Epilogue

The day I left Gitmo was the day of suicides and uprising. This is the best article on the whole thing. It was odd: I tried to extend my stay until Friday, because there was a press session on Thursday I wanted to attend, but all the flights were full and I had to take an early Thursday flight. Nonetheless we were in Camp 4 two days prior. I can only wonder if any of the detainees that I saw walking around took part, which cell block it was, and what really happened. It changes the nature of the story I'm writing somewhat, but I'm not sure how. A fairly dramatic development nonetheless, especially coinciding with the UN's call to close the facility.

That is actually something I don't quite understand. The explicit reasons for each detainee's detention should be made clear to them and to the world -- if these men are as horrible as the DOD would have us believe, it shouldn't be a problem to justify holding them through habeas corpus -- but closing the facility? Transferring people to other countries, particularly those with less than glowing human rights records, would not be a solution. It may be hypocritical of the U.S. to say they worry about people getting tortured upon transfer, but that doesn't make it less of a legitimate concern.