Guantanamo Bay detainment camp library

The library made available to detainees held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, is notable for the controversy it has stirred.

Privileged detainees in Camp 4 wait for books.

Access to books, particularly the Harry Potter series, is widely described as a sign that the conditions for the detainees has improved.[1][2][3][4]

The Department of Defense reports that Guantanamo detainees have access to 3,500 volumes, though they are attempting to increase the collection to 10,000–20,000[2][5][6]

Guantanamo detainees such as David Hicks reported that the "reading room" did not contain any reading material itself.[7] They have to "order" books in advance.[5] According to the Library Journal the Associated Press reported that the detainees have been known to use the books to pass messages to each other. Now each book is checked when it was returned. Detainees who break this rule lose their library privileges.

Popular books and authors include the Harry Potter series, Agatha Christie mysteries, Khalil Gibran, self-help manual Don't Be Sad[5] and The Lord of the Rings.[8][9]

Letter from "Abdul Aziz"

On July 22, 2007 Andy Worthington published an article which quoted extensively from a recently declassified letter from a Guantanamo detainee identified as "Abdul Aziz".[10][11] The surname of the author of the letter was withheld. He reported that after being offered the same two boxes of tattered books for years he asked the library clerk to stop visiting his cell.

Content policy
Lists of "authorized" and "restricted" content

On October 11, 2009 the Miami Herald published lists of the kind of content detainees were "authorized" and "restricted" to access.[12]

Omar Khadr's reading list

On October 28, 2010, during Omar Khadr's sentencing hearing, a partial list of the books he had borrowed from the library was a matter of testimony.[13][14] Prosecution witness Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist, characterized Khadr as an unredeemable jihadist who had spent his time at Guantanamo reading the Koran, and was not interested in western literature. During his cross examination Khadr's Defense counsel asked Welner to consult his notes, and read out other books he knew Khadr had borrowed from the library. According to Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, Welner acknowledged Khadr had also borrowed: "Nelson Mandela’s [Long] Walk to Freedom, Barack Obama’s Dreams of My Father, Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series plus unnamed thrillers by John Grisham and steamy novels by Danielle Steel."

See also

References
  1. "Pols: Gitmo Conditions Have Improved". Fox News. June 27, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  2. Andrew Selsky (September 24, 2006). "Guantanamo Inmates Turn to Library Books: Guantanamo Inmates Achieve a Measure of Escape Through Library Books; Nonfiction Most Popular". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  3. Rachel Williams (September 24, 2006). "Terrorist detainees spellbound by Harry Potter tales". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  4. Jackson Diehl (July 23, 2007). "Pistachios at Guantanamo". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  5. "The Library at Guantanamo: 4200 Titles Under High Security". Library Journal. 2006-10-05. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  6. "Ten Facts about Guantanamo". Department of Defense. September 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  7. Jonathan Pearlman (November 28, 2006). "Hicks's window on the world". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  8. Ben Fox (2008-04-10). "Gitmo prisoner rejects military trial". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22.
  9. Lesley Clark (2006-11-04). "What's a bored detainee to do? Check a book out of the library". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16.
  10. Andy Worthington (July 22, 2007). "Guantánamo's Library: Adding Insult to Injury". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  11. "The itinerant box Library". cageprisoners.com. July 20, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  12. "Guidelines for inclusion in prison camp library". Miami Herald. 2009-10-11. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22.
  13. Carol Rosenberg (2010-10-28). "Defense paints different Khadr for military jury". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Tuesday, Dr. Michael Welner said Khadr read only Harry Potter and the Quran, and memorized Islam's holy book while `marinating inside a radical Islamic community' inside the prison camps here.
  14. Amy Davidson (2010-10-28). "Draco in Guantánamo". New Yorker magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-10-30. Cross-examinations can lead to some interesting adjustments in testimony, particularly at Guantánamo.
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