Beatings alleged

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

Prisoners at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay are routinely beaten and abused by their guards, a senior Marine Corps defense lawyer charged last week. Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who directs the Marine lawyers defending the 450 suspected terrorists held at Guantánamo, says a paralegal on his team spoke with guards who boasted of punching prisoners in the face, withholding water from them, and dousing them with pepper spray. The paralegal, who was not identified, reportedly spent an hour in a bar at the base listening as the guards, including one named Bo, told stories of prisoner abuse. “One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee’s head into the cell door,” the paralegal said in an affidavit. The Pentagon says it will investigate.