The entrance to Camp 1 in Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta. The
base's detention camps are numbered based on the order in which they were
built, not their order of precedence or level of security. Photo by Kathleen T.
Rhem
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.
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But nearly as diverse as the individuals themselves are the conditions in which
they're held.
Since U.S. officials began holding enemy combatants here in January 2002, an
elaborate system to manage those detainees in a humane manner, protect guards
and maximize intelligence has evolved here.
Today, prisoners are divided into four levels, based on how well they comply
with camp rules, explained a senior Navy petty officer serving here.
Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Tracy Padmore, an aviation maintenance
technician from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., explained that detainees
are placed in levels based solely on how well they cooperate with guards'
instructions. "(The levels) have nothing to do with what a detainee's
(intelligence) value is or what he might say or do in an interrogation booth,"
he said.
"Humane" and "consistent" seem to be watchwords for members of the joint task
force here. Anyone working with detainees uses these words right off the bat
when describing what they do. Guards and officers at Guantanamo consistently
appear genuinely offended when asked about allegations in the civilian media
about detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay.
"I'm not here to say we're all perfect," Padmore said. "But these young men and
women carry out their duties in a highly professional manner." He added that
when minor infractions of the rules by guards have occurred, they've been
punished swiftly.
"Detainees here at Guantanamo are treated in a humane manner at all times by
the security folks and the intelligence folks who work with them," Army Brig.
Gen. Jay Hood, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said.
He said all JTF members are strongly focused on their mission, "the safe,
secure, humane custody of the detainees under our charge."
Hood explained that information collected since the detainees have been held
here has helped officials learn how best to handle the detainees' continued
detention and to design suitable facilities.
Level 1 detainees wear white "uniforms" and share living spaces with other
detainees. At the other end of the spectrum, Level 4 detainees wear orange,
hospital scrub-type outfits and have fewer privileges.
Padmore, who is assigned to Joint Task Force Guantanamo based on prior
corrections experience, described a typical Level 1 detainee as "compliant and
willing to follow camp rules." Whereas, Level 4 detainees generally "have a
litany of offenses," from threatening other detainees or guards to hurling
bodily fluids at guards or refusing to come out of the cell when ordered.
To a certain extent, the level a detainee is placed in determines where he is
housed, as well. Most Level 1 detainees are afforded extra privileges in Camp
4. (Camps are numbered based on the order in which they were built, not their
order of precedence or level of security.)
Gone are the days of concrete slabs and open-air chain-link enclosures in Camp
X-Ray. Hood explained that Camp X-Ray was a hastily built structure to deal
with a rapidly changing situation in the war on terrorism and that the
facilities there were never meant to be used for long-term detention. Engineers
began construction on Camp Delta, which replaced Camp X-Ray in April 2002,
shortly after detainees began arriving here, he said.
In Camp 4, part of Camp Delta, detainees live in 10-man bays with nearly all-
day access to exercise yards and other recreational privileges.
Sgt. 1st Class Todd Rundle, an Army Reserve military police officer, explained
that Camp 4 is Camp Delta's only medium-security facility. Doors in the camp
are normally opened with keys, but a mechanical override can be controlled from
inside the centrally located "Liberty Tower," the camp's command post, in an
emergency.
Detainees generally are allowed out in exercise yards attached to their living
bays seven to nine hours a day. Exercise yards include picnic tables under
cover and ping-pong tables. Detainees also have access to a central soccer area
and volleyball court.
Rundle said the large amount of outdoor time is a huge incentive for detainees
to want to be transferred to Camp 4, which is based on good behavior. "The
increased incentive of the additional time out here, that's a big thing for
detainees to be able to come out for that duration of time over the course of
every single day of the week," he said.
Part of the rationale behind the living arrangements at Camp 4 is to rebuild
detainees' social skills, "which might have been lost over time," Rundle said.
Detainees are provided games -- chess, checkers and playing cards are the most
requested items -- and are responsible for keeping their own living areas
clean.
They also eat meals together within their cellblocks. Food-service personnel
bring the food, always culturally sensitive, and detainees apportion it among
themselves at mealtime. Padmore said a guard always supervises so "Detainee A
is not getting three plates while Detainee B gets none."
Books and other reading material are available during periodic visits from a
designated librarian. A security official explained Agatha Christie books in
Arabic are very popular and that camp officials are working to get copies of
the Harry Potter books in Arabic.
Also in Camp 4, detainees are issued a full roll of toilet paper each week. In
other camps detainees have to ask guards to apportion toilet paper when they
need it. Padmore said many people take toilet paper for granted and that the
detainees in Camp 4 value having their own supplies.
Other privileges unique to Camp 4 include electric fans in the bays, ice water
available around the clock, plastic tubs with lids for the detainees to store
their personal items, and the white uniforms. White is a more culturally
respected color and also serves as an incentive to detainees in other camps.
"It's almost like a status symbol," he said. "Detainees come past and see
detainees from Camp 4 playing volleyball, playing soccer or in white uniforms.
The hope is that other detainees will play by the rulebook and aspire to get to
Camp 4 to get those privileges afforded to them."
Not too far away, in Camp 1, some detainees are just one step away from being
moved to Camp 4. They wear tan uniforms and are afforded such comfort items as
prayer rugs and canvas sneakers. Many of these detainees are being considered
for transfer to Camp 4, Rundle said.
Detainees in Camp 1 are housed in individual cells with a toilet and sink in
each cell. The have 30 minutes in one of two exercise yards at the end of each
cellblock twice a week, Padmore explained. Showers are allowed in outdoor
shower stalls after exercise periods.
There are 10 cellblocks with 48 cells each, but guards generally don't fully
populate the cellblocks to minimize the guard-to-detainee ratio.
Movement into and within the camp is funneled through "sally ports," entrances
and passageways with two gates. One gate must be closed before the next can be
opened. Military police officers man each sally port from inside.
Each detainee gets basic items such as a "finger toothbrush" -- short and
stubby so it can't be used as a weapon -- toothpaste, soap, shampoo, plastic
flip flops, and cotton underwear, shorts, pants and a shirt.
Guards are not allowed to remove basic items, but comfort items can be taken
away for behavior infractions. Comfort items can include such simple things as
Styrofoam cups and caps to the water bottles.
Some seemingly innocent items are kept from detainees to prevent them from
harassing guards. For instance, sport tops on water bottles can make it easier
for detainees to shoot bodily fluids onto guards, Padmore said.
The most recently completed detention facility, Camp 5, is a state-of-the-art
prison that many states would envy. The $16 million facility, completed in May
2004, is composed of four wings of 12 to 14 individual cells each.
The two-story maximum-security detention and interrogation facility can hold up
to 100 people and houses Level 4 detainees and those deemed to be the most
valuable intelligence assets. The camp is run from a raised, glass-enclosed
centralized control center that sits in the middle of the facility, giving the
MPs a clear line of sight into both stories of each wing. Army National Guard
Maj. Todd Berger called the control room "the nerve center of the camp."
Berger, who in civilian life is a state trooper in New Jersey, explained that
all detainee movement in Camp 5 is monitored and controlled through touch-
screen computers in the control center.
Thick steel airlock doors clang shut with a hiss and an echo as guards move
through the cellblocks. In Camp 5, media and other visitors are not permitted
to tour occupied cellblocks. The modern facility features some cells equipped
with overhanging sinks and grab bars on the toilets for detainees with a
physical disability and 10-foot-by-20-foot outdoor exercise yards that
detainees generally have access to for an hour every day.
Camp rules are posted in four languages -- Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, and Pashto --
in the exercise yards in each of the camps. Recently, the enclosed bulletin
boards have also featured posters with information about the Afghan elections.
"It talks about the fact that 10 million Afghanis freely elected their own
government," Rundle said. "So it's a bit of news from home … for a chunk of the
detainee population here."
Cultural sensitivity is consistently practiced in each of the camps. Respect
for Islam is evident in many of the policies. For instance, in each cell in
Camp 1, a Koran is stored hanging in a surgical mask from the cell wall. The
purpose of the surgical mask is to hold the Muslim holy book "in a place of
reverence," Padmore said.
In each cell block a painted arrow points toward Mecca, Saudi Arabia, so the
detainees know which way to face during their daily prayers. During Ramadan,
detainees were allowed to break their daily fast with water and dates at the
appropriate time, and prayer calls are broadcast over loudspeakers five times a
day.
Regardless of his assigned level or camp, no detainee is considered to be more
or less dangerous than another. "I can't say who's dangerous and who's not,"
Padmore said. "I consider them all dangerous people because they're here."
 | A Koran hangs in a surgical mask in Camp 1. The Muslim holy
book is hung up on the wall to give it a place of reverence. Photo by Kathleen
T. Rhem
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 | High resolution photo
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 | Two detainees in white "uniforms" stand in the doorway of their
bay in Camp 4. To a certain extent, a detainee's level is determined by where
he is housed, as well. Most Level 1 detainees are afforded extra privileges in
Camp 4. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem
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 | High resolution photo
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 | Detainees walk in an exercise yard in Camp 4, where they live
in 10-man bays with nearly all-day access to the yard and other recreational
privileges. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem
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 | High resolution photo
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 | The newly completed Camp 5 state-of-the-art facility features
cells equipped for detainees with disabilities. This cell includes an
overhanging sink to accommodate someone who uses a wheelchair and a grab bar on
the commode. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem
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 | High resolution photo
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 | This view shows an unoccupied wing in the state-of-the-art Camp
5, a $16 million facility completed in May 2004. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem
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 | High resolution photo
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