Report on Guantanamo Detainees

In his latest column, Nat Hentoff (one of America's great civil libertarians) summarizes the findings of a troubling new report on the detainees held at Guantanamo. The report, compiled by counsel for the detainees and professors/students associated with the Seton Hall University School of Law, represents the most in-depth look at exactly who is in Camp Gitmo and why they are there. The report is not lawyer spin--the writers worked only from information and data made available by the government. The findings are incredible:

1. Fifty-five percent (55%) of the detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies.

2. Only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban.

3. The Government has detained numerous persons based on mere affiliations with a large number of groups that in fact, are not on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist watchlist. Moreover, the nexus between such a detainee and such organizations varies considerably.

Eight percent are detained because they are deemed “fighters for;” 30% considered “members of;” a large majority – 60% -- are detained merely because they are “associated with” a group or groups the Government asserts are terrorist organizations. For 2% of the prisoners their nexus to any terrorist group is unidentified.

4. Only 5% of the detainees were captured by United States forces. 86% of the detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States custody.

This 86% of the detainees captured by Pakistan or the Northern Alliance were handed over to the United States at a time in which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies.

5. Finally, the population of persons deemed not to be enemy combatants – mostly Uighers - are in fact accused of more serious allegations than a great many persons still deemed to be enemy combatants . [Note: Uighers--pronounced WEE-gers--are Chinese Muslims].

The Full Report in pdf format can be found here.

Last night the Pentagon released the names of the detainees. Might sound like damage control, except for the fact that the names were only released because a federal judge ruled against the government in a freedom of information suit brought by the Associated Press.