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John Moore / Getty Images file
Camp Delta in the Guantanamo Bay detention center in 2010.
U.S. military officials confirmed Thursday that a guard at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay last January fired a "non-lethal round" to disperse detainees after one of them sought to climb a fence and others threw rocks at the guard tower.
No one was injured during the incident, which appears to be the first shooting involving rubber bullets in the 11-year history of the Guantanamo facility. Nonetheless, it has fueled claims by defense lawyers – denied by camp officials – that the detainees have been engaged for weeks in widespread protests, including hunger strikes and refusing to sleep in their cells.
The conflicting claims about conditions come as the detention facility in Cuba – which began under President George Bush in 2002 – is once again in the spotlight. Congressional Republicans, led by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, on Thursday sharply criticized the Obama administration for flying the recently captured Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son in law, to New York to stand trial in federal court rather than sending him to Guantanamo.
Al-Qaida spokesman and bin Laden son-in-law captured
“When it comes to people like this ... we want them to go to Gitmo to be held in military custody for interrogation purposes," Graham said in a news conference.
But Obama administration officials say they have ruled out sending any more terror suspects to Guantanamo because it would undercut their intention to shut down the facility. On his first full day in office in January 2009, President Barack Obama vowed to close Guantanamo, but he has been blocked from doing so by Congress, leaving most of the 166 detainees remaining there in perpetual limbo – even though at least 55 of them have been publicly cleared for release by an administration task force consisting of U.S. intelligence agencies.
The shooting incident, first reported by the Miami Herald, occurred on the grounds of a new $744,000 soccer and recreation field that was opened last year and touted by base officials as an example of new and more permissive conditions at the facility. The new soccer field was featured in an NBC News report on Guantanamo last June.
Read more at The Isikoff Files
Navy Capt. Robert Durand, chief public affairs spokesman at Guantanamo, told NBC News in an email that on the afternoon of Jan. 2, the incident occurred "after a detainee attempted to climb the fence" in the new recreation field and a "small crowd of detainees began throwing rocks at the guard tower."
"After repeated warnings were ignored, the guard force was forced to employ appropriate crowd-dispersal measures, in accordance with standard operating procedures," Durand wrote.
In response to follow-up questions, Durand said that the measures involved the shooting of a "non-lethal round" consisting of "several small rubber balls with limited ability to penetrate skin and little ability to cause injury." One of these balls "hit a detainee," he added. (During a May 2006 disturbance at Guantanamo, guards fired pepper spray at detainees, Durand said.)
Information only began to emerge in recent weeks when some of the detainees began informing their lawyers – whose communications with their clients are tightly regulated. One detainee, Bashir al-Marwalah, wrote his New York lawyers in a letter received Feb. 22: "We are in danger. One of the soldiers fired on one of the brothers a month ago. Before that, they send the emergency forces with M-16 weapons into one of the brothers' cell blocks."
The letter, a copy and translation of which was obtained by NBC News, further alleged that a copy of the Quran had been "desecrated" during a search the day before and that guards were going from "cell block to cell block" and taking away detainee possessions.
"Now they want to return us to the darkest days under Bush. They said this to us. Please do something." the letter stated. It then concluded: "We asked that this be announced to the media so that people know what the Obama administration is doing to prisoners now. All the brothers are now on a hunger strike in protest of mistreatment and the desecration of the Quran."
The claims in the letter have been echoed in the last few days by lawyers for other detainees , who have said their clients have told them about large-scale hunger strikes – with some detainees "losing consciousness" and "coughing up blood." The claims of widespread hunger strikes have been vigorously denied by Guantanamo officials, who say there are now seven who are doing so – about the same number as have for the past year.
Pardiss Kebriaei, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, said she spoke to one of her clients, Ghaleb Al-Bihani, also a Yemeni, by phone this week and he said he has refused food for a month. "He's dropped 23 pounds, he’s a diabetic, and medical staff have told him his life is in danger," Kebriaei said.
Kebriaei said her client told her that there is now a "mass hunger strike" in Camp 6 – the largest and most permissive of the camps at Guantanamo – and that all but two detainees are participating. In addition, she said, the detainees are protesting in other ways – by refusing to sleep in their cells, instead taking their mats outside and sleeping there. The trigger for the protests appears to be new restrictions and more comprehensive searches of cell blocks imposed by the new camp commander, Rear Adm. John Smith.
Durand, the Guantanamo spokesman, disputed the lawyers' claims across the board.
“In broad terms, what we are seeing is a coordinated effort by detainees and their attorneys to take routine camp events and create a false picture of conditions," he wrote in an email. "Every day, to some degree, there are a few hunger strikers, a few detainees who assault or threaten guards. To describe the current conditions in the camp as 'deteriorating' is patently false."
He added: "Detainees, their attorneys, family members and sympathetic organizations routinely attempt to gain sympathy for detainees in the media by initiating and spreading falsehoods regarding conditions of detention, allegations of abuse by guards, denial of medical treatment, abuse of the Quran and reports of mass unrest or hunger striking. These tactics have been employed off and on since Joint Task Force Guantanamo opened in 2002."
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Leave a Comment:
Hmmmmm.....back to the drawing board for using "rubber bullets".
It is high time to take these Terrorists to court and send them away to prison.....FOREVER. This should take no longer than 1 month. Then, Mr. Obama can FINALLY close Gitmo.
What should be said over the PA system : " the use of live rounds has been authorised "
if we declare that foreign citizens engaged in terrorist acts against the US are eligible to use the US justice system... the trials will never end... and we will be availing terrorists of our system of rights...
let them rot in GITMO forever
and if they catch some rubber bullets for trying to escape... so be it
Too bad the bullets weren't made out of lead.
Political Correctness is running our Justice system. Must not upset the Muslims here in the U.S. you know.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but rubber bullets won't do dick.
These people/animals have no Constitutional Rights they are not on American soil! Load them on a plane and abandon it at 25k feet over the ocean some where.
Congress should not rubber-stamp such actions. No pun intended.
Confussed-1578043
These people/animals have no Constitutional Rights they are not on American soil! Load them on a plane and abandon it at 25k feet over the ocean some where
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Some countries in recent history, African Continent & South America, have taken prisoners over the ocean and thrown them out of planes. Nice, clean way to get rid of trouble makers.
They don't get the right to a trial, remember? Ah, yes, the "American" way.
I thought it was supposed to be closed already? Along with cutting the deficit in half, lowering insurance premiums, going line by line on the budget, keeping my health care coverage I like, lowering the sea levels, printing off 85 billion a month in QE 4 devaluing our currency even further, NOT raising taxes on anyone but the evil rich instead of ME, and inflation on food, gas, and electricity, and defending our ambassadors, it LOOKS like were well on our way to achieving everything our beloved president has sought to do for us. A rubber bullet......SO WHAT!?!? Gimme a fiddle to play, Rome's a' burnin!
Stop wasting our tax dollars on these murderers! Move on their trial dates and execute post haste!
I remember when bullets were made out of lead. Those REALLY hurt!
Especially those hollow points the fed is buying up in bulk.....ouch! How many rounds we up to now at tax payer expense.....full metal jacket is MUCH cheaper and not as deadly.....Geneva approved as well.
Rubber Bullets are too expensive, switch back to the real thing..... Get the Trails going already, if they are found guilty then take out back and shot them..... They did not have any problems with killing us after all.....
Huh? Why are these bullets non-lethal? Why are these terrorists playing soccer? Aren't there a bunch of large rocks needing to be turned into small rocks?
Is not Gitmo a POW camp???? I thought prisoners trying to escape POW camps are shot dead, when did this change?
I thought all Muslim's were peaceful!
Did Wayne LaPierre get hit? If not, too bad.
Well we know Americans sure aren't, don't we?
Aren't peaceful you mean like Syrians? Perhaps people from the Ivory Coast. Hey, maybe you mean a liberal president who invaded a sovereign nation and overthrew them without congressional approval IE Libya for their resources. Then yes, we aren't peaceful like muslims who have influenced our space program to an extent of teaching brainwashed robots how to fly planes into buildings.
uh - brutal - you need some BRUTAL EDUCATION - the US NEVER "invaded" LIBYA - we supplied tankers to refuel the mostly French jets but as to putting "boots on the ground" - nah - Obama is not STUPID (no matter what you anal retentives think of him)
From a PURELY practical standpoint - the ITALIANS had the most to lose in Libya - they were getting a substantial portion of their OIL from Libya - the US? Nah - we get ours from the MIDDLE EAST. gotta LOVE a cretin...
I was born and raised in a country that does not pussy foot with prisoners. Here we are talking about suspected terrorists, and we built them a $750,000 soccer field? Did I read that correctly? The longer these "detainees" are held, the more they are able to manipulate the system with the help of their taxpayer sponsored lawyers. We need to speed up their trials, determined their faith, close Guantanamo and move on.
God, your ignorance is so irritating. Yeah, sure, we built them a soccer field. You are such a sheep. Like when the U.S. showed this fancy little room in there and said that's where the prisoners were living, but in reality they live in stinking filthy cells. You're such an idiot; you'll believe anything the government and military feed you. Typical.
Yeah Courage You are right this is America, But that Does not mean that Our constitutios applies to these people .And that stinking cell is probably cleaner than there home. why don't you move in with them.
Hey Courage, if you feel so badly for them, let them move in with you. As far as I am concerned the only place we should hold these terrorists is in a pine box, 6 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet, in a six foot deep hole of similar dimensions. But if the other terrorists attack you just offer them rides on your pet unicorn and it will all be all right.
@Couragelovepeacelive - I know you're the one that's been goaded into believing information that isn't true. Basing an argument off of secondhand information: pathetic. So who's the sheep?
Banana rats.
55 cleared for release but still there. 55 people locked up in limbo for no purpose. Imagine you or one of your family locked up overseas for having just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. You or one of your family locked up in a foreign country because your neighbor had it in for you and turned you in to the occupation force.
And we, the USA and all its citizens support this travesty.
They are held there because the recidivism rate for released prisoners to go back into jihad is extremely high. These are not only NOT good people, they are murderous thugs operating outside of rules of war. Therefore, they do not deserve the rights that we give current jihadists in the battlefield (Miranda!?!) under this awful administration. Ever see the lengthy video of the conditions at Club Gitmo? Pretty nice. Maybe even nicer than the cell Jesse Jackson Jr. will occupy with Bubba.
Relace the rubber bullets with 7.62 rds. We are paying for their sorry butts to be detained. Hang em. I would volunteer to pull the handle to drop their &$$@ through the trap door. Smiling and singing the marines hymn.
I bet ya real bullets are cheaper than rubber ones. So why not use real ones to save us some money and get rid of the trash in the process. These terrorist are going to be a burden on this country for a long time.
The guard did his job.
What is the big deal?
All you libs need to remember this.
Your boy promised to close Guantanamo detention in his first day of office.
The first thing he did was check out AF One.
From then on, all he has been doing is jet setting.
He was the one who gave the signature to re-paint and re-furbish Guantanamo.
WHY?
Because a president does not run America.
The sooner you learn that, the sooner you will know who to vote for.
(and please, don't vote for a president, your vote is moot)
Guess you forgot who started this camp, your twin bush! Why dont you move back to iraq where you belong trash BOY.
Well, Bush ain't runnin' it now, Randy. He didn't paint it, he didn't refurbish it, he didn't build that $750,000 soccer field for them to play in.
And the biggest terrorist of all, the one we had in our Army, who killed the boys at Ft. Hood... well, he's still hangin' around... and he says he'll tell how it all went down, how he planned and executed everything, if the death penalty is taken off the table.
Told everybody the damned Muslim piece of crap would never die cause our government didn't have the balls to kill one when he deserved it.
Three freaking years piddling around with this bastard and they will cut him a deal, wait and see.
Randy! I really know how not to offend you. I promise that if you move to Iran, or Iraq or Afghanistan I will send you a virgin camel, virgin goat and a letter from your nearest neighbor giving you the right to marry his 14 year daughter!!
I assume Randy is referring to Camp X-Ray,and subsequently Camp Delta, not Guantanamo Bay, itself.
Let them starve if it makes them feel better.
These people should already be in maximum security facilities all over the US.
Places like San Quentin, Cedar Junction, Sing Sing and of course Florence, CO.
Let the terrorists try and survive for themselves.
.
How true.
They have no idea how lucky they are to be where they are.
Let them bow down on a blanket with thier butts in the air in one of those places.
LOL
No, no, no, Viewer_Ready...
You haven't been keeping up with things....
Supreme Court has said that Muslims who are in prison must be allowed to all gather together at prayer time because it's a violation of their religious rights if they can't pray as a group.
Kid you not.
I know Mimi.
BUTT, let them be in a row all together.
That would only make "bubba" smile more.
At American prisons they use lead bullets but those people aren't being protected by our Glorious Leader.
No they don't. They use non-lethal rounds in American prisons too. They only have live rounds on the exterior.
Bryan, I see you have never been in or near a US prison before.
Good for you.
But you are wrong.
Lethal rounds are in weapons IN prison too.
They should let those prisoners go on a hunger strike because then they will be too weak to cause any trouble. If they were in a regular prison here in the states they would probably get their Ashes kicked each and every day by the other prisoners. I think they are being treated too good at gitmo. And why are they using rubber bullets? If a prisoner here in one of our prisons was trying to escape the guards would use Real bullets to shoot him down. The guards are too soft in Gitmo.
They should all be wearing shock collars.
shoulda been a real bullet...
Who gives a flying flea what these murderers or their supporters think.
It's interesting how the same people who think government ruins everything it touches have perfect faith in the American govenment to identify and detain terrorists.
Too bad they didn't shoot the bullets up the Muslim terrorist BUTT.
govt by the lawyers; for the lawyers and of these parasites
"US military: Rubber bullets fired at Gitmo detainees" Did they run out of lead?
How bout giving these ragheads a good old fashioned dose of "IRONIC" justice. I say strap 'em across a barrel and let the camels have a go at THEIR @sses...
What...Did they run out of real bullets?
Rubber bullets?? Are you kidding me?? Those guard towers should be equipped with .50 cals,& at the first hint of trouble,mow those bastards down like the animals they are!! What kind of "detention facility" are you running down there,one for the Disney cartoon characters? If this is Congress' best shot at a jail,I see why fixing the budget is such a challenge!!
if the roles were reversed...would they use rubber bullets on us?.......so we are force feeding these scumbags.....then use rubber bullets when they start eating again?......
oh...I know why they are using rubber....its the sequester....isn't it Obama?.....
OH MY HOLY GOD I thought it was bad when they wiped their butt on a Koran and flushed it down the toilet,
but this takes the cake; heads must roll; ACLU, WHERE ARE YOU?????
Is there no decency left in this world.
We should have sent a supply of plastic or rubber rulers to Club Gitmo, that way they could slap the nice
detainees on the wrist when they did a no-no.
Amazes me how hateful, ignorant, and hipocrytical our people have become. Almost all of you are calling for their deaths without a trial. This is what Fox news has turned this country into.
Have you ever heard of 911, those people in New York, Washington and the people on the plane in Pennsylvania got no trial. Stop being a Muslim Lover. Give them a five minute trial if you must, but make sure that they are executed. Maybe you would like to snuggle up to one of these murdereds, but if you do, you are just as rotten as they are. Execute them now.