Videotaped Interrogations at Guantanamo are Missing
by Adam Deutsch

Following the April 2004 news coverage of the United States military’s abuse of prisoner’s at the Abu Ghraib prison facility, investigations of foul treatment at other military prisons were initiated. In response to an FBI inquiry at Guantanamo Bay, Lieutenant General Randall Schmidt reported that 24,000 interrogations had been completed at the facility since the first prisoners of the war on terror arrived there in 2002. In May of 2005, Lieutenant General Kevin C. Kiley, MD, the Surgeon General of the United States Army, issued a report seeking to quiet concerns over the mistreatment of detainees from a medical standpoint. Offering comfort that no foul play occurred, General Kiley stated that each interrogation at Guantanamo Bay has been videotaped. Together, these two reports suggest that at a minimum, 24,000 videotaped interrogations of Guantanamo Bay detainees exist or have existed.

The use of video equipment at Guantanamo Bay has long been recognized. Interrogations are routinely observed by intelligence and defense agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Army Criminal Instigative Division. Observers watch the interrogations live on a television, as they are broadcast from a camera in the interrogation room. Eyewitness accounts confirm that on multiple occasions interrogators draped objects over the camera lenses to block observers from viewing the interrogation. Thus, there is evidence of foul play that may constitute torture.

Multiple federal judges, dating back to 2005, have ordered that all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees held at the Guantanamo base be kept. Recently, Guantanamo commander, Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby recalled that “In January 2008, it was brought to my attention that such . . . [recording] systems may have been automatically overwriting video data contained on recording devices, at predetermined intervals.” Thus, it now appears that although the use of recordings was made public as early as May 2005, and during that same year, the military received a court order to retain such videos, the Army’s position is that it continued to allow video surveillance to be systematically erased during the past 3 years. If 24,000 interrogations were videotaped between 2002-2005, one can only imagine how many more may have been erased since that time.

In addition to assuring that detainees were treated humanely, the video tapes can provide proof that evidence used in prosecuting detainees was obtained by legitimate means and not coerced by use of torture. Buzby’s comments further confirm that videotaping of interrogations took place, and that the United States military has violated court orders in retaining these tapes. The war on terror is often framed as a war of morality. As detainees are prosecuted, and the war continues without an end in sight, it is now more important than ever that the government provide answers and responses to the information contained in “Captured on Tape.” As a matter of integrity, the agencies involved should have nothing to gain in erasing the tapes and violating court orders if no torture has occurred at Guantanamo Bay.

“Captured on Tape” is a detailed report of the above information, and was complied exclusively from government documents. "Captured on Tape" was compiled by the 27 student and graduate research fellows at Seton Hall Law's Center for Policy and Research. The report may be read in its entirety at http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_reports.htm

Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey’s only private law school, and a leading law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship and teaching, with a strong focus on clinical education. The Center for Policy and Research enables students to gain practical experience while engaging in research and analysis that promotes respect for the national security law and practices of the US government, as well as the reliability of forensic evidence for criminal investigations and prosecution. Seton Hall Law is located in Newark, NJ and offers both day and evening degree programs. For more information, visit http://law.shu.edu

© Copyright 2008 by Adam Deutsch, published by permission of the author. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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