The Silent Plight of Saifullah Paracha
As time marches on, Saifullah Paracha remains behind a cage door in Guantanamo. His health problems worsen, and he needs a heart procedure that cannot be done at Guantanamo. He is not the only detainee there who is seriously ill. He has been seriously ill since he was arrested. In fact, two of the heart attacks that he had were in Bagram, before he was flown to Guantanamo. It seems to me that knowing his health problems, something should have been done then. They were not.
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 — Unclassified statements from 59-year-old father-of-four Saifullah Paracha, currently being detained at Guantanamo Bay, reveal that his health has seriously deteriorated and could lead to his premature death if his pre-existing heart, prostatic and diabetic disease are not treated urgently.
Saifullah, a Pakistani national and US green card holder, was kidnapped on July 5, 2003 whilst en route to Bangkok on business. He has since suffered three heart attacks, one of which occurred during interrogation - two in Bagram Airbase and one in Guantanamo Bay.
His lawyer Gaillard T Hunt suggests his medical treatment is at best incompetent and at worst negligent.
In fact, many of the detainees refuse medical care for dental work as well as medical because - as some say after release - often they come back with fingers missing, teeth missing and so on. One detainee stated that often others would come out with teeth missing, but the one tooth they went to the dentist for - was still there, and still hurting. As you can imagine, there isn’t a lot of trust in Guantanamo, and the interrogators created that climate while “breaking them [detainees] down.”
Several of Paracha’s brothers and sisters have died of cardiac problems before reaching 65. Paracha is nearly 60, so the problem is not one to be ignored. Paracha has been having fainting spells, so we know the problem is worsening. He couldn’t submit to a cardiac catheterization at Guantanamo because the rules require all prisoners in the hospital to be shackled to the four corners of the bed. The cardiologist said this was dangerous for a heart patient, but the prison administration would not compromise. The statements filed in court to assure us that Paracha is getting proper treatment are not signed by the doctors.
Saifullah is 60 now, and his health continues to worsen. I must interject here, that doctors have been used in torture. For instance, if you want to see how that has happened, read al-Qahtani’s torture log. So soldiers first, doctors second? I suppose you could absolutely say so.
Family and former detainees are deeply concerned over the health of Saifullah and demand that he be given immediate emergency medical attention that could very well save his life.
Saifullah Paracha’s wife Farhat said, “About my husband’s health, if anything goes wrong the entire responsibility is the American Government’s.”
Zahra Paracha, Saifullah’s daughter, said: “I always had a very strong gut feeling that one day, my whole family will come together and we’ll be like any other normal family. Now I keep feeling, ‘what if he meets God before us?’ I think I have as much of a right as any American kid to meet my parent.”
Zahra, Saifullah’s daughter has been the one putting together the web site, the petitions, and dealing with a lot of the press. She is an amazing (now) young woman. She is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met (email). I cannot imagine how hard it must be to know that your father is wasting away somewhere with people who do not care. America is supposed to be so morally superior to other countries - if it’s true why are we still interning, torturing, and allowing people do die in Guantanamo, Bagram, and elsewhere?
Former detainee Moazzam Begg, spokesman of CagePrisoners, states: “Although it is asserted by the US military in Guantanamo that prisoners often receive ‘better medical treatment than they would at home’ it is evident through cases such as Mr. Paracha’s that health matters are attached to certain prerequisites. Often, as was the case during my time in US custody, prisoners’ level of medical treatment would be dependant upon their level of cooperation with interrogators. Simply put, failure to comply could mean failure to receive treatment.”
And I think we all know what “cooperation” means in Guantanamo….
Interview with Zahra for Cageprisoners
‘Gitmo Is Like Being Alive in Your Own Grave’
Detainee death at Guantanamo rings alarm
Free Saifullah Paracha Petition
May 5th, 2008 | Category: Detainee, Family, Geneva Conventions, Guantanamo, URGENT Health Issue, USA, human rights
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