A lot of Gitmo info is classified. But as RT’s crew found out, some of it is secret even for those serving at the facility. Discover why iguanas get special treatment there, and who servicemen can’t date in a special RT report from Guantanamo.
The notorious military facility is known for alleged tortures of
detainees, with some of prisoners still held behind bars without
charge. Among the latest incidents, it’s emerged that US military
doctors took part in torture sessions on inmates.
Although the military are provided with everything they need,
from state-of-the-art sports centers to Taco Bell and Starbucks -
right inside the facility - there are downsides the service
personnel point out.
For one, a lack of information from the outside world. Many of
the TV programs broadcast here are army-focused, and the internet
is almost non-existent. The RT crew has also been told that those
serving at the base are forbidden to go to websites like
WikiLeaks.
Another hot issue is, unexpectedly, iguanas. The life of one
animal is worth more here than the life of a prisoner, with the
fine for running over an iguana set at $10,000.
Officials, though, tend to showcase to journalists how people are
well-kept and entertained in Guantanamo.
The daily life of a Guantanamo detainee depends on his
compliance. A cooperative inmate is allowed to have eight books,
toothpaste and shampoo, while a less compliant one has to wear an
orange uniform and gets only two books at a time.
The prisoners can’t enter the library, which displays some of the
art they’ve done over the years. Shelves are packed with DVDs,
video games, and magazines. The facility provides a lot of
pre-selected books which avoid certain topics: violence, sex,
militantly religious…anything controversial.
RT’s crew also toured the Guantanamo military base, discovering
how the Gitmo’s big bosses keep up morale of those serving.
The 116 sq km military base, with 5,500 people living and working
inside, is in fact full of signs of established American life.
It’s home to the only McDonalds on Cuban soil, plus a Subway
sandwich outlet.
“You’ve got invested financial interest there, you’ve got
Pizza Hut and you’ve got Starbucks, and you’ve got all these
other places that help to set up a logistical support for the
troops that are all over there,” Moazzam Beg, a former Gitmo
prisoner, told RT.
Most officers come here short-term for up to nine months, or
longer deployments of two to three years. However, it turns out
that despite being away from home, their lives aren’t put on
hold.
“You can’t date certain people, but you can certainly have. If
it’s within your rank system, then you’re allowed to,”
Danielle Heinz, who serves as a guard in Camp 6, said to RT.
Plus, there are plenty of things to do during free time. There’s
‘Downtown Lyceum’, an open-air movie theater playing all the
hottest Hollywood blockbusters, and there’s almost every sport
known to man available at the ‘Team Gitmo’ sports facility.
There’s also ‘Tiki Bar’ to let loose at after work – which,
according to some, isn’t too hard.
However, despite the bright picture that MWR (Morale, Welfare and
Recreation), the body that takes care of military’s leisure,
paints there are controversies surrounding the facility, and some
of them are century-long.
The US government has been leasing the territory where Guantanamo
is now situated since 1903 for just over $4500 – which is,
surprisingly, still the price nowadays, RT’s Anastasia Churkina
reports. It’s said, though, that the Cuban government has been
refusing to accept the money for decades.
“The Castro government said, ‘We don’t want this lease
anymore,’ and the US position was that it’s a binding lease, and
in the lease it actually says that it can’t be broken unless both
sides, both countries, agree to that. That strikes me as a very
odd contract,” Martha Rainer, a Guantanamo detainee lawyer,
told RT.