WikiLeaks unlocks Guantanamo cages

Leaked files allege that the US government knew that hundreds of inmates imprisoned for years were either totally innocent or low-risk

WikiLeaks unlocks Guantanamo cages

Leaked files allege that the US government knew that hundreds of inmates imprisoned for years were either totally innocent or low-risk

Imprisoned without cause: According to the leaked files, prison officials
knew that they were holding innocent men behind bars. The entrance
to the Guantanamo prison. File Pics/Getty images

At least 150 Guantanamo detainees were innocent Afghans or Pakistanis, including drivers, farmers and chefs.
They were rounded up as part of frantic intelligence-gathering in war zones and then detained at the US naval base in southeastern Cuba for years because of mistaken identity or simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It said that overall, US military analysts considered only 220 of all the suspects in the George W Bush-era "war on terror" ever detained at Guantanamo to be dangerous extremists. Another 380 were deemed to be low-ranking foot soldiers who travelled to Afghanistan or were part of the Taliban. In dozens of cases, senior US commanders were said to have concluded that there was "no reason recorded for transfer" to Guantanamo Bay. Prison officials were aware in at least two cases that they were holding innocent men behind bars and even acknowledged that in writing in their prison files, and yet it took months for them to be returned to their home countries.

Abused
The best-documented case of an abusive interrogation at Guantanamo was the questioning in 2002 and 2003 of Mohammed Qahtani, a Saudi believed to have taken part in plotting the September 11 attacks. Qahtani was leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself, the files said. "Although publicly released records allege detainee was subject to harsh interrogation techniques in the early stages of detention," Qahtani's file noted, his confessions "appear to be true and are corroborated in reporting from other sources." In a statement, the government said the Obama and Bush administrations had "made every effort to act with the utmost care and diligence in transferring detainees from Guantanamo."

150 Number of Afghan and Pakistani Guantanamo detainees who were found to be innocent
20% Total number of inmates who were jailed without any obvious justification

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