I have recently been reading John Krakauer’s fantastic book ‘Where Men Win Glory’ about the untimely death of NFL star turned post 9/11 Army Ranger, Pat Tillman; and the subsequent cover up and PR manipulation of his death by the Bush government. It’s a great book, which I highly recommend, and Pat’s story is both a sad reminder of the tragedy and idiocy of war, as well as of a man following what he believed to be right - challenging many of the preconceptions about the depth and intelligence of many in the military.

Anyway, I bring this up because the Pat Tillman story is important for anyone who still thinks that the military are unable to cover up their own mistakes. Pat was an NFL star turned Army Ranger, an all-American hero, who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, so if the Army lied to his family about the circumstances of his death, imagine what they’d do if he had been a suspected terrorist held in the world’s most controversial detention centre.

This is the reality for the families of Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi, Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani and Salah Ahmed Al-Salami who according to US authorities, all committed suicide on June 9, 2006 in Guantanamo Bay. According to an investigation by Scott Horton and Harpers Magazine, it now seems that these men were killed during brutal interrogations. Let me reiterate that again, in case it hasn’t quite sunk in: if this investigation is correct, the US military murdered three men at Guantanamo on one night, and then staged their suicides in an attempt to cover it up. I’m not going to go in to the details of the case as Scott in Harpers does a much better job of it than I ever could, and his piece deserves recognition and reading. What I will do though is talk about this being the final straw for the infamous facility.

In my recent interviews with Ruhal Ahmed and Omar Deghayes for a TV documentary, both talked of horrific abuse, and Omar said that people had died in Guantanamo. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as we’ve seen homicides in Bagram and other CIA prisons, as well as countless instances of abuse with those at Abu Ghraib being the most obvious and famous. Whilst Guantanamo is far from a holiday camp, this is still quite a shock.

The US authorities have done a lot in recent years to try and distance themselves from the initial images of Guantanamo, trying to point out that the entertainment systems, ping pong, football pitches and movies are a far cry from torture - but I would argue that alluding to any of the above activities being any form of consolation is ignorant! In all honesty, if you’re an innocent man who was handed over to US authorities in Pakistan for a $5,000 military payout, and held for eight years with no idea why, or any explanation about your case, do you think a game of ping pong will make you feel any better? If you still believe that all those in Guantanamo must be guilty of something, then explain the 500 or so that have been released without charge, or speak to the nine British men living back here at home.

This most damning allegation comes eight years in to the life of Guantanamo Bay, and arrives as the Obama administration desperately find a way to close the centre and work out what to do with the 190 odd people there. Many of these men are cleared for release, but have nowhere to go as they are in perilous danger if they return to their home countries. The US authorities have looked to other nations to try and encourage them to take detainees, but without the US leading the way, it is no wonder nobody else is interested.

No matter how it pans out, it seems obvious that Guantanamo is close to closing, and its legacy will only ever be a negative one. Guantanamo is no longer the name of a picturesque bay in Cuba, but a byword for torture, repression and the loss of civil liberties. Future generations will use the word ‘Guantanamo’ to describe places and situations in the same way that we use the word ‘Gulag’ in modern times, and orange boiler suits will never be viewed in the same way again.

The most recent and damaging allegations then just round up on an already damning list of failures in the Guantanamo ‘project’, and what has it all been for? Has it made us any safer? The only sane answer can be a resounding no. Not only that, but we are in more danger from terrorism because of Guantanamo and the wider war on terror. Cori Crider of legal charity Reprieve put it best when I spoke to her recently, saying, "If you’re an Al Qaeda recruiter, all you have to say is Guantanamo and people will fight for you." We can only assume that these three murders will make that worse.

Are these allegations that surprising, and is this news? On the one hand, no it is not surprising; in fact it’s in keeping with the other horrific stories that have seeped out of Guantanamo and other black site prisons. Others would argue that Guantanamo is no longer newsworthy and we’ve heard and seen these stories of abuse and murder before. I couldn’t disagree more. Although we’ve been hearing these horror stories about prisoner abuse in the ‘war on terror’ for the last eight years, we should not stop making news of every allegation if we are to try to fix the damage we have caused. According to Reprieve, there is still abuse going on in Bagram and other prisons throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, and so we must make news of the injustice if we want to stop ongoing abuse and make sure our nations never partake in actions like this again.

Words: William Francome. William is the writer and presenter of 'In Prison My Whole Life' - his investigation into the arrest of famed Black Panther Mumia Abu Jamal (who is now on death-row). Williams's other documentary, ‘Life After Guantanamo’ was recently shown on Current TV. For more info, and to keep up to date with William's work, visit here.
 

Photo: First pic - Flickr user PaisleyPitbull, a statue of Pat Tillman

Second pic - Flickr user Firoze Shakir photographerno1, of Guantanamo Bay