RSLudlum
04-16-2008, 10:01 PM
This was an article printed in our local Charleston paper, the Post and Courier...
what's your take on this...
Navy brig prisoner's perks include TV, laptop, library
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
source (http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/apr/16/navy_brig_prisoners_perks_include_tv_lap37379/)
COLUMBIA — An accused enemy combatant held in the Charleston Naval Consolidated Brig lives in a sprawling complex of prison cells that have been converted into areas for sleeping, living, storage and studying and include a nearly 400-volume personal Islamic library, according to federal prosecutors.
Court documents filed by the government in a defense of its treatment of Ali al-Marri state that he enjoys perks that include a laptop, cable TV and exercise machines.
Al-Marri, a 42-year-old legal resident alien from Qatar, was arrested in December 2001 and has been held in solitary detention at the brig in Hanahan for almost five years because the government said he had links to al-Qaida and was a threat to national security.
Al-Marri's "conditions of confinement are not only safe and humane, but provide him with a number of accommodations and privileges rarely seen in the military detention of enemy combatants," the government wrote in its brief, filed Monday. "He not only has adequate opportunities for human interaction, exercise, and intellectual stimulation ... his physical and mental health is regularly monitored, with appropriate care available if needed."
Last month, al-Marri's attorneys filed a complaint alleging that the nearly five years of isolation were affecting their client's health and ability to assist in his defense. Lawyer Jonathan Hafetz of the Brennan Center for Justice and Charleston attorney Andy Savage also argued that al-Marri should be entitled to unrestricted access to news and religious texts, as well as expedited correspondence with his family.
While he is mostly alone, al-Marri has several ways to exercise his mind, including interaction with prison officials, health care providers and representatives from the Red Cross, the government said.
He is restricted to his 80-square-foot "sleeping cell" from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., but is free to use a nearby 1,000-square-foot "day room" and the other cells converted into rooms for his personal use. Al-Marri also has several indoor exercise machines and may exercise outdoors for up to four hours a day, the government said.
Hafetz on Tuesday said that despite the activities afforded al-Marri, it is the isolation itself that is most detrimental to his state of mind.
New interrogation technique??? Torture with Kindness doctrine ;)
what's your take on this...
Navy brig prisoner's perks include TV, laptop, library
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
source (http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/apr/16/navy_brig_prisoners_perks_include_tv_lap37379/)
COLUMBIA — An accused enemy combatant held in the Charleston Naval Consolidated Brig lives in a sprawling complex of prison cells that have been converted into areas for sleeping, living, storage and studying and include a nearly 400-volume personal Islamic library, according to federal prosecutors.
Court documents filed by the government in a defense of its treatment of Ali al-Marri state that he enjoys perks that include a laptop, cable TV and exercise machines.
Al-Marri, a 42-year-old legal resident alien from Qatar, was arrested in December 2001 and has been held in solitary detention at the brig in Hanahan for almost five years because the government said he had links to al-Qaida and was a threat to national security.
Al-Marri's "conditions of confinement are not only safe and humane, but provide him with a number of accommodations and privileges rarely seen in the military detention of enemy combatants," the government wrote in its brief, filed Monday. "He not only has adequate opportunities for human interaction, exercise, and intellectual stimulation ... his physical and mental health is regularly monitored, with appropriate care available if needed."
Last month, al-Marri's attorneys filed a complaint alleging that the nearly five years of isolation were affecting their client's health and ability to assist in his defense. Lawyer Jonathan Hafetz of the Brennan Center for Justice and Charleston attorney Andy Savage also argued that al-Marri should be entitled to unrestricted access to news and religious texts, as well as expedited correspondence with his family.
While he is mostly alone, al-Marri has several ways to exercise his mind, including interaction with prison officials, health care providers and representatives from the Red Cross, the government said.
He is restricted to his 80-square-foot "sleeping cell" from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., but is free to use a nearby 1,000-square-foot "day room" and the other cells converted into rooms for his personal use. Al-Marri also has several indoor exercise machines and may exercise outdoors for up to four hours a day, the government said.
Hafetz on Tuesday said that despite the activities afforded al-Marri, it is the isolation itself that is most detrimental to his state of mind.
New interrogation technique??? Torture with Kindness doctrine ;)