GUANTANAMO INMATES AGEING QUIETLY
Wheelchair ramps, toilet handles installed in prison to cater to old detainees
THEY arrived at Guantanamo Bay as young men, captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan and elsewhere early in America’s war on terror, following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.
More than 15 years later, most inmates at the infamous United States military prison have reached middle age.
This week, the White House seemed to acknowledge the obvious: with no plan or political will to do anything with Guantanamo’s 40 remaining inmates, some of them could be stuck there for the rest of their lives.
On average, Guantanamo Bay’s inmates are now about 46.5 years old. The eldest, Pakistani national Saifullah Paracha, will turn 71 in August.
The youngest is Saudi citizen Hassan Mohammed Ali Attash, who was born in 1985, making him 32 or 33 now — and just 16 or 17 when he was captured in 2002.
Perhaps the most notorious inmate, alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is 53.
The black moustache he sported when he was captured in 2003 had long since grown out into a voluminous grey beard that he now dyed orange.
James Connell, the attorney for Ramzi Binalshibh, who is charged as one of Khalid’s co-conspirators, said he’d noticed accommodations for ageing prisoners.
“Some of attorney-client visiting spaces now have wheelchair ramps,” he said, adding that he’d also spotted handles to help inmates get up from the toilet.
Though the White House statement provided no details on what it envisions the changing needs of the Guantanamo population to be, older prisoners often suffered from chronic, age-related diseases.
It costs US taxpayers more than US$450 million (RM1.7 billion) a year to keep the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
As memories of the 9/11 attacks faded somewhat, many Americans were unaware the US still kept prisoners at Guantanamo.
Five had been charged in the conspiracy to pull off the attacks. Among the rest of the population, two more had been charged with other crimes and two had been convicted. Five were cleared for release under president Barack Obama but were stuck under President Donald Trump, who said he wanted to send Islamic State captives to Guantanamo.
But the largest contingent — 26 inmates — had never been charged and were deemed too dangerous to be released.
Nine detainees had died since the prison opened in early 2002, mainly through what the military said were suicides.
The way things are going, they were unlikely to be the last.