Free Essay Sample on the U.S. Intelligence

When most people hear the word detention, they think back to the old high school days when a teacher would demand them to remain behi9nd while everyone else went to their favorite hanging joints. At the time, it seemed like such a hefty punishment that some students were stupid enough to skive it daring that their teacher does something worse. Most of these characters are responsible for the establishment of vast prisons set on large hectares of land that would have been used for economic purposes. The prison facilities, however, serve a more precise purpose. Apart from keeping away the harmful in society, they help mend the behaviour of wrongdoers. Without them, the books of record would be filled with all the wrong characters who conducted massive heists and terrorist attacks all over the world. These facilities are needed so that people like this can always have something to fear when they go about breaking the law. Most importantly, detention programs aid in saving the lives of people who would otherwise have been deceased by now.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The detention program in the U.S is one of the most prestigious yet it still fails in a number of ways. Its state of prestige is explained by its numerous privileges such as ample cell space, the existence of leisure facilities and regular visiting days. The system is so attractive such that some convicts who have previously served wish they could go back in instead of living their lives in fear. Despite this adequacy in privileges, the detention system in America is among the worst. In most cases, inmates complain of security fears while inside the walls of any prison while, in others, some basic needs such as health matters are not adequately met. As a result, many inmates end up dying even before they have served their first year in prison. It is a crime to take away someone elses life. It is also the duty of the government to each country to ensure that the lives of all inmates are accounted for. This paper focuses on the Guantanamo detention facility in Cuba. It looks at the heated issues associated with the prison as well as the viable options that should be considered so as to improve the standards applied in such facilities.

In the infamous Guantanamo Bay, the situation is no different. The facility is prestigious as it is vast. According to land estimates, the prison facility is estimated to harbour at least forty-five miles in kilometres. The level of security in the area is above average. This is very much expected since the facility is divided into two. There is the task force section and the detention centre. The task force centre accommodates hundreds of navy soldiers who are either under recruitment or already in the force. The facility does not accommodate inmates only. It is also used as an interrogation centre. Most of the government military Intel is normally classified hence it would be difficult to try expounding on their operations. Instead, I shall concentrate on the situation in the prison camp (Hulme, 2011). As a staff member of the National Security Council, it is allowable to write reviews on matters one thinks should be addressed about the field one specializes in. The manner in which the Guantanamo prison camp has been administered has raised questions over the years. It is therefore only fair to state some of the notable issues.

First, in the list of operations that require to be revised is the techniques used in interrogating inmates. Many people only experience the horrors that suspects undergo during interrogations in movies. Nevertheless, if one had the chance to question one of the inmates, they would understand the true meaning of suffering. Based on genuine experience given to me by an anonymous former convict, I can assert that the methods are traumatizing, as they are effective. According to my anonymous source, when one is brought into the facility, priority is directed towards the medical records of the inmate. Once all the required tests are conducted, the inmate is locked away in solitary confinement until the interrogators are done with them. In most cases, some do not even get to stay in cells as the rest of the convicted inmates. The situations are so dire such that certain convicts end up disappearing even before they can be convicted.

Disappearing does not literally mean that some inmates run away. Due to conflicting interests among various government and international agencies, most of the inmates end up serving different purposes in other interrogation camps. According to many reviews, however, it is the methods used by the interrogators that scare most Americans. The techniques are undoubtedly inhuman, and one is forced to conclude that that is the reason most of the convicts end up spending the rest of their time in jail. If released, most likely, these convicts would end up hurting other people even worse since they have nothing to lose once they are arrested once again (Carey, 2012). . The interrogation techniques applied are not entirely what should be considered by the Security Council. The procedures followed before convicting suspects in the camp should be reviewed. It is an undeniable fact that most of the inmates do not undergo the required legal proceedings before they are charged and convicted. In most cases, due to their failure to cooperate, most of them end up spending the rest of their lives in the bay. These techniques violate the defences afforded to all individuals in detention whether enemies or civilians under the acts of armed conflict and can add up to torture or ruthless treatment (Carey, 2012). . For prisoners who should be deemed POWs or were sanctioned to a presupposition of POW status, oppression by these methods would be a severe violation of the Geneva Conventions. Serious infringements of the decrees of war perpetrated with unlawful intent are war crimes.

The discreetness in which these interrogations are conducted is what brings about such cases. Since the charges are not publicized, many of the arrested suspects do not get the chance to hire even a good attorney. The interrogation techniques contribute greatly to the decisions that these inmates end up picking. The spots they find themselves in compelling them to either cooperate or suffer the consequences (Hafetz, 2012). . If they do not cooperate, they are detained so that they can rethink their decision and come up with alternatives. Due to the fear of being hunted down and being killed eventually by their associates, these inmates prefer to choose the non-cooperative option. This way, they can serve a few years and maintain their best behaviour hoping that they would receive presidential mercy. This should not be the case since every individual, be it an American citizen or foreigner has a right to an attorney and a fair hearing (Holmqvist, 2014). This is the only legal way of judging and finally convicting a suspect. If evidence that supports the charges levelled against the accused cannot be identified, he or she should remain an innocent man or woman until proven guilty.

The proceeds and abuses examined in this report contravene various prerequisites of US federal law, including Chapter 18 of the US Code which forbids torture according to section 2340A(a), the Crimes and Criminal system Statute on assault as stipulated in section 113 and the law on kidnapping in section 1201. Others include sexual abuse (sections 2241-2246), homicide (sections 1111-1112 and section 2332), war crimes (Section 2441), conspiracy, and solicitation of violent crimes (sections 371 and 373). An example of an act that works towards promoting individual rights includes acts against rights (sections 241-242) which prohibits conspiracies to deny persons their legal rights. Another critical law is on conspiracy to commit torture (section 2340A(c)).

A number of recommendations to the involved parties would help rewrite the detention laws according to the rights of every person. They include:

Directing the attorney general to commence a criminal enquiry into US government incarceration practices and grilling techniques together with the CIA confinement program. The enquiry should scrutinize the function of US officials, no matter their stature or rank, who played a part in, sanctioned, ordered, or had directive responsibility for torture and other prohibited detention customs, including imposed disappearance and performance to torture.

The Congress must Create an autonomous, nonpartisan commission to look into the oppression of detainees in US custody, plus torture, enforced vanishing, and rendition to torment. Such a commission should embrace hearings, have complete subpoena control, compel the creation of evidence, and be allowed to recommend the formation of a special prosecutor to look into possible unlawful offenses; that is if the attorney general has not instigated such an enquiry.

The US Government should, on the other hand, be unfailing with its commitments under the Convention in opposition to torture. The US government should also guarantee that victims of torture can get hold of remedies, which may consist of providing victims with compensation where justified outside the judicial framework.

In addition, Foreign Governments should exercise worldwide jurisdiction or other types of jurisdiction as afforded under intercontinental and domestic laws to take legal action against US officials suspected to be mixed up in criminal offenses touching detainees in breach of international law. This can only happen if the US government pursues reliable criminal enquiries of the role of superior officials in the abuse of detainees.

References

Carey, H. F. (2012). Reaping what you sow: A comparative examination of torture reform in the United States, France, Argentina, and Israel. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger

Hafetz, J. (2012). Habeas corpus after 9/11: Confronting America's new global detention. New York: New York University Press

Holmqvist, C. (2014). Policing wars: On military intervention in the twenty-first century.

Hulme, P. (2011). Cuba's wild east: A literary geography of oriente. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.