Journalists Should Investigate Castros Prisons Instead of Gitmo Essay

Journalists Should Investigate Castro's Prisons Instead of Gitmo The recent hysterics in the press over the treatment of al Qaeda prisoners give the impression that Cuba is some idyllic bastion of human rights save for that American eyesore Guantanamo Bay. The overzealous reporters en route to the communist isle are hell-bent on discovering some form of torture or mistreatment of the prisoners. Upon discovering that the envisioned inhumanity of "Gitmo" in reality is nothing more than conditions of mild discomfort, these same reporters responded with irresponsible exaggeration. One British editorial describes the prisoners as "trapped in open cages, manacled hand and foot, brutalized, tortured and humiliated." Despite the fictitiousness of such commentaries, the righteous indignation of the international community, dampened somewhat in the aftermath of September 11th, is gaining momentum with the aid of unscrupulous reporters. The actual living conditions at Guantanamo Bay lack the scandal and spectacle so dear to the American and Western European media culture. The various amenities granted to the detainees appear incredibly generous in light of their military resumes. These anti-American al Qaeda fighters, who have pursued a skewed, unrighteous, and murderous jihad, merit the basic necessities for living and little else. Still, the camp provides two towels to each prisoner daily to meet both sanitation and prayer needs. One might wonder if some of those prayers include praise to Allah for killing thousands of innocent Americans by hijacking commercial airliners. Or, perhaps they just give thanks that Osama bin Laden remains at large, free from the infidels' justice. Regardless, the prisoners are af... ...s." While the unlawful combatants held at Gitmo receive daily sick calls, the U.N. Special Rapporteur criticized the "widespread incidence" of "tuberculosis, scabies, hepatitis, parasitic infections, and malnutrition" in Cuban prisons. Where is the media outcry over the actual human rights abuses by Castro's government? Where is the investigative reporting on the prison riots protesting inadequate medical services, constant beatings, and squalid cell conditions? Sure, blackout goggles and earmuffs on al Qaeda detainees may be annoying, but it takes some twisted relativism to equate the discomforts of Gitmo attire with parasitic infections and political oppression. Examples of real injustice abound in Castro's regime. Journalists would better serve the human rights cause by investigating, not inventing, incidents of torture.