Report on Guantanamo Detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data

Abstract

originally published on February 8, 2006, used government data obtained from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation to profile over 517 detainees held at Guantánamo. The primary sources used were the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) files. See discussion infra Part II for more on the CSRTs. Since this Report's initial publication, the detainee population at Guantánamo has been reduced to 171. The Guantánamo Docket, N.Y. TIMES, http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/held (last visited Sept. 27, 2011). In addition, more information has been made available through later government releases and WikiLeaks. This Report was not updated based on Wiki-Leaks.

Violence in American foreign policy: a psychoanalytic approach

“…The rounding up of citizens of Afghanistan and other countries and sending them to indefi nite detention without due process rights provided a sense of relief that action was being taken. The fact that there was no evidence of wrongdoing for the majority of the detainees (Denbaux, 2006) was disregarded in favor of the feeling of potency. Holding prisoners indefi nitely and even the use of torture enjoyed overwhelming public support two years after the establishment of detention centers (Stephens, 2003).…”

The effectiveness of coercive interrogation: Scholarly and judicial responses

“…[the] proofs upon which the Government found that each detainee, is in fact, an enemy combatant.' 109 Denbeaux and Denbeaux have found inter alia the government defines someone as being 'associated with al Qaeda' as applying to 'anyone who the Government believed ever spoke to an al Qaeda member. Even under this broad framework, the Government concluded that a full 60% of the detainees do not have even that minimum level of contact with an al Qaeda member.'…”

Detainee Healthcare in Theater Hospitals: Are Air Force Medics Prepared for the Challenge

“…14 In a hostile and potentially unpredictable environment, such as a detention/internment facility, the need for a more thorough and structured hands on programs is necessary. 15 Scenario based training programs should be administered separately or in conjunction with existing computer based training (CBT) programs 16 such as the Advanced Distributive Learning Service (ADLS). 17 The Detainee Operations Center program at Fort Lewis (Washington), Fort McCoy (Wisconsin), and Camp Shelby (Mississippi) are just a few of the benchmark programs the Air Force could use as a template for training medics in non-traditional detainee environments.…”