Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Did you know? Domestic “Little Guantanamos” in IN and IL

By

Amy Goodman, host of the indispensable Democracy Now, reports:

With little public scrutiny, the Bush administration opened two secretive prisons in Indiana and Illinois, known as Communication Management Units, or CMUs, that are designed to severely restrict prisoner communication with family members, the media and the outside world. Dozens of Muslim men are still being held at the CMUs, as well as other prisoners, including environmental and animal rights activists.

The government has provided little information about the special prison units. A search on the Bureau of Prisons website yields just one document even mentioning the program. Only a handful of news articles have covered what’s been described as a Little Guantanamo by some of the prisoners.

The first CMU was opened in 2006 in a special, isolated wing of the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. A second CMU was opened last year in Marion, Illinois.

Read the full story here. It was news to me.

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Comments

  1. There’s been a CMU in Pennsylvania for over 100 years, with really strong computing and psych divisions.  It’s quite businesslike, a real performance in public affairs.

  2. That Bush Administration sure was creative. Maybe somebody should find out what’s in the basement of Number One Observatory Circle, and what was in that “man-sized safe.”

  3. Bob, this is a good find, but I’d like to see another source on this line from Will Potter.

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    p>

    Once they’re there, they have extreme restrictions, including having all phone calls monitored and limited to fifteen minutes a week, where the average is about 300 minutes a month.

    <

    p>The average prisoner spends five hours a month on the phone? In a 31-day month, there are 744 hours. Remove midnight to 6 a.m., and you’re left with 558 hours. Even with multiple phones for prisoner use (10? 20?), five hours each seems pretty high.

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    p>And not that throws doubt on the premise, but I’m skeptical of people who throw around big round numbers.

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    p>

      • Manipulated lighting, scary music, abrupt transitions, slow motion, and all.  You’re just an agent of the Illuminati, trying to keep people from learning the truth, aren’t you?

        • Enemies of humanity?  Confronting the real power structure of the planet?  WILLIE NELSON?  

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          p>Sheesh.  

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          p>Why do the tinfoil hat crowd use porn music in their videos?

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          p>

          • As much as I share the sentiments of huh and subutai, the continuing reports that President Obama will not prosecute those responsible for the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the prior administration fuels these flames.

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            p>From the above piece, quoting Rahm Emanuel:

            “it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice, that they will not be subject to prosecution.” He did not specifically address the policy makers.

            Asked yesterday on ABC’s “This Week” about the fate of those officials, Emanuel said the president believes they “should not be prosecuted either and that’s not the place that we go.”

            <

            p>Excuse me, but that is a betrayal of my core values as an American, a progressive, and a supporter of Barack Obama.

            <

            p>I understand priorities, I understand various permutations of political gamesmanship, I understand the realities of votes and majorities.

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            p>I also understand that my country does not torture. When Rahm Emanuel, speaking in his official capacity, says: “it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice, that they will not be subject to prosecution”, he explicitly betrays the core argument that America successfully and correctly made at Nuremberg.

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            p>More than fifty years ago, America and the world correctly determined that the “Nuremberg defense” — “I was only following orders” — was immoral and wrong. We executed German and Japanese officials who raised it.

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            p>I expect America to prosecute those who ordered and carried out waterboarding. We executed Japanese officials who did that to US POWS during WWII — we can surely prosecute American officials who did that today.

            <

            p>I certainly hope that President Obama has not betrayed this fundamental and core tenet of my prior support for him.

          • I haven’t seen the video yet (some of us have to work today), but this is funny:

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            p>

            Why do the tinfoil hat crowd use porn music in their videos?

             

          • Why does the porn industry use tinfoil hat music in their videos?

            <

            p>Is it all a conspiracy, I ask you??

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