Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Porter back from Guantanamo

Nevada congressman says many captives are `happy to be there'

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jon Porter returned from a one-day visit with positive reviews of the detention camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Porter, R-Nev., said the military-run camp compares favorably to Nevada prisons, and that many of the captives "are happy to be there," where they can get medical and dental care.

"I would only wish that my loved ones or anyone's loved ones could be treated as well if they were captured by (Osama) bin Laden," Porter said.

Porter took an escorted tour Monday along with four other U.S. House members including Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. They received a classified briefing from the camp commander, Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, toured medical facilities and maximum security and moderate security sections of the base and witnessed two interrogations.

About 500 men captured after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and classified as "enemy combatants" are held at Guantanamo. Porter said for security reasons the lawmakers did not interact with detainees. Representatives of the Red Cross, which he said visits the camp regularly, were not on site for the visit.

Porter said lawmakers did not get into detailed discussions about investigations of prisoner mistreatment that led an Amnesty International official in May to brand Guantanamo as "the gulag of our time."

Mona Cadena, a field organizer for Amnesty International in San Francisco, said Tuesday she was not certain the congressional visitors got a complete picture of Guantanamo. The organization has called for the Bush administration to charge the prisoners under U.S. law or to release them.

"I think it is hard in one day to see the full story," Cadena said. "I think Amnesty knows that whenever anyone is invited to a prison, either on U.S. soil or around the world, that things are prettied up."

Porter said he was confident in his observations.

He said the military has acknowledged "mistakes" and has taken corrective actions, including improved training for guards.

"I think we should be very proud that we are handling individuals who have threatened our homeland in a very fair and very humane manner," he said.

"I think we've set a standard of above-and-beyond humane treatment to make sure their religious rights, their culture and ethnic rights are in balance with their environment."

Porter said prisoners are given toothpaste, copies of the Quran, robes and slippers and a rug on which to kneel for their prayers. The captives are housed in specific facilities and are dressed in colored uniforms that signify their level of cooperation.

"Many of these detainees have never had dental treatment ever," Porter said. "Now they have anesthesia and they have all the modern technology treatments, so a lot of them are actually very pleased because they are living better than they ever have. Many of them are happy to be there."

About 150 detainees, the lawmakers were told, "are very aggressive," Porter said.

"They are full of so much anger for the American people," Porter said, adding some have thrown body fluids on their interrogators.

"I have toured some of Nevada's (prison) facilities and in many respects, compared to our prison in Carson City, I'd say some of the (Guantanamo) standards are even higher."