Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(Midsummer 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
Detention
centre or Gulag?:
 Due to much worldwide criticism by human rights groups of America’s
handling of prisoners taken during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the way
that the United States has handled the so-called enemy combatants in Abu Ghraib
prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba, discussions have
been entered into within the Bush Administration as to whether the Guantanamo
Bay Camp Delta should be closed.
The President has given a somewhat wishy-washy
maybe, the Vice President a definite no, and the Secretary of Defence
a political somewhere in between answer.
If the camp
was closed, the question then arises as to how and where the
United States would disperse or dispose of the prisoners.
Many of the enemy combatants have been held as prisoners
for more than three years, and as they are not officially
imprisoned upon American soil they have no legal rights.
It has been reported that in many cases charges have
not been brought against them and that they do not have access
to legal aid which gives an impression voiced by certain
human rights groups that the Gantanamo Bay camp is
more of a Gulag than a prison camp.
 This
of course is a difficult situation and a major embarrassment
for a country such as the United States that prides itself
upon strict adherence to civil liberties and human rights
and has been known to challenge the actions of other
nations with respect to their lack of these qualities.
Reader’s
views would be appreciated.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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