Shackles, dogs, humiliating acts, forced positions and 'restraint chairs', 23-hour lockdown, permanent solitary confinement. This catalogue of cruel and degrading treatment is now the fate not only of those held in 'supermax' prisons in the United States, but also of the prisoners in Guantánamo Bay. The language used to describe those in custody within the US anticipated the labels used for those offshore at Guantánamo: they are 'the worst of the worst', 'incorrigibles', 'bad men'. They are given tags that seem intended to justify their loss of due process rights: 'security threat groups' (alleged gangs) in US prisons; 'illegal enemy combatants' (alleged terrorists) in the camps at Guantánamo. More unsettling are the claims made not only by those who run supermaxes but by army doctors, the Pentagon, White House lawyers, the Department of Justice and the president of the United States: 'We do not torture.' 'Our practices are humane.' 'The United States operates a safe, humane and professional detention operation at Guantánamo.'

LRB 2 August 2007 | PDF Download