Cheney Backs Gitmo Amid Criticism

VP Says Detainees At The Prison Are 'Bad People'

(CBS/AP) 
In a statement Sunday, the Defense Department said it "does not wish to hold detainees longer than necessary, and effective processes are in place to regularly review the status of enemy combatants."

"The concept of Guantanamo was never to establish a permanent prison for terrorists," said Falk, "it is after all on a leased property in Cuba, but the longer it goes on without tribunals and without an end in sight, the more untenable and irresponsible it looks to both U.S. allies and critics."

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans a hearing on the issue Wednesday. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the panel's senior Democrat, said the United States has created a "legal black hole" at Guantanamo. "We want other countries to adhere to the rule of law. And in Guantanamo, we are not," he told CBS' Face the Nation.

In the latest report about the prison, Time magazine reported Sunday on an 84-page document detailing the Guantanamo interrogation of one detainee, Mohamed al-Qahtani, who was captured during the war in Afghanistan.

It was learned later that he had tried to enter the U.S. in August 2001, but was turned away by an immigration agent at the Orlando, Florida, airport. Mohamed Atta, ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, was in the airport at the same time, officials have said.

Military intelligence officials at Guantanamo got permission to use intensive interrogation techniques on two prisoners, including al-Qahtani, who were deemed to be important al Qaeda figures, the commander of U.S. Southern Command has said.

"He was subjected to some of the most rigorous interrogation procedures at Guantanamo," said Time correspondent Viveca Novak on CBS News' The Early Show. "There were a number of techniques ranging from fear to humiliation and sometimes even to being nice to him, to try to get him to cough up information."

Time said interrogators used such techniques as dripping water on al-Qahtani's head; strip-searching him and making him stand nude; and depriving him of sleep. At one point, after receiving fluid intravenously because he was dehydrated, al-Qahtani was told to urinate in his pants by interrogators who refused his request to use the bathroom so they could continue with their questioning, according to the account.

Novak also noted an incident in the log that was called invasion of space by a female.

"It isn't clear exactly what interactions this female interrogator had with him. We know she was obviously pushing her body up close against his, but the specifics aren't there," Novak told Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "But it was so disturbing to him that he at one point said that he wanted to commit suicide because of her. And he asked for material to write a will."

"He was given a crayon and a piece of paper. He did write a will, which was later ripped up after he didn't answer an interrogator's question," she added.

The Defense Department said in response that the interrogation of al-Qahtani "was guided by a very detailed plan and conducted by trained professionals motivated by a desire to gain actionable intelligence, to include information that might prevent additional attacks on America."