OpEdNews - Page 2 of Article: Guantanamo Under Obama

In a word, they're unchanged, outrageous, and illegal. Inmates struggle for their sanity and say conditions are like living in a tomb. The Pentagon and Obama administration deny it and describe isolation as greater "privacy" and "single-occupancy cells." Conditions, however, "speak for themselves."

Solitary Confinement

-- inmates spend 20 or more hours daily "confined to small steel and concrete cells (with) virtually no human contact or mental stimulation;"

-- they eat alone;

-- discipline violations result in loss of "privileges" like toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and blankets that can be denied for any reason or none at all;

-- Camp 6 has no windows facing outside, and Camp 5 "has only a thin opaque window slit in each cell;

-- toilets are just holes;

-- faucets are provided but no wash basins;

-- Camp 5 lights burn 24 hours a day;

-- "recreation" consists of two - four daily hours in an outdoor cell; in Camp 6, it's in a pen surrounded by high mesh wire-topped concrete walls blocking out most sunlight; in Camp 5, it's in a "cage-like pen;" attempts to use "recreation" for exercise result in immediate removal to their cells, at times forcefully; some "recreation" is scheduled late at night, and if declined, inmates stay isolated for days;

-- the penalty for any infraction is 24-hour isolation;

-- except for "the gloved hands of guards," practically no human contact is allowed; and

-- current conditions under Obama are no different than earlier and in some respects are worse.

Sensory Deprivation and Environmental Manipulation

Sensory over and under-stimulation is used as follows:

-- cell temperatures are too cold causing discomfort, health problems, and mental stress;

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