Bahrain Guantanamo Media Update: "They promised us

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STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD (RSMITH),S/WCI

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TAGS: KPAO PREL PGOV BA CTR BILAT
SUBJECT: Bahrain Guantanamo Media Update: "They promised us
Corn Flakes"

Ref (A): 05 Manama 1742 (B): 05 Manama 1553 (C): 05 Manama


1547. (D): 06 Manama 0117


1. Summary: Bahrain's newest Arabic daily recently
completed a six-part series of exclusive interviews with
former Guantanamo detainee Adel Kamel Abdulla Al Haji, who
was returned from Guantanamo along with two other detainees
in November. The exposes have given the greatest space and
detail so far to a story that just won't die, rehashing
previously heard claims of torture, sexual humiliation,
psychological games, desecration of the Quran, and (this is
new) most recently an apparent denial of promised corn
flakes by American soldiers. What is perhaps most
significant about the series is its narrative quality, which
casts Americans always as evil conspirators using every
tactic at hand to break the spirit of a noble group of
resistant detainees. Meanwhile, appearing in the Arabic
daily Akhbar Al Khalij and English sister paper Gulf Daily
News, a continuing stream of dispatches from the lawyer of
current detainee Juma Al-Dossari and two other Bahraini
detainees who remain at Guantanamo, have described detainees
in failing health, and an apparent 14th suicide attempt by
Dossari in January. In contrast to the firestorm of public
criticism by government and human rights leaders that
followed Dossari's claims last fall, the recent spate of
stories since the return of three detainees have generated
surprisingly little commentary or discussion. End Summary.


2. Since it first published in November, Al-Watan has
positioned itself as a Salafi-bent and highly critical of
America's role in the war on terror and its relationship
with Bahrain, portraying U.S. support for democracy programs
like National Democratic Institute, as meddlesome and
conspiratorial.


3. Similarly, the six-part series on Kamel's odyssey tends
to portray the United States Global War on Terror - from the
battlefield of Afghanistan to the confines of Guantanamo -
as a good versus evil battle, with America's enemies as the
heroes. In his story, America uses trickery, sex and
firepower against outgunned civilians and holy warriors.

U.S. Air Power "Destroys Entire Villages"
--------------


4. In part one, the Muharraq-born Kamel, now 41, leaves his
job with the Bahrain Defense Force in October 2001 to travel
to Afghanistan via Iran. Apparently moved by the plight of
Afghanistan's people, Kamel went for the purpose of
"providing humanitarian assistance to victims of these
attacks." Although surprisingly vague about his own
activities in Afghanistan, Kamel repeats the allegation that
he and many other Arabs were haphazardly rounded up by
Pakistanis and sold to the Americans for financial reward.
He describes entire villages suspected of supporting the
Taliban destroyed by U.S. air attacks.


5. Part two is about Kamel's captivity in Kandahar, where
he alleges he was tortured by electric shocks and kept in
solitary confinement, deprived of food for days and finally
transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Alleged Desecration of the Quran
--------------

6. Kamel meticulously describes a campaign of physical and
psychological torture under American detention, intended, he
says, to "test the bounds of human endurance" and to break
down a stubborn and proud group of captives. Kamel repeats
previously alleged stories about U.S. soldiers desecrating
the Quran, in one instance a soldier asking "Is this your
holy book?" before kicking it across the room. After the
alleged desecration of the Quran, Kamel says detainees
launched a hunger strike, during which they were beaten and
force fed by the Americans. Kamel also said soldiers would
turn on loud music in an effort to distract detainees during
prayer times.

Camp X-Ray: "A Psychological Laboratory Experiment"
-------------- --------------


7. Kamel also claims that "even medical services were part
of the daily torture," that psychologists and other medical
staff collaborated, misdiagnosed health and psychological
conditions, and prescribed medication that often made
detainees sicker, or left them in a state of decreased
mental alertness: "all a strategy to torture us and break us
down." Detainees often refused medication, he claimed.


8. At one point, he claims rumors were spread by prison
administrators that detainees had attempted suicide, an
effort he ascribed to an attempt "to cover themselves in
case one died from torture." This is notable and appears an
attempt to bolster a bizarre claim made by Dossari's family
that an apparent suicide attempt (described by Dossari's
lawyer in a December story in the Washington Post) was
actually faked to cover an attempt to murder him.


9. Kamel also repeats allegations previously made by Juma Al-
Dossari that detainees were offered sex in exchange for
cooperation and subjected to female interrogators who
stripped during interrogations. Kamel said eventually the
Americans gave up in their attempt to break the spirit of
the detainees and began to improve conditions and allow them
to see attorneys and file complaints.


10. Kamel claims he was more recently interrogated about
Bahrain's political situation and asked about his
relationship with political societies and whether he had
been politically active in Bahrain. This is a new assertion
and is an interesting twist in light of Al-Watan's recent
slanted-focus on NDI's activities in training political
societies in Bahrain. He claims he was shown photos of
individuals to comment on, but refused to look at them.


11. Part six, appearing February 7, wraps up with Kamel's
return to Bahrain, emotional reunion with his family, and
then strangely returns to some "highlights from Camp X-Ray,"
including an allegation that soldiers threw away or consumed
about half of each meal given to detainees, including some
of the best parts: the yogurt, toast and eggs, and finally
that prison officials at one point promised detainees corn
flakes three times a week, but were disappointed when the
corn flakes were eaten by soldiers.


MONROE