Statement from Attorney for Camp Delta Sergeant Joe Hickman who Blew the Whistle on Human Rights Abuses

Sgt. Hickman talks about what he saw at Guantánamo Bay to 'Harper's Magazine.'

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PR NewsChannel) / January 18, 2010 / Westwood, N.J. / The following is a statement from attorney Joshua Denbeaux, who represents Guantánamo Bay whistleblower Sgt. Joe Hickman. Sgt. Hickman's story broke today in Harper's Magazine (http://www.harpers.org).

"Sgt. Joe Hickman came forward because it was the right thing to do and because doing anything less would be wrong and un-American. He has nothing to gain and, in fact, has put his career and his reputation on the line by exposing the human rights atrocities at Guantánamo Bay. Sgt. Hickman is relieved the truth is finally coming out and looks forward to cooperating fully in whatever investigation ensues in Congress or elsewhere."

Link to Harper's article: http://harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368

Link to AP article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_guantanamo_suicides

More information from Harper's:
In its March issue, Harper’s Magazine is challenging widely reported accounts of how three prisoners died suddenly at Guantánamo. "The Guantánamo 'Suicides': A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle" by contributing editor Scott Horton, reveals, through corroborated accounts by military personnel, that the deaths were not, in fact, suicides as the U.S. government has claimed. The story is now available for free at www.harpers.org, due to intense public interest in the matter.

The U.S. government has long maintained that three Guantánamo prisoners—Salah Al-Salami (37), from Yemen, and Mani Al-Utaybi (30) and Yasser Al-Zahrani (22), both from Saudi Arabia—committed suicide by hanging themselves in their cells on June 9, 2006. "The Guantánamo 'Suicides'" draws on the accounts of four members of a military-intelligence unit who were present at Camp Delta that night and tell a much different story. Among them is Staff Sergeant Joe Hickman, decorated for his distinguished service at Guantánamo and responsible for the guards on duty the night of June 9. Using Hickman’s observations, and with the corroboration of other named soldiers who served on the watch with him, Horton’s article demonstrates that official claims are surely false.

Three prisoners believed to be those who later died were removed from Camp 1 (where they were held) early the evening of June 9. It appears that they were driven to a secret compound (known as "Camp No"), which soldiers believed was being operated by the CIA.

A great deal of commotion occurred in the camp shortly after the van used to transport prisoners returned to the Camp Delta detention clinic. This was well before the time when official reports allege that the prisoners were found hanging in their cells. Accounts quickly spread that three prisoners had died by “choking on cloth.”

The article flags the account of a fourth prisoner, Shaker Aamer—who was brutally tortured that same day, had his throat blocked and a mask placed over his face, using procedures that seem suspiciously similar to those which might have been applied to the three dead prisoners.

The following morning, the camp’s commanding officer told a gathering of personnel that “we all know” that the prisoners died by choking on cloth, but that an official account would soon be released saying that they had committed suicide by hanging themselves. All present were ordered not to contradict or undermine the official account in any way.

The story then traces an audacious cover-up of the deaths involving many different agencies of the federal government—including the Justice Department—that has continued for three and a half years, and has continued into the Obama Administration.

To request an interview with attorney Joshua Denbeaux please use media contacts below:

Media Contacts:
Glenn Selig
PR firm: The Publicity Agency
Phone: (813) 708-1220 x7777
Cell: (813) 300-5454      
Email:  (BlackBerry)

Justin Herndon
PR Firm: The Publicity Agency
Phone: (813) 708-1220 x7778
Cell: (813) 528-6815
Email:  (BlackBerry)

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SOURCE: denbeauxlaw.com

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