Conference, Symposium, and Panel Reports 153

Should the U.S. Shut Down Gitmo?

This panel discussion, held on 27 June 2006 and sponsored by the Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), featured James Yee, a 1990 West
Point graduate and Muslim chaplain assigned to Camp Delta (Guantanamo



Bay) and attorney Gene Fidell of Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, and Fidell, who
has worked on cases involving Guantanamo Bay inmates. The discussion
took place at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.

After making opening remarks on illegal immigrants and terrorism,
Mohammad Nimer (research director, CAIR) introduced Chaplain Yee, who
had served at Camp Delta from November 2002 to September 2003. While
there, he experienced the detention center's living conditions and received
awards and recognition for his service. On 10 September 2003, however, he
was arrested and accused of espionage, aiding the enemy, mutiny, and sedi-
tion. Eventually, he was locked up alongside enemy combatants Yasser
Hamdy and Jose Padilla in a naval brig in South Carolina. Later, all charges
were dropped, including unrelated charges regarding national security. 

Yee explained his role as advocating for the free exercise of worship. He
advised the camp commander on religious aspects of prison operations and
listened to prisoners’ complaints and concerns, including authorized and
unescorted access to the cells. In addition, he observed detainee treatment
and made recommendations. He described two operations: detention opera-
tions run by military police or guards (e.g., providing them with clothes) and
intelligence gathering, which included extracting information. Yee was
assigned to the former group, as the commanding general at the time, Major
General Geoffrey Miller, considered it unethical for the chaplain to be pres-
ent during intelligence gathering operations.

Yee mentioned the suicides of 10 June 2006, which sparked the debate
of whether the United States can still be considered the world leader in
human rights. Talking about prisoner abuse, he presented “Gitmo’s secret
weapon”: the use of religion against the detainees. For example, prisoners
told him that they were forced to sit on a satanic circle (painted on the floor)
while shackled at the wrists, ankles, and waist (the military’s “three-piece
suit”). Forced into the prayer position, the guards would then declare Satan,
to be their God. Female interrogators would touch male prisoners inappro-
priately (e.g., their genitals) and force the prisoners to touch them. Also, the
Qur’an was ripped, thrown, kicked, and stepped on, which ignited prisoner
protests. All of this abuse led to mass suicide attempts. In January 2003, a
Saudi prisoner who attempted suicide slipped into a coma for months and
later recovered with brain damage before he was returned home.

When asked how to help prevent prisoner deaths, Yee recommended a
policy of handling the Qur’an with respect. Culture was also abused, as pris-
oners sometimes were forced to wear the Israeli flag. But Islam was the cor-
nerstone of abuse used to destroy the detainees psychologically. Today, the
hunger strikes, protests, and suicide attempts revolve around their indefinite

154 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 23:4



detention, uncertainty, and lack of due process. The military’s view of sui-
cides as an “act of asymmetrical warfare,” as well as a State Department offi-
cial’s statement that they were a “good public relations move designed to
attract attention,” are, according to Yee, offensive and unproductive. 

Attorney Eugene Fidell, who handled Chaplain Yee’s case, discussed the
detainees’ “combatant status,” which makes it hard for them to defend them-
selves. He added that their status as “intelligence sources” is slim to none, as
only a few have been charged. Fidell explained that a military commission
can be held anywhere, as Guantanamo is inconvenient, and that the key rea-
son for confining them at Guantanamo was to put them beyond the federal
courts’ reach. The Supreme Court rejected this argument in 2004. 

During the question and answer period, Yee stated that religious and sex-
ual humiliation was a deliberate and systematic policy, for he felt that there
was strong anti-Muslim sentiment toward prisoners and observant American
Muslim personnel. Asked about the Geneva Conventions and the issue of
cruel and inhumane treatment, Fidell agreed that such treatment violates the
convention. Yee added that using religion against the detainees is against this
country’s character and the freedom of religion. He felt that such actions
allows terrorists and those who harbor anti-American sentiments to point out
that the “war on terror” is a “war against Islam” and that this hinders intelli-
gence gathering. 

When asked if any of the intelligence gathered at Guantanamo had pre-
vented future terrorist attacks, Yee replied that such information was deemed
“classified.” In response to another question, he replied that a United States
Southern Command website mentions the abuse of the Qur’an under media
releases, along with Lieutenant General Schmidt, who authored the Schmidt
report. According to Yee, no senior leadership has been held accountable for
any of the abuses at Guantanamo Bay, although Geoffrey Miller, a four-star
general, was reprimanded. 

Surprisingly, this camp continues to exist despite two Supreme Court
rulings (2004 and 2006) that its inmates are entitled to the prisoner of war
protections under the Geneva Conventions and that it is subject to American
law. To date, no prisoners have had a hearing. Holding prisoners without due
process, and then abusing and humiliating them, is unjust and unethical and
violates their basic human rights. This is even truer when, according to the
Bush administration’s own admission, these detainees seem to have had
nothing to do with terrorism. 

Soha Srour
AJISS Assistant Editor

Herndon, Virginia

Conference, Symposium, and Panel Reports 155