Saturday, August 17, 2019

Prisoners Abuse in Guantanamo Bay Essay

Research indicates that the prisoners at the Guantanamo bay are usually subjected to torture by the prison administrators and guards at the bay. This torture is reported to come up as a result of the torture policy in the United States has led to many inmates at the Guantanamo Bay being treated badly by the prison administrators and guards, who always term them as animals, since they have no one in the legislative to represent them during their trials as they do not have enough knowledge on the judicial systems of their country. In the cases where the offenders are women who are in prison, they happen to undergo a tougher physical and sexual abuse than if the offenders are said to be men. The women normally suffer from mental illness due to the recurring physical or sexual abuse. Apart from the above problem the women also suffer from eating disorders resulting to health problems. Discussion A great number of detainees have been recorded to have been tortured willingly by the united states forces at the Guantanamo Bay while others are jailed with no reason this inmates are found to be mistreated in a manner that can not be avoided this torture usually include; sexual humiliation, threats put on the inmates with dogs these among others are filed as a mode of interrogation in the united states an example of this is in the case where the military guards at the Bay were reported to have tortured the Iraqi inmates whereby, we find that the prisoners were tortured as from being threatened with dogs, being striped naked and also they were forced to wear female underpants on their heads, it was believed that this techniques were authorized by the senior states officials. (Bill 2004) We also find that, President Bush’s administration has advocated for the use of electric shock devices to torture the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay this is well explained in a situation where we find that the state has been exporting devices such as the stun buttons, stun guns among others being exported to other countries such as Cuba, Haiti, India, Turkey and Lebanon. In this case we find that many companies dealing with the production of such weapons have been shipping these products without a license from the government. Through this, there has been an increase in the cases of torturing prisoners in other countries apart from the United States of America. A case of Zahide Durgun who was tortured by the Turkish police in Hakkari where she was tortured with electric shocks to her ear and was later beaten this happened as a result of the police wanting her to accept that she was a member of the political party opposing the government of Turkey. This is well presented in the case released by the FBI report claiming that he had ordered the State to have an inhumane interrogation system against the Iraqis’ detainees; these methods included the sleep deprivation, stress positions and the use of military dogs it is therefore propounded that the Defense department had adopted systems which were illegal and immoral in this instances we find that the CIA had many times refused to contradict the existence of many record of torture in America since it had been confirmed to be involved in the torturing of especially the prisoners in Iraq and in many other CIA facilities for detention globally. The federal has been engaging in torturing its detainees in a manner that provokes their country of originality the best example for this is the situation where interrogation was being conducted by an official in the department of defense where the prisoner was wrapped in an Israel flag whereby the detainee was later shelled with loud mus ic and strobe light. (Johnston, 2006) In the year 2002, the White House was opposed by the Collin Powell who was then the Secretary of the State who had cautioned about the United States breaching the Geneva Convention but the federal went ahead claiming that, the countries inmates were not protected by the Geneva Conventions since some of the detainees were those from Afghanistan who were termed as unlawful enemies, this therefore attracted the attention of most lawyers in the country who came up with legal guidelines for the unlawful act, this action made the military lawyers informed that the breaching of the Geneva convention will lead to the exposure of the states soldiers who were captured to the same torture, after which theses military lawyers took a step forward to see the international human rights lawyer Scott Horton asking the lawyer to give them a stipulated effort in the creation of an environment that has legal ambiguity and also one that shows how the Geneva Conventions was to apply to detainees in the Ba y. (Scranton and Paula 1991) The Effects of the Torture Policy on the Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay The main policy implication that makes the criminals to be hard cores is always the length of time that the criminals spend in the jails. When they are released for example and directed to attend rehabilitation programs they feel to be wasted because they think that by serving in jail for a long period they are isolated in the society and others may get involved in revenging activities which may cause them more danger of being punished. Under longer prison sentences at the Guantanamo Bay the offender has nothing that will guarantee him protection against the offence he commits which sometimes ends up wasting all his life in jail. Due to the limited informational, educational sources in the prisons, the offender finds it hard to accept change in his mode of life and the behavior that he is addicted in him/her. This means that there are no correction measures which makes the person to become devastated psychologically thus feeling uneasy and may seek to live where he need to help himself escape such a feeling of loneliness and lack of social support through which he may decide to pay any price and sacrifice self-esteem thus forfeiting his life. (Eysenck and Hans, 1996) In some cases the offenders at the prison who are under solitary confinement, are reported to be suffering from disruption of a normal mental function that is normally caused by threats, lack of sleep, starvation and fear of death. Though the incarceration form was meant to encourage a person to confront his own consciousness, it has only led to the offenders at the Bay being stressed because they are under jail conditions that are always cruel and not effective. The conditions in prisons are not normally conducive for an offender such as the coldness of the cells, the food given to the prisoners is always bad and lack of human decency plus noise normally causes resistance to the prisoners for rehabilitation programs. Recommendations As a recommendation for the reduction of the prisoners’ torture at the bay we find that the US federal is urged to come up with laws that enable the treatment of criminals without harsh conditionality. Although, the offenders are entitled to particular constitutional laws, they have various rights in their lives including; the right to be tried by the jury, to be cross-examined and the right to an immediate trial. Since the society has developed a growing concern over the criminal behavior which is ever increasing, the justice system is urged to provide a delinquent preventive measure that will be aimed at preventing the members of the society from indulging in criminal activities. Due to growing concerns over the increased number of criminals, countries have formulated laws that ensure that the criminals especially those detained at the Guantanamo bay involved in criminal cases are restored back to being good people in the society and they have identified rehabilitation policies or program as the best way to nature them instead of putting them under torture like what is happening the Guantanamo bay. Rehabilitation is widely believed by many to be the principal reason of reducing crime. (Committee on Law and Justice, 2004) Rehabilitation normally involves the teaching and training the persons who are addicted to a particular behavior to stop the defective behavior and try to become acceptable members of the society. Therefore under this, the society is given the responsibility of assisting these addicts or criminals by helping them to get hope through various programs that they will be educated thus helping them to heal their bodies and mind. The strengths associated with rehabilitation policies are that the addict will achieve through these Programs education which allows the offender an opportunity to re-enter into the society as a responsible and productive citizen. For example, the people who undergo rehabilitation programs are normally allowed to receive counselling and guidance. For example a rehabilitation program may involve the offenders at the Guantanamo bay in doing community work, such as cleaning the environment and activities that they think suits to the foundation of their interests. This will make them appreciate who they are and accept their presence and roles in the particular society. (Kleinman, 2000) The strength for rehabilitating criminals is that there is always a collective supervision that will be able to provide an environment favourable enough to meet the special needs of the offenders which will help them to join the society newly as responsible and respected persons. However, rehabilitation is prone to some weaknesses which hinder the process of trying to help the offenders to be good and reliable people in the society. For example, the criminals or offenders subjected to rehabilitation programs at the Guantanamo bay feel isolated in the society and thus will not corporate during the entire process. They view themselves as rejected people in the society who are treated maliciously. These aspects make them to feel unworthy in the society and hence after the rehabilitation programs they don’t change but instead continue with bad behavior that they used to engage themselves in. Also another weakness is lack of government support in supporting rehabilitation programs, for example laxity in funding the programs thus few drug addicts and criminal offenders are subjected to such programs. This has resulted to seeking donors who can fund the programs, an activity which is difficult because it’s very hard to find willing donors. (Eysenck and Hans, 1996) Conclusion Torture in the Guantanamo bay prisons is a major problem for many in America and other nations, but the war on Iraq and Afghanistan and the whole issue of terrorism has been stressing the Americans because of the harsh policies imposed by the Bush administration on torture. In general we can therefore deduce that President Bush has not performed his responsibilities and the duties of the president in the maintaining the rights of the detainees in the required way. America is not better of since Bush took over power therefore the next president has a lot of work ahead in rebuilding and restructuring the country’s’ prison administration, for this reasons the federal is given an opportunity to amend and address the effects caused by the torture policy in Guantanamo bay. (Scranton and Paula 1991)

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