ORAL PRESENTATION: Story #25 - Prisoners Still Brutalized at Gitmo

Main points of the story

1. The Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) is a group of U.S. military that is instructed to assist with resisting prisoners during extraction and various crises that may arise (i.e. riots). They are accused of many cases of abuse, but not covered by the media.

2. Al Jazeera reported a year after Obama was elected that prisoners felt their treatment had deteriorated under the president’s brief time in office. Obama had vowed to close Guantanamo and end torture of prisoners.

3. The government refuses to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate the claims of abuse.

4. There are over 200 prisoners in Guantanamo and only 20 have been released under Obama after the administration made plans to close it completely.

5. Prisoners and their lawyers have reported cases of misuse of pepper spray, presence of attack dogs, extensive'
physical abuse, mistreatment of prisoners during prayer, and over-force-feeding prisoners during hunger strikes.

Image Source: http://www.buzzflash.com

LexisNexis search results on the topic

Statistical Breakdown:

Results for “Guantanamo Bay abuse” – 999+

Results for “Prisoners brutalized at Guantanamo” – 96

Relevant results for “Guantanamo Immediate Reaction Force” – 1 (only 113 words)

Pertinent links:

"The World: Soldier lifts lid on Camp Delta: For the first time, an army insider blows the whistle on human rights abuses at Guantanamo" (The Observer 2005):

"Guilty Until Confirmed Guilty" New York Times 2006):

"Closing Guantanamo" (New York Times 2009):

Analysis of search results: It is apparent that Guantanamo is in fact getting a considerable amount of attention, as it has been a hot political issue for many years now. The particular issue of the Immediate Reaction Forces, however, seems to be much less covered. Most of the stories about Guantanamo abuse seem to be editorials and focus more on placing blame than making a difference. With all this in mind, the subject is not necessarily ignored or underreported, but there are many details left out. It is also seems less reported now than it was under the Bush administration.

Image source: Amnesty International