Guantánamo non grata

Today's Guardian sees the publication of an extract from Guantánamo lawyer Clive Stafford Smith's new book Bad Men about his experiences. The extract focuses on publications that were prohibited by the US authorities, generally without explanation, and the absurd censorship of his own notes and communications. Publications that he was no allowed to take into the camp or provide to his clients included:

National Geographic magazine (in defence of the Yanks I must mean that one of the issues did feature an article on the construction of an atomic weapon)

Scientific American magazine

Runner's World clearly a dangerous and seditious publication

The African-American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

An anthology of First World War poetry

Law books including one which discussed the rights of prisoners (one of his clients was in the process of studying for his law exams)

Hidden Agendas by John Pilger

Blair's Wars by John Kampfner

An Honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power by former British Minister Claire Short

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow (we wouldn't want the prisoners to get any funny ideas now would we?)

The New Dinkum Aussie Dictionary (????)

Last but not least Arabic translations of Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Beauty and the Beast. (An FBI agent explained the banning of these by saying that "you know that Arabic script is full of squiggles, and it can easily hide messages to the prisoners".)

Eventually the attorneys were barred from bringing any printed materials to their clients.

Even more curious is Mr. Stafford Smith's discussion of the process he had to go through with the notes he would take during discussions with his clients. He was not allowed to take these with him but rather to enclose them in an envelope marked "Secret" which the camps authorities would post, via regular mail, to an (secret) office in Washington where all state secrets, including any mention of torture or mistreatment, were excised. He also had to submit for censoring any communication he had with anyone else which touched on his discussions with his clients (attorney client privilege being the least of many rights discarded) including a letter that he sent to the Prime Minister. In this missive, in which he included descriptions of allegations of torture against two British citizens, he also included the statement:

"Anything that has been censored or blacked out in this letter, your close allies in the United States don't think you should be allowed to hear."

When returned from Washington all allegations of mistreatment had been carefully removed, undoubtedly to protect Mr. Tony's delicate sensibilities, but statement about censorship had curiously been left in.