340 had been released. Of the remaining 435 men left in the camp only 70 will face trial. 110 have been labeled for release. There are 250 who have no release date, no trial date, so they are in virtual limbo.
The conditions that “detainees” are held in wouldn’t pass muster in most American prison systems. The cells are small with mesh sides. The lights never go off. They receive rations comparable to the troops with special Muslim considerations.
Is this the let’s-sweep-it-under-the-carpet treatment? There’s some sleep deprivation, truth serums, locking in confined and cold cells, and being forced to maintain uncomfortable postures. Isolation. Forbidden to speak.
At one time they had a Muslim chaplain. James Yee, though, was charged with sedition, aiding the enemy, espionage. He was to serve his sentence at the Fort Bragg brig. The charges were eventually dropped.
Did Yee speak out about the conditions to higher ups? He states that he resigned because no apology was given, nor was there an acknowledgement of error by the United States.
There is no word when the detainees will be freed. Or given a sentence. They are like ghosts. People who once had a life and now there is nothing. No dreams of tomorrow. There is no future.
I stated at the beginning of this article that It can be said that there is no comparison since there are no gas chambers. Now the question I leave you with is, how are they different? When one is still living yet in limbo, is that better? Or is it being in Hell while the rest of the world looks away?
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