At Gitmo, Toilet Paper Is a Reward

Posted by GottaLaff , Brave New Films at 2:00 PM on December 4, 2007.

This post, written by GottaLaff, originally appeared on Cliff Schecter’s Brave New Films Blog

But at least they eat glazed chicken:

A leaked copy of a March 2004 manual of Gitmo's "Standard Operating Procedures" for Camp Delta was published yesterday by the Web site Wikileaks.org. It deals with everything a guard at Guantanamo would need to know, from how to remove detainees' clothing when they first arrive (cut it off) to what guards should do if they find a detainee's plastic foam cup with writing on it (confiscate it). Rolls of toilet paper are considered "comfort items" that can be given to detainees as rewards.

What's wrong with that? When children behave, don't you parents out there offer them toilet paper as a reward? It's so comforting and makes a great stocking stuffer!

The manual also confirms previous reports about dogs being used at the facility and detainees spending time in "segregation cells," either as punishment or for intelligence gathering.

See? They're just "time-outs". Just like home.

The manual discusses the facility's "behavior management plan" for the first two weeks after a detainee's arrival, when he has no access to the International Committee of the Red Cross or a chaplain: "The purpose of the Behavior Management Plan is to enhance and exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee in the interrogation process," the manual says. "It concentrates on isolating the detainee and fostering dependence of the detainee on his interrogator."

And just in case, they can't learn new songs. I wonder if they're allowed to fingerpaint.

In the 2004 manual, guards are warned not to teach the detainees songs or English phrases and not to take an active role in interrogations or to even listen to what is said during interrogations. Guards are also told not to talk about current events.

Yeah, we wouldn't want them to get wind of anything like, oh, extraordinary rendition. They might find out that it's illegal.

Tagged as: detainees, gitmo, guantanamo bay

GottaLaff is a regular blogger for Cliff Schecter's Blog