More than 1,000 journalists have visited Guantanamo Bay since the US military began locking up suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban militants there four years ago. But press access is severely restricted: Journalists can't talk to detainees, must be accompanied by a military escort and have their photos censored.
Now, the Pentagon has shut down access entirely -- at least for the time being -- expelling reporters this week and triggering an outcry from human rights groups, attorneys and media organizations even as the prison comes under renewed criticism for the suicides of three detainees last weekend.
"Now is the time when the media is most needed," said Clive Stafford Smith, an attorney who has filed legal challenges on behalf of about 40 detainees. "The fact that right now, the most important time in the history of Guantanamo, they are being banned is un-American."
Pentagon defense
Pentagon officials defend the temporary ban on media, saying guards and base officials are preoccupied with investigating the deaths and maintaining security as detainees become more defiant. A clash with guards in May left six detainees injured. Another 10 prisoners were on hunger strike on Thursday, including six being force-fed with nasal tubes.
US officials say the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which sits on cactus-studded hills in southeastern Cuba overlooking the Caribbean and mangrove forests, has been unusually open to journalists -- despite news media complaints that access while on the prison is severely curtailed and requests for interviews often vanish in the military bureaucracy.
"It's the most transparent detention facility in the history of warfare," insisted Navy Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, echoing comments by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
But the Pentagon rejected all requests by news organizations this week to cover the investigation and aftermath of the suicides, the first detainee deaths since the detention center opened.
About 10 news organizations were to cover a military tribunal this week for one of the 10 detainees charged with crimes, but the hearing was postponed and hours before they were to depart for Guantanamo the Pentagon canceled the authorizations that reporters need to visit.
Reporters cover the hearings from the courtroom -- where they are barred from speaking with participants, even during breaks. Or they can view the proceedings on a large-screen TV near a press center where military censors peer at their photographs and video and decide what is out of bounds.
Expulsions
On Wednesday, the Pentagon expelled two journalists -- from the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald -- who arrived at Guantanamo on a charter flight on Sunday and two others from the Charlotte Observer, who were at the base for coverage of a commander from North Carolina.
The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday that the expulsions damage the credibility of the US government.
"We ... call on the US government to take the necessary steps to guarantee the media free access to the naval base at Guantanamo," the group said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS