Guantanamo detainee complains about conditions

Thursday, November 6, 2003

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP): An Australian imprisoned as a suspected terrorist by the US military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has complained he is wasting away in solitary confinement, his lawyer said Wednesday.

David Hicks, 28, wrote to his family saying he had been kept in isolation for two-and-a-half months and was not being fed properly, Adelaide-based solicitor Stephen Kenny said.

"All I see are MPs (Military police)," Hicks wrote. "As for living from day to day, food is my main concern, sometimes I have weight-loss problems, anywhere from 160 to 130 pounds."

Hicks said he whiled away his days reading the Koran and novels.

Kenny said the conditions Hicks was being held in breached basic human rights and the Australian government should ensure he was being treated adequately.

"You've got someone who's spent 18 months locked in a cage, the last two-and-a-half months in solitary confinement," he told AFP.

"He's not being fed enough, he's got no access to lawyers, his mail is routinely censored and we're concerned he's stressed and disorientated -- it's a real worry that the US, which prides itself on freedom, democracy and liberty is engaging in such practices."

Hicks, a former poultry process worker, has been held by US authorities without a specified charge since he was captured fighting with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in November 2001.

The Australian government said Hicks had admitted to training with al-Qaeda, the terrorist network behind the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.

Hicks' father Terry maintained his son was a Taliban fighter who did not receive terrorist training.

The United States has named Hicks as one of an initial group of six detainees at the camp in Cuba who will face a US military tribunal, but no date has been set for a trial.

Kenny said his move to solitary confinement may be in preparation for the trial.

US President George W. Bush last month said Hicks and another Australian, Mamdouh Habib, were being treated in accordance with US standards and dismissed as "ridiculous" claims they were being tortured.

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