My notes were just cleared from my latest visit with Mr. Al-Ghizzawi at the Guantánamo gulag. Since anyone who wanted to read my notes in the government and the military has already read what should be my attorney/client privileged communications, I figure what the hell; I might as well share them with all of you.
On December 7th 2006 Mr. Al-Ghizzawi was moved to the new Camp Six at Guantánamo Bay. Camp Six was Halliburton's latest project at Guantánamo Bay. I don't know how many millions Halliburton was paid for building this monster, but when these clowns are finally out of office I will lead the charge for a complete refund. According to the military, this supermax facility now holds the general population from Guantánamo. Men are held in the Camp 6 conditions of severe isolation despite their status or risk level.
I was escorted into the new, headache white, facility and brought to the tiny room where my client was waiting for me. The windowless six-by-six closet-size room had two chairs and a table. Mr. Al-Ghizzawi was stooping low to the floor and huddled against the wall when I entered. His arms were wrapped around his body as he tried to warm himself from the chill he has had for over two months, and his feet were shackled to the floor. He was shivering, his teeth were clenched and he wouldn't look at me.
He told me that I was his guest so he did not want to insult me by not visiting with me, but that he was feeling very ill and he was ashamed to have me see him in orange. You see, the orange jumpsuits are worn by prisoners who are being punished. Mr. Al-Ghizzawi explained to me that when he went to take a shower two days earlier he had toilet paper in his pocket. It is forbidden for the prisoners to have anything in their pocket when they go for showers. That landed Mr. Al-Ghizzawi two days in the orange jumpsuit. It made him feel like a criminal. Being on punishment also meant that Mr. Al-Ghizzawi lost all of his "privileges," which meant that he could not wear the thermal shirt under his jumpsuit that the military gave the men after so many lawyers complained about the cold conditions that their clients were subjected to at Camp 6, so he was even colder than usual.
Any of you that have been following the story of Mr. Al-Ghizzawi know that he is ill. The government diagnosed him with hepatitis B shortly after he arrived at Guantánamo. One and a half years later they diagnosed him with TB. Mr. Al-Ghizzawi was never told of either of these conditions and to date he has not been treated for either. Mr. Al-Ghizzawi just knew he was sick and when I tried to get his medical records, the government admitted that he was suffering from both conditions but not being treated for either condition. I am still fighting for the records, but it is an uphill battle especially since our politicians and the courts don't even agree that our clients have a right to be in court.
Al-Ghizzawi says that his health has worsened since his being moved to Camp 6 and that he has asked to see a doctor since early December but that hasn't happened yet... at least it had not happened as of February 14th (the last time I saw him). He is now vomiting two or three times a day, his whole body aches in pain... There are many more symptoms but you probably don't want to hear all of them.
Mr. Al-Ghizzawi asked me what the American people are doing about Guantánamo. I explained to him that Americans were really busy these days because some two-bit model died and everyone is trying to figure out who the father of her baby is. They have no time for little things like Guantánamo. He asked me if I would ask the American people to turn off their TV's and pay attention to the rest of the world. Then he looked at me with a little smile on his face and asked me if I knew who the father of the baby is? I told him that Rumsfeld's sudden resignation was very suspicious, but we are still waiting for the lab reports.
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