MoJo Blog:
Col. Richard Bassett, the Army officer assigned to investigate possible abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, has concluded that there is no evidence that guards mistreated the prisoners. In the course of his investigation, Bassett failed to interview any of the alleged victims.
The investigation was created when prison guards allegedly bragged about having beaten some detainees. Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny reported, in fact, that the guards bragged to her at a bar that beating detainees was a common practice at Guantanamo.
Bassett's investigation team conducted twenty interviews with suspects and witnesses, and then Bassett came to his conclustion. According to a command spokesman, "He talked to all the parties he felt he needed to get information about the allegations that were made."
Hey, why not have all investigations go this way? Why put the victims through all the bother of telling their side of the story?
Been raped? We don't need to hear from you. Been mugged? Let's see what the mugger has to say about that. Been scammed? Let's see if there were any witnesses and you can run along home.
There is no way that we would consider this kind of 'investigation' as serious in any other situation. Yet, here it is, in black and white, without any shame whatsoever.
Tags: news | politics | Military | Guantanamo | abuse | human rights | civil rights | torture | law | crime
