National Geographic Explorer: Inside Guantanamo could not be more timely. See video and photos of the unprecedented look inside the controversial Guantanamo Detention center. The program airs on Sunday April 5, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on National Geographic Channel.
You can’t talk about the naval base at Guantanamo Bay without eliciting some kind of reaction. For some, it is a notorious prison and a blight on everything the United States of America stands for, due process of law and honoring the Geneva Convention.
For others, Guantanamo is necessary strategy in the ‘War on Terror.’ Since it first opened in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it has been a magnet for controversy.
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: The octagon corridor of Camp 6 captured from the skywalk. There are eight pods housing detainees named A through H. (Photo Credit © Lincoln Else / NGT)
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: New troopers are trained in cell extraction in Camp 6. They practice on an officer who playacts a detainee. (Photo credit © Lincoln Else / NGT)
As if to dispel the troubling aspects, some have taken to calling it Gitmo, as if it is some resort destination.
At long last, the Guantanamo detention center is exposed, to some degree, via the National Geographic Channel Explorer: Inside Guantanamo documentary chronicling daily life in this mysterious prison.
In Auust 2008, filmmakers Jon Else and Bonni Cohen had nearly three weeks at Guantanamo to film in six of the seven camps, giving us a glimpse of the daily life of that which is hard to imagine, life in the prison for either the detainees some of whom have been held for years, and are without country and without counsel, let along clear answers as to their future and fate, and the military personnel who guard them.
Continue reading to see more National Geographic Explorer: Inside Guantanamo video and photos after the jump.
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: The day room of a Camp 6 pod on laundry day. Troopers exchange the detainees dirty clothes for clean clothes. (Photo Credit © Lincoln Else / NGT)
“Guantanamo Bay was the legal equivalent of outer space — a place with no law,” former Navy defense lawyer Charles Swift says in the movie.
Swift’s client, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, won major Supreme Court rulings giving Guantanamo prisoners rights in U.S. courts….
Along the way, former President George Bush denounces militants as “nothing but a bunch of cold-blood killers, and that’s the way we’re going to treat ‘em.”
A Bush lawyer runs down a list of difficult options: “Once you capture those people you can’t release them,” former White House associate counsel Bradford Berenson said. “You can’t kill them — that would be a violation of international law.”
Source: Feature-National Geographic film goes ‘Inside Guantanamo’
As President Barack Obama has already signed an executive order and has publicly affirmed a commitment to close Guantanamo within the first year of his presidency, the prison may soon become a part of history.
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: The wide view of a Camp 6 detainee cell. (Photo Credit © Max Salomon / NGT)
Like looking at stars in the sky, it may be that the National Geographic Explorer: Inside Guantanamo is a look into the past. The program has captured some gripping scenes of daily life, the ‘Code Yellow’ that is called for an unresponsive prisoner, and a medical team rushes to the scene. In a lighter moment, a guard offers a detainee a choice of books to read. The guard recommends Stephen King’s novel “It” and tries to explain to him what a clown is.
Never before seen, is the daily Battle Update Briefing, during which troopers review detainee behavior and identify possible threats.
“It gives a 360-degree view and people can make up their own mind,” said Charles Stimson, a former Pentagon chief for detainee affairs, who helped get Geographic into Guantanamo.
He told a panel discussion after an advance screening this week that he had hoped the effort would help narrow a “chasm” in reality between Guantanamo now and the years it gained notoriety.
Quoted from previous source.
Top Photo: Guantanamo Bay: Detainees gather for breakfast at Camp 4 — the camp for the best behaved. (Photo Credit © Lincoln Else / NGT)
All Photos courtesy of National Geographic Channel
See also the Web site for more photos and video: National Geographic Channel Explorer: Inside Guantanamo
Watch several preview videos below.
Video “Doing Time in Guantanamo” – Would you want to know how many days had passed since you were locked in a cell?
Video “Guantanamo Librarian” – A key figure in the Guantanamo community is the librarian, who has earned the respect of detainees and soldiers alike: Video Link
Video “Guantanamo Guards” – For guards at Guantanamo Bay, the first day is daunting. For detainees who have been locked up for years, every day is the same. Video Link
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7:29 pm on July 4th, 2009 1
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