Prisoner Tells of 'Mental Torture' in Secret Guantanamo Camp
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Somali prisoner at Guantanamo Bay told a military judge that he has experienced intentional noises and vibrations inside the high-security section of the prison known as Camp 7.
Hassan Guleed, an alleged member of East Africa al-Qaeda making his first appearance in a US court since his 2004 capture, portrayed sounds and vibrations as well as chemical odors in testimony at the US base in Cuba as "a kind or pressure" intended to make detainees cooperate with authorities.
He contrasted it with other forms of abusive treatment that he and others experienced while held by the CIA in overseas prisons before being taken to Guantanamo.
"We have mental torture in the Camp 7. In the black site there was physical..." Guleed started to say when prosecutors and the judge cut him off to keep him from discussing details about his confinement that are classified as secret, the Associated Press reported.
Abu Zubaydah, who has not been seen in public since he was captured in Pakistan in 2002, had been expected to testify Thursday about his own experiences with noises and vibrations in Camp 7. But James Harrington, a civilian lawyer for Binalshibh, asked the judge to postpone his appearance just as he was about to come into the courtroom when it became clear that the judge would allow Ryan to ask questions similar to those he asked Guleed. Unlike the Somali, Abu Zubaydah has a lawyer, and he told the court that he would object to incriminating questions.
Military officials have repeatedly denied that guards in Camp 7 intentionally made sounds or vibrations, though there has been documented use of sleep deprivation during interrogations in CIA black site prisons and Guantanamo in the past.
Prosecutors have suggested in court that Binalshibh is inventing allegations that have become one of the many issues that have sidetracked proceedings in the Sept. 11 case, which remains in the pretrial stage with no trial date set.
The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, earlier issued an order directing the military to cease any deliberate noises or vibrations without determining whether any had occurred. Binalshibh says it has continued despite that order.
