Bhuiyan1

Afsan Bhuiyan
Mrs. Latham
English 2010
3/19/2015
Compromising Torture Methods in Guantanamo Bay
There are people who believe torturing POWs(prisoner of war) are justifiable to obtain
essential information from the detainee to save peoples lives. We were able to find top terrorists
like Osama bin Ladin from interrogating a captured terrorist. We live in a time where Al Qaeda
members and insurgents are increasing in number and power. Interrogating any captured terrorist
will mostly degrade and decline the number of terrorists. I understood that if the U.S military
can hunt down fanatic leaders then their (terrorists) army would collapse. Without their
(terrorists) main leader they would not get orders and mostly likely stop fighting.
Torturing a POW is justifiable when you want to save other peoples lives. Giving the
POWs temporary pain and extracting essential information is more beneficial than just
disregarding the POW and letting several people die. Since the POW deserves punishment for
charges of terrorism then interrogating the detainee is seen as more ethical than giving him other
worse punishments like execution. You never know when a terrorist act would occur unless you
interrogated the POW as fast as possible, so you can prevent the terrorist act. Attempting to
control the detainees feelings, and body by torturing him would most likely lead the detainee to
give out honest information. (Torture Is a Just Means) The interrogator will analyze the
information of the detainee, but if the information is found false then the torturing of the detainee
continues. (Torture Is a Just Means) Any information from the detainee is important, and will
most likely force the detainees to say the truth. If the intention is to extract essential information

Bhuiyan2
from a POW then torturing him is permissible whether he is innocent or not. Also, torture will be
controlled and made sure that any misuse of the torture methods does not occur. The U.S military
privately tortures the detainees, so Al Qaeda/Taliban/ISIS wouldnt use the situation about
detainees in Guantanamo Bay as a propaganda. The tortures will be kept secret and not exposed.
Also, POWs shouldnt be treated the same as a U.S soldier. The detainees want to kill U.S
soldiers and are willing to die for their war, so torturing them is fine as long as you dont kill
them. Showing sympathy for the detainees wouldnt help you get any information from them.
I agree that if any detainees are charged with terrorism then they deserve punishment if
evidence of terrorism is found. Giving temporary pain to a detainee would be justifiable if youre
going to save lives. Just imprisoning a POW without interrogation will not do any benefit to the
U.S military of defeating their enemies. When lives of U.S soldiers are at stake then using harsh
interrogation technique on detainee is mandatory.
Also, no doubt the detainees are not innocent, so giving them torture is justifiable. You
can save a lot of U.S soldiers from many battles by finding key intelligence of where the
enemies are then destroying the enemy by drones. If you need to know where the suicide
bombers are located then interrogating a detainee is required because suicide bombing causes
severe damage. I dont mind that POWs get tortured, but there should be evidence of detainees
with charge of terrorism. Also, you have to make sure not to use interrogation methods that can
cause a greater damage than good in long term and short term.
First of all I understand that torturing a detainee can lead to saving many peoples lives.
However, torturing detainees will lead to Al Qaeda members using the Guantanamo Bay
situation as a propaganda to recruit members (Sunni Muslims). It provided grist for antiAmerican propaganda, notably by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In 2010, he penned a

Bhuiyan3
column for Inspire magazine, in which he mentioned the crimes at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
which shook the conscience of humanity. (Jamie Tarabay Abu Ghraib Closes). This article
talks about how Osama Bin Ladin propagates an anti-American propaganda by stating the bad
treatments the detainees receive at Guantanamo bay. You may think you are saving many
peoples lives, but you are just creating more insurgents and Al Qaeda members. Torture
methods used in GITMO(Guantanamo Bay) should be reduced and not be too severe ,so the
insurgents and Al Qaeda members wouldnt use the situation in GITMO as propaganda. The
U.S military should show the world how humanly the detainees are being treated to prevent
Sunni Muslims to join Al Qaeda and the insurgents.
Also, interrogation may cause greater harm than good. For example, Moazzam talks
about Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay prison, gave a false
confession about how Al Qaeda is working with Saddam Hussein who is planning on creating
weapons of mass destruction which lead the American military to go after Saddam Hussein in
Iraq (CIA Torture - Guantanamo Bay). Several American soldiers were killed because of false
confession given by Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. The U.S government should invest in the
interrogators in GITMO by training them how to analyze detainees information more accurately.
If you train the interrogators to analyze information given by detainees more carefully then false
information will be prevented.
I understand that making a POW feel powerless and fearful of the interrogator can lead
the detainee to give useful and honest information. However, being abusive to the detainees
religion and culture can greatly affect the Muslim world negatively. If you abuse the religion of
the detainees then how do you expect to gain the hearts of Muslims to support you, but rather
you create more enemies. I am talking specifically about the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan

Bhuiyan4
who are in the war zone between the Muslim insurgents/Al Qaeda members and the U.S military
with their allies. For example, Shafiq says I had to run as fast as I could with my legs shackled
and I was bent over with a sack over my head. We were taken to another tent. There they cut off
all my clothes and forcefully shaved our beards and heads. I was taken outside. I was completely
naked with a sack on my head and I could 16 hear dogs barking nearby and soldiers shouting
get em boy.(Tipton Three) This shows how the interrogators in Guantanamo Bay religiously
abused the detainees by shaving their beards. Keeping a beard is mandatory according to
orthodox Islam which Shafiq follows. Also, showing the genital area to anyone (other than the
spouse) is prohibited in Islam. The interrogators abused Shafiq by forcing him to get naked. The
U.S military should understand the ethics of the Islamic law and respect the non-violent religious
practices of the detainees. A beard is harmless, and shaving the beard to stop the Islamic practice
of a detainee is an unappropriated act. The U.S military wants to stop oppression in Muslim
countries done by extremists. However, shaving beards of detainees shows interrogators
oppressing their religion which will give a negative image of the U.S. You can though shave off
their heads or any other body parts that are permissible in Islam to humiliate the detainees.
Stripping the detainees till they are naked is an act of forced homosexuality, perverseness, and
sexual abuse according to the Islamic law. Since seeing another man naked for perverseness is
despised among Muslims which the interrogators must understand. The Muslim detainees must
have clothing which they can pray five times at least even if they are being humiliated.
The torture methods should be effective enough to get honest information out of
detainees. No doubt the detainee deserves punishment if the detainee was charged with terrorism.
I just hope that the U.S government could consider reducing some of the torture methods that
disrespect the detainees religion and culture. While information from the detainee save lives we

Bhuiyan5
must not create more enemies from unnecessary torture on detainees. Lets get better
interrogators, so the U.S military does not fall into the trap of following false confessions.
Making the interrogations more humane will not only be effective, but the enemies encountered
will be reduced and religious tensions amongst Muslims will decrease. There is no problem with
interrogating detainees, but the interrogation must be done humanly as possible and effectively.

Bhuiyan6
Work Cited
"Report: Tipton Three Detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay." Center for Constitution
RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://ccrjustice.org/tipton-three>.
"Torture Is a Just Means of Preventing Terrorism." Idebate.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
<http://securingliberty.idebate.org/arguments/torture>.
Brand, Russell. "CIA Torture - Guantanamo Bay." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 22
Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sl7ojcIj8E>.
Tarabay, Jamie, J.T. "Abu Ghraib Closes, Bitter Memories of Torture Remain | Al Jazeera
America." Abu Ghraib Closes. Al Jazeera, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
<http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/15/abu-ghraib-s-infamousend.html>.