From The Progressive
By Matthew Rothschild

Most people know about the deplorable treatment of detainees down at Guantánamo.

But three detainees—including two U.S. citizens—faced similar treatment right here in the United States, according to documents just released by the ACLU.

Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri were held at naval brigs in Virginia and South Carolina, in isolation, for months at a time without access to lawyers or communication to the outside world.

This was no accident.

The brig guards were instructed by their commanders to apply the standard operating procedures down in Guantánamo up here in the United States.

That’s ironic, to say the least, because the Bush Administration had argued before the Supreme Court that its treatment of detainees in Cuba was beyond the reach of the court because they weren’t on U.S. soil.

The documents consist of e-mails between brig officers and others up the chain of command. Over time, they show the increasing frustration of the brig officers themselves at the restrictions they were ordered to enforce.

One of the first documents, dated April 17, 2002, said: “As I’m sure you understand, DOD does not want this detainee to have any privileges that the detainees at Camp X-Ray don’t have, so all are treated essentially the same way.” (DOD stands for Department of Defense, and Camp X-Ray is in Guantánamo.)

Read more Guantanamo