Guantanamo bay


Obama steps towards a post-Gitmo America

With the White House deciding to trial a suspected Somali terrorist in US federal court, Barack Obama has finally made a significant step towards realising his pre-election promise to close down Guantanamo Bay, writes Karen Greenberg.

Cowboys, Indians and printing the legend of bin Laden’s death

We’re already printing the legend of the death of Osama bin Laden.

The bureaucracy of Gitmo

Benjamin Franklin’s famous trade-off between liberty and temporary safety – for those who deserve neither — stands itemized in human form in the Gitmo documents, in those many files full of misspellings, malapropisms and justifications, the dream-diary jottings of a superpower nightmare.

Guy Rundle: Rundle’s meaty bites: Gitmo, the Grauniad … Shtupping … Trump-style Oz …

WikiLeaks … all-in-all, quite a set of leaks. A whole new source of secret information? Well, not quite.

Habib: my torture at the hands of Egypt’s new de facto leader

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib, has an intimate knowledge of Omar Suleiman; he met him personally while Habib was illegally rendered to Egypt in 2001 and tortured.

After the shooting: Guantánamo, lest we forget

In this climate, we are hurtling toward a culture of permissive and normalised violence, one in which black site prisons and perpetual war and fearing our neighbours will be customary, writes Jacinda Woodhead, associate editor of literary journal Overland.

Why David Hicks is a liar

The new autobiography by one of the first prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Australian David Hicks, is “self-serving, sanitised and disingenuous”, declares Sally Neighbour. Hicks failed to analyse or question his own actions and motives and underplays his role in Afghanistan .

Whatever their motivation, WikiLeaks undermine international humanitarian law

The vast bulk of material recently released by WikiLeaks would not be new in nature to those who keep up with the Afghanistan War or the difficulties and perennial moral quandaries of fighting wars generally, writes Neil James, executive director, Australia Defence Association

Why I was banned from Guantanamo

An interview with veteran Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg, who was recently banned from reporting on the Omar Khadr trial at Guantanamo Bay after publishing the name of an anonymous witness. She defends her actions.

My tortured life as a Gitmo prisoner

Omar Deghayes, a British resident who spent six years imprisoned in Guanatanamo Bay, explains how he went from a peaceful family life in Pakistan to having his eyes gouged by Gitmo guards, resulting in permanent blindness.

Welcome to the new Gitmo. It’s rather like the old one

Guantanamo Bay prison is closing, but inmates are simply being transferred to a ‘supermax’ facility in Illinois, won’t receive a trial and some won’t be charged with a crime at all. Why close Gitmo just to open a new one? asks Glenn Greenwald.

The repugnant case of Omar Khadr

The US is still refusing to release or repatriate Canadian citizen and terror suspect Omar Khadr, who was arrested in 2002 in Afghanistan at the age of 15 and has been detained in Guantanamo Bay ever since, says Greg Barns.

What will Obama do with the leftover Gitmo prisoners?

Barack Obama is honouring his pledge to close down the notorious Guantanamo prison, but how and where will the detainees be trialled in a fair manner? NPR explores the options, examining what justice means for Gitmo prisoners.

Guantánamo guard: “Why I converted to Islam”

Six months into his work in the US military as a guard at the notorious Gitmo, Terry Holdbrooks converted to Islam with the help and mentoring of the prisoners. What made him do it?

Photos emerge from Gitmo of 9/11 ringleader

New photos have been released of Guantánamo Bay inmate Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, regarded as the mastermind of 9/11, looking far different to his famous dishevelled capture photos. Will they inspire further terrorist attacks?

Court ruling: hope for detainees in the land of the free

The Bush Administration’s secretive arrests of Arab-Americans and Muslims after 9/11 doesn’t get much airplay, but that may be about to change.

US court for terror suspects: Gitmo 2.0?

Barack Obama may have promised to close Gitmo, but there are ‘a thousand little Gitmos’ across the US, where terror suspects are being given unfair trials, writes Petra Bartosiewicz.

How the Uighurs could learn to hate paradise

It’s a tropical wonderland, says Jonathan Kaminsky, but for the 17 Uighurs being sent there, life in Palau may be no better than it’s been for former Gitmo detainees in Albania and Tunisia.

Mission to Afghanistan: keeping the least worst warlord in power

Overwhelming military power coupled with a vague confidence in our benevolence doesn’t usually end up so well, writes Jeff Sparrow.

Guantanamo: be the evil you want to see defeated

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Be the change you want to see”. But in George W Bush’s so-called “war on terror”, the extreme opposite applied, writes Irfan Yusuf.

Closing Gitmo: a Crikey media wrap

Many commentators are warning that Obama can’t simply write off Guantánamo with the stroke of a pen.

Closing Gitmo: a Crikey media wrap

Many commentators are warning that Obama can’t simply write off Guantánamo with the stroke of a pen.

Rundle: the Obama reign begins

The Obama administration has hit the ground running, writes Guy Rundle.

The Humpty Dumpty gang should take their great fall over Guantanamo

Throughout the Bush years, politicians and the media, both in Australia and abroad, have been prepared to play brazen Alice in Wonderland games with definitions, writes Jeff Sparrow

Obama faces up to the Gitmo problem

The whole Guantanamo issue is going to be a big problem the for the incoming Obama administration, writes Charles Richardson.