Wikileaks* has just published the 2003 Camp Delta Standard Operation Procedure for Guantanamo. The DoD claims the contents are now outdated and refused to comment on the content but the document includes instructions that are direct violations of international law:

A confidential 2003 manual for operating the Guantánamo detention center shows that military officials had a policy of denying detainees access to independent monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The manual said one goal was to “exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee,” by denying access to the Koran and by preventing visits with Red Cross representatives, who have a long history of monitoring the conditions under which prisoners in international conflicts are held. The document said that even after their initial weeks at Guantánamo, some detainees would not be permitted to see representatives of the International Red Cross, known as the I.C.R.C.

It was permissible, the document said, for some long-term detainees to have “No access. No contact of any kind with the I.C.R.C.”

(snip)

In a section labeled “psychological deterrence,” the manual said military working dogs should be walked in the camp “to demonstrate physical presence to detainees.”

The Guardian notes that not only were visits by the ICRC blocked but even that “level-four prisoners should have: ‘No access: No contact of any kind with the ICRC. This includes the delivery of ICRC mail.’”

Stephen Soldz of Psychoanalysts for Peace and Justice and founder of Psychologists for an Ethical APA
notes:

In fact, for only one of the four levels was the IRC allowed unrestricted access to ask the detainee whatever questions they deemed appropriate. The other levels allowed only visual access or questions about “health and welfare only.” The camp commander seemed determined to prevent the ICRC from being able to obtain accurate information about detainee treatment.

Bernhard at Moon of Alabama has been reading the manual carefully and summarized the system of rewards used on the prisoners:

‘Rewards’ in Gitmo are a bigger piece of soap, the privilege to get toilet paper as required, toothpaste on Sundays or being allowed to keep a styrofoam cup in the cell. All ‘reward’ items can of course also be again confiscated to ‘discipline’ the prisoner.

8-10. Confiscation of Items
…
k. Items
…
(12) Styrofoam Cups. If the cup has writing on it, confiscate, complete a DA 4137, and give to the Evidence Custodian. If the cup is damaged or destroyed, the detainee will be disciplined for destruction of government property. Also, consult the damaged property matrix to determine the length of time the detainee loses the Styrofoam cup. If the detainee has lost his cup due to discipline, he will receive a cup with his meal but must return it at the completion of the meal. Due to supply issues, different size cups may be used at anytime. All cups are considered equal regardless of size.

What do the authors, who considered and wrote about the equality of styrofoam cups, think about the equality of men?

Update: Wikileaks also has lists of military equipment shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan including nerve gas:

The United States has been caught with at least 2,386 low-grade chemical weapons deployed in Iraq. The items appear in a spectacular 2,000 page leak of nearly one million items of US military equipment deployed in Iraq given to the government transparency group Wikileaks. The items are labeled under the military’s own NATO supply classification Chemical weapons and equipment.

and lethal robots apparently. This material looks worth digging into for a clearer sense of what capabilities our troops are using – looks like a good research project for any firepups who’d like to take a close look.

Related posts:

  1. McChrystal’s Afghanistan Report Leaked; Attempts to Push Obama to Escalate War
  2. Khadr Case Goes Nowhere at Gitmo (Again)
  3. What NYT “Recidivism” Story Misses: Gitmo as Our Recruitment Tool
  4. Gitmo: Obama Considers Gutting UCMJ Protections — For What?
  5. The Debris of an Occupation