Inside Guantanamo: Tom Clonan spent several days recently at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base in Cuba and detention centre for prisoners captured in President Bush's war on terror. In Saturday's Irish Times, he described the base and wrote about the soldiers who work there. Here he describes what life is like for the detainees
There are currently about 505 detainees on Guantanamo. Since camps X Ray and Delta were established in 2002, a total of 240 prisoners have been repatriated, released or transferred to prisons in their countries of origin.
As Guantanamo is located outside of the continental United States, the legal status of its detainees remains a contested issue. At least 40 habeas corpus civilian lawsuits are being fought in the US courts on behalf of detainees on Guantanamo.
These legal challenges to the lawfulness of their detention in Camp Delta are slowly working their way towards the US Supreme Court. If successful, they aim to force the US authorities to release the detainees.
While the detainees remain in legal limbo, the US military remains the sole and final arbiter as to the continued detention or otherwise of Guantanamo's inmates.
In the air-conditioned mess hall of Camp America, US navy captain John Salsman informs me that the deliberations of "Oardec" - Guantanamo's office for the administrative review of the detention of enemy combatants - will decide the fate of the remaining 505 detainees in Camp Delta.
The primary means by which this office works is through annual administrative review boards for each detainee. Capt Salsman insists that "this is not a legal process, simply an administrative process that helps us determine whether or not a detainee remains a threat to the United States or its allies".
The review boards are held within Camp Delta itself. I am invited by Capt Salsman to attend the review of a detainee who is alleged to have very close links to Osama bin Laden.
Under the ground rules governing my presence at Guantanamo, I am not free to identify this person. I am advised that I must remain silent throughout the hearing and that - along with the detainee - I will not be permitted to hear any of the classified intelligence or evidence against him.
Capt Salsman informs me that "on average, 80 per cent of the information upon which it [ the hearing] will deliberate is classified".
According to Capt Salsman, for "security reasons and in order to protect valuable intelligence sources", detainees at Guantanamo, on average, only get to hear about 20 per cent of the charges or allegations made against them.
Before the hearing convenes, I meet the panel of officers who will adjudicate. They are five US army and air force colonels.
I introduce myself. Two of them state that they are Irish-American. I later learn that "apart from a brief stopover at Shannon", they have not yet had a chance to visit Ireland.
We enter the room where the hearing is to be held. Hassan, which is a name I have given him, is seated beside an interpreter. He is a compliant prisoner and is dressed in a tan uniform.
Although aged 31, he looks to be in his mid-twenties. He is of average height and of slight build. He is bearded with braided hair and is shackled at the ankles and wrists. He is attached by a chain to a metal ring that has been embedded in the floor.
As we enter he tries to stand. The chain however, is too short to allow him to stand fully upright. He loses his balance and unable to move his arms or legs, falls heavily to one side.
An air force colonel seated next to him embraces him in an attempt to break his fall. The colonel in charge asks him through the interpreter if he is okay and reassures him that it is not necessary to stand up.
The officers take an oath in English to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities. The detainee takes an Islamic oath in Arabic.
The detainee is then asked through the interpreter if it is true that he attended a Saudi training camp in Pakistan where he learned to fire a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle.
Hassan answers the panel in English and looking directly at me says: "Yes, I did - do I look like Rambo to you?"
Everyone, including the detainee, bursts into laughter.
Hassan is then asked about his movements and activities in Bosnia during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. He denies that he fought there and says: "I went there to get a wife, a blonde one, in a safe city."
There is more laughter.
Hassan becomes agitated however at what he states are inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the summary statement.
"I have told my interrogators time and time again, maybe 600 times, these things are not true."
The chairman of the hearing assures the detainee that his observations will be noted for the record.
Hassan continues to look in my direction from time to time. He tells the chairman through his interpreter that he wishes to discuss some matters with the board in private.
The hearing adjourns and I am escorted out of the room. Some 15 minutes later I am escorted back into the room. The mood in the room has changed considerably.
HASSAN IS ASKED to make an oral submission to the board as to why he should be released. Addressing the Irish-American colonel who is chairman, he states in English: "You are a very senior officer and an educated man, you can see that I am not a threat to the USA, I am not a threat to anyone."
Looking around at everyone in the room then and in a barely audible voice, Hassan states: "I just want to go home and see my daughter . . . I want to make a new life, a new start, be with my family."
The board concludes its business.
I am informed by Capt Salsman that under review rules I am not permitted to inquire as to Hassan's fate or the outcome of the hearing at any point in the future.
As he is led in chains back into the suffocating heat of Camp Delta, I am told that Hassan will learn of his fate "in a number of months".
I am then brought to the air-conditioned headquarters of the Guantanamo military authorities where I meet Maj Gen Jay Hood, the overall commander of the base at Guantanamo. His schedule is tight but I am allowed 20 minutes to ask questions about Guantanamo.
I ask how intelligence gained at Camp Delta - three years after detainees were captured - could possibly be of any use to the US military or intelligence agencies.
Gen Hood concedes that "specific actionable intelligence relevant to a battlefield commander in 'Centcom' [ central command] doesn't present itself here every day". He goes on to make the point: "Instead, what we're getting is far more strategic in nature."
Gen Hood then describes the manner in which Guantanamo's detainees have helped the US military gain critical insights into how al-Qaeda and other extremist groups operate throughout the world.
"We're gaining over time a much better understanding of how elements of al-Qaeda attempt to recruit young men. Who did they target, what age groups, what mentalities, what backgrounds, what levels of education. Who might be a terrorist operative for them? How did they finance themselves? What happened in the days immediately after 9/11 with accounts that they could still draw money on? How did they train? How did they issue orders? What were their targets? How do they resource themselves?
"All of that, if you imagine al-Qaeda as a giant mosaic, a bigger picture, and its related terrorist organisations - we're still filling in all sorts of small pieces of that giant mosaic."
According to Gen Hood, on a cost-benefit analysis, Camp Delta is still making a valuable contribution to the war on terror.
"I would like to point out there is no one shooting at us here, there are no mortar rounds falling in here. It is a very safe secure facility. There's value in that."
I then ask Gen Hood about the manner in which interrogations are carried out and about any intelligence agencies that may participate in the interrogations.
"Tom, you know I'm not gonna talk about many of the agencies who may have had some time here," says Gen Hood.
He does concede, however, that: "All of the major inter-agency players in the United States have an interest here and have either had people here or sent people here to visit."
I ask if he has oversight of the activities of personnel from other agencies during interrogations. He answers without hesitation. "Absolutely. Every single detainee at GTMO bay [ the US military has shortened Guantanamo into the acronym GTMO] is under my control and any actions involving them are in accordance with department of defence directives at all times."
When I ask him if he can guarantee this to be the case, he simply answers: "Absolutely, unequivocally."
What is the future for Guantanamo?
"Tom, I don't think it's fair for you to ask me to speculate. I think that's something that policy makers have to do."
When pushed, however, he concedes that Guantanamo will remain in existence as a detention centre for some years to come.
"I have an obligation to plan for the longer term. I have an obligation to provide for those in the military chain of command options as to what we can do. And very clearly I don't wish to tell them that in two years we won't be able to do the job any more. So, we're continuing to look at what it takes to improve our operations here. To improve our capability."
Finally I ask Gen Hood if he feels Camp Delta and Guantanamo Bay suffer from a public relations problem.
"Certainly there's been great media interest from around the world. Most of it based on misinformation, in fact, some on deliberate propaganda. I can tell you that with our young soldiers and sailors here, I've asked them to continue to focus on doing their jobs as well as they possibly can in a professional manner. And critically in a disciplined manner. For as long as it takes." This reinforces the notion that Guantanamo is here to stay.
As Gen Hood leaves the room, he comments that he has never been on a proper visit to Ireland but that he did "get a chance to have a pint of Guinness at Shannon a couple of years ago".