꧃A report showed that the detainees were denied to speak to their loved ones, subjected to humiliating searches and left in isolation for prolonged periods.
ꦺDiuvar Uzcátegui kept track of them by putting a small tear in the last, blank page of a Bible after every third meal. The book was given to him by the military guards along with a blanket and a ¾-inch foam pad to sleep on. He went to the bathroom in a bucket connected to a tap in the cell. And though he couldn’t see his fellow detainees, he could hear them.
A Washington Post report highlighted tensions and concerns of three detainees in the Guantánamo Bay naval station.
✃During his two weeks at the Guantánamo Bay naval station, Uzcátegui, 27, said he was rarely let outside. Both times, he was shackled and placed in what he described as a cage. It was the only sight of the blue Cuban sky he got, so otherworldly it felt like a dream.
꧑“They didn’t treat me like a human being,” he said, his voice flustered with indignation. “They threw me in a cage.”
♛The transported nearly 180 migrants from the United States to Guantánamo and deported all of them to Venezuela on Thursday. The Washington Post spoke with three men who had been detained at the U.S. military prison, which has been used for suspected terrorists since the September 11, 2001, attacks. All three men had crossed the border illegally, and despite Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem labeling them the "worst of the worst," the Post found no criminal records for those interviewed.
ಞJosé Daniel Simancas, Franyer Montes, and Uzcátegui shared that they were denied the chance to contact lawyers or loved ones, despite repeated requests. They also described being subjected to invasive and degrading strip searches, as well as enduring long periods of isolation, with only two one-hour opportunities to go outside during two weeks of detention.
🐽Their accounts echoed the concerns raised by human rights organizations, who fear that migrants sent to a location notorious for its isolation and past allegations of torture could face serious abuse.
ꦇ"The conditions for these migrants in Guantánamo were horrific, far more restrictive, severe, and abusive than what we would see in a typical immigration detention facility in the U.S.," said Eunice Cho, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project. The ACLU, along with other organizations, has filed lawsuits to ensure these migrants are granted access to legal counsel.
🌃The migrants described being supervised by military guards, a concern for legal rights groups that have stressed that immigrants are there because of a civil, immigration violation, not alleged war crimes like the 9/11 detainees. Blurring the lines between the civilian and military enforcement, Cho said, encroaches “on the division between civil society and militarized society.”
ꦆThe decision to house migrants at Guantánamo came as the Trump administration pushed forward with its goal of deporting the highest number of migrants in history, with detention facilities rapidly reaching capacity. Some legal experts and political science professors suggested that the move was part of an effort to create a perception of migrants in the U.S. as criminals and terrorists.
🐬The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to inquiries about the conditions or treatment of migrants held at Guantánamo. The Department of Defense referred questions to DHS.
🧜At a briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not address questions regarding the conditions for migrants at Guantánamo. Instead, she echoed statements from Secretary Noem and others in the administration, saying, “If you invade our nation’s borders... and then commit heinous, brutal crimes, like raping and murdering innocent, law-abiding women and girls... then you will be deported and may be held at Guantánamo Bay.”
🔴The administration has yet to clarify whether any of those sent to Guantánamo have been accused of committing such crimes, according to reports.