It’s 8am and the Star Spangled Banner blares out from a speaker next to McDonald’s. Around me, young men and women in uniform put down their Egg McMuffins and leap to attention to salute the American flag fluttering gently in the Caribbean breeze.
A few miles away, Shaker Aamer, the last British prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, starts his day in an 80sq ft cell where he has been locked up for the past 12 years. The 45-year-old married father of four – who has been cleared for release since 2007 – faces what he calls the ‘living hell’ of being held without charge inside the world’s most notorious prison.
Last week The Mail on Sunday travelled to the remote US naval base on the tip of Cuba where 154 prisoners from 21 countries remain trapped in legal limbo and where lizards have more rights than humans.
And we discovered a surreal world where both guards and prisoners are cracking up in a hellhole President Obama vowed to close when he was first elected in 2008.
Driving around the 45-square-mile base with a US Army public relations sergeant who constantly repeats the official mantra that our visit ‘shows the transparency of what we do here’ we pass ‘Iguana Crossing’ signs near dozens of the creatures dozing in the 90F heat. Soldiers are forced to stop when an iguana wishes to cross the road. Violating this order is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 (£6,000). Full story...
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A few miles away, Shaker Aamer, the last British prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, starts his day in an 80sq ft cell where he has been locked up for the past 12 years. The 45-year-old married father of four – who has been cleared for release since 2007 – faces what he calls the ‘living hell’ of being held without charge inside the world’s most notorious prison.
Last week The Mail on Sunday travelled to the remote US naval base on the tip of Cuba where 154 prisoners from 21 countries remain trapped in legal limbo and where lizards have more rights than humans.
And we discovered a surreal world where both guards and prisoners are cracking up in a hellhole President Obama vowed to close when he was first elected in 2008.
Driving around the 45-square-mile base with a US Army public relations sergeant who constantly repeats the official mantra that our visit ‘shows the transparency of what we do here’ we pass ‘Iguana Crossing’ signs near dozens of the creatures dozing in the 90F heat. Soldiers are forced to stop when an iguana wishes to cross the road. Violating this order is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 (£6,000). Full story...
Related posts:
- US violates Geneva Conventions at Guantanamo prison...
- Is Obama making good on his promise to close Guantanamo?
- The real message behind force-feeding hunger strikers in Guantanamo...
- 200 Days of Torture: Gitmo detainees still force fed, Obama folds his hands...
- Every day in Guantanamo is Groundhog Day... whether you're a guard or a prisoner.
- Guantanamo costs US taxpayers over $5 billion: Report...
- What it means to starve for freedom in Guantanamo...
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