The AP has obtained the statement of a woman who says that when she met several Gitmo guards at a bar on the base two weeks ago, a number of them bragged to her about beating detainees. The statement was “sent Wednesday to the Inspector General at the Department of Defense by a high-ranking Marine Corps defense lawyer,” the AP reports.
The gruesome details:
A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo “told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison,” the statement said.
“One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee’s head into the cell door. Bo said that his actions were known by others,” the statement said. The sailor said he was never punished….
Other guards “also told their own stories of abuse towards the detainees” that included hitting them, denying them water and “removing privileges for no reason.”
“About 5 others in the group admitted hitting detainees” and that included “punching in the face,” the affidavit said.
“From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was a common practice,” the sergeant wrote. “Everyone in the group laughed at the others stories of beating detainees.”
