Guantanamo detainees protest against US torture of a mentally-disturbed Algerian
Ech-Chorouk, 10 June 2007
Several detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have protested against the torture by American soldiers of a mentally- ill Algerian detainee called Abderrahmane Hamlili, said a lawyer on Saturday.
The Algerian detainee was tortured in a terrible way without mercy although he was mentally ill, said the same lawyer.
The American agency Associated Press reported a statement made by attorney, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan in which he said the Algerian detainee Abderrahmane had been horribly tortured by American soldiers and medical staff even nurses because he could not understand instructions given to him.
Juma Al Dossari, a Bahraini detained at Guantanamo Bay told Guantanamo lawyer, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan American soldiers had beaten the Algerian detainee without taking into account his psychological situation as they thought he did not obey them.
Al Dossari said Abderrahmane stayed next to him at Guantanamo’s Mental Heath Unit [MHU].
Al Dossari said once Abderrahmane walked around his very small cell for three days without stopping or eating. On the fourth day, he fell down and started shuddering as if he had fever, Al Dossari added.
When soldiers wanted to take Abderrahmane to hospital he refused because he was very tired. Then, anti-riot squad came and forced him to go out from his cell, he said.
Al Dossari said he saw the anti-riot team firing tear-gas canisters into the Algerian detainee’s cell and beating him. He was crying of pain and suffocation.
In this regard, the attorney, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan submitted a detailed report about this incident to the Pentagon.
It was reported that many prisoners protested against that punitive action and had been on a hunger strike.
Several prisoners have asked American soldiers for many times to not deal with Abderrahmane as they do with all detainees and to not beat him.
Joshua Colangelo-Bryan said Abderrahmane did not realise what was happening around him; that’s why, it was impossible to let him in prison.
In respond to Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a doctor said the detainees were enemy combatants and not patients even if they stayed at Guantanamo’s Mental Heath Unit.
On Tuesday, the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights blamed the conditions of the prisoners at Guantanamo, saying that « the legal black hole of Guantanamo is an unconscionable mistake ».
