Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

Detainee says troops deprived him of sleep

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A Guantanamo prisoner testified Thursday that U.S. troops blared loud music, shone bright lights at him and moved him from cell to cell frequently to deprive him of sleep.

Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan detainee charged with attempted murder, told a military court he does not know why he was subjected to the military’s “frequent flyer” sleep deprivation program in May 2004, nearly 17 months after he was arrested.

“Day and night, they were shifting me from one room to another,” Jawad said.

His testimony came in a pretrial hearing at the U.S. war crimes court. Lawyers and human rights groups have accused the military of using sleep deprivation to “soften up” Guantanamo detainees for questioning, but this was the first time a prisoner testified about such treatment.

Jawad’s defense has asked the military judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, to dismiss the charges, saying the sleep deprivation amounted to torture. Prosecutors deny the treatment was torture.

Prison records obtained by the defense show Jawad was moved between cells 112 times over two weeks in May 2004, sometimes after just a few minutes. The prisoner said bright lights were kept on in his cell, and guards made noises and played loud music to keep him awake.

Jawad testified the sleep disruption caused his blood pressure to rise and resulted in unspecified “mental problems.” Records obtained by the defense show he tried to commit suicide on Dec. 25, 2003, even before he was subjected to the “frequent flyer” treatment.

“Islam never permits suicide ... but it was beyond my control,” he told the court through a Pashto interpreter. “That’s why I tried that.”

U.S. authorities have used sleep disruption to prepare prisoners for interrogations, but Jawad’s lawyer, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, says his client had already supposedly confessed to throwing a grenade that wounded two American soldiers and their translator in Afghanistan. He had also already been interrogated at least 21 times before May 2004.

The prosecutor, Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, noted in cross-examination of a sleep expert called by the defense that Jawad was sometimes allowed to remain in his cell for up to four hours.

Vandeveld also said the prisoner was offered treatment by military psychiatric personnel and had not been mistreated.

Also Thursday, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling took effect that gives Guantanamo detainees the right to challenge their confinement in civilian courts.

Typically, 25 days elapse before a high court’s judgment is sent to a lower court. But Justice Anthony Kennedy agreed to a request by detainees’ lawyers to speed up the process.