On GTMO’s 10th Anniversary, Video of US Marine Abuses Emerges

by Suzan Boulad (Syria)

On January 11th a disturbing video began to make the rounds along various sites on the internet, showing exclusive footage of a group of US Marines in full combat gear huddled around several dead bodies in what appears to be Afghanistan. The Marines then, while smiling for the camera, pull down their pants and pee on the dead bodies, cracking jokes like “Have a great day, buddy.”

The unexplained video went viral, and the US Marine Corps is supposedly launching a thorough investigation into the origins and perpetrators of the video, and released a statement saying “While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps.”

All this is fine and well from a media standpoint, but is the desecration of both the living and dead bodies of “enemy combatants” really not a core value of the United States Marines? The whole incident is reminiscent of the United State’s 2004 “publicity fiasco” when photos of US army soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, where detainees were stripped naked, forced into degrading positions, scared by dogs, and a long list of other abuses, all caught on camera by the perpetrators themselves.

10 years ago today, the United States cleared the way for 20 detainees to arrive at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. Since then, 775 detainees have crossed Guantanamo’s gates, and as of January 2012, a year after President Obama promised he would have GITMO closed, 171 detainees remain behind bars there, denied their fundamental rights and subject to psychological and physical torture. 89 detainees are even cleared for release, but because of bureaucratic debate about where they should be “sent”, they remain in Guantanamo’s grasp.

But US has not limited its illegal detention and torture of detainees to Guantanamo. The US controlled Bagram prison in Afghanistan has been under suspicion since the homicide of two civilian Afghan prisoners. For the last 10 years, there have been regular reports of torture and abuse coming out of Bagram prison. Even now, as Afghan president Hamid Karzai and the US battle for control of the prison, a new investigating commission has revealed not so new continued abuses. Crowdvoice has documented articles and videos related to the past and present torture allegations, linked below.

Thrilled and captivated by the protests that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa, the United States no longer dominates media coverage about the region. And indeed good riddance. However, on this somber anniversary, with yet another piece of evidence of the dehumanizing tactics of the US military, this point must not be forgotten. The effect of US policies continues to wreak havoc on other countries and on their citizens. The human rights abuses of the US military are not exceptions to a set of “core values”; they are a systemic method of marginalizing the bodies and voices of people in the way of US policies, a marginalization that we must fight against. The suffering of Afghanistan and Iraq must not be forgotten; in fact, it must be a key part of our region’s rebirth. When strong proud voices of change from the Middle East are louder than the voices of ignorance and violence both within and outside of the Middle East, then our revolutions will be solidly on their way to success.