Chapter 3 Conditions of Detention | 59 Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. 125 After 13 days of onsite investigations, the team issued a report on February 23, 2009, concluding that the conditions of confinement met the requirements of Common Article 3. 126 The team found no “substantiated evidence of prohibited acts” in the course of the review. Military and civilian defense counsel have criticized the report claiming that the methodology of the Department of Defense “was flawed from the start” and that “it was merely an internal, executive level assessment that lacked any peer review [and] failed to solicit scrutiny or input directly from the detainees themselves, lawyers for detainees, and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the U.N., the “Sending” states, and civil-society stakeholders.” 122. The Inter-American Commission has received troubling information regarding prison conditions at Camp 7, a single-cell facility currently used to house a small group of special detainees, known as “high-value detainees.” These detainees are reportedly held incommunicado and are not subject to the same treatment accorded to other prisoners. On May 20, 2013, a group of eighteen military and civilian defense counsel representing the “high-value detainees” sent a joint request to Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel to improve the conditions of confinement in Guantanamo. 127 They pointed out that these detainees are not permitted to contact their families by telephone or video; that their access to religious materials has been restricted (such as the sayings and descriptions of the life of the Prophet Mohammed); that they have limited recreational opportunities; and that they are not permitted to participate in group prayer, contrary to the entitlements of other detainees. 123. The request noted that, although the report issued by Admiral Walsh “was methodologically flawed,” he “did note his strenuous concerns about whether the confinement conditions at Camp 7 were humane.” 128 The report considered that “in certain camps, further socialization is essential to maintain humane treatment over time” and strongly recommended to “give detainees in Camp 7 opportunities for group prayer with three or more detainees, similar to practices in other camps.”129 According to defense counsel, the recommendations outlined in the 2009 report have not been fulfilled. Defense counsel also stated that the JTF-Guantanamo’s guard force adopted procedures that could only be construed as intended to 125 126 127 128 129 U.S. Department of Defense, DoD News, Navy Admiral to Lead Review of Guantanamo Detention Facility, February 3, 2009. Available at: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52940 U.S. Department of Defense, Review of Department Compliance with President’s Executive Order on Detainee Conditions of Confinement, February 23, 2009. Available at: http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/REVIEW_OF_DEPARTMENT_COMPLIANCE_WITH_PRESIDENTS_EXECUTIV E_ORDER_ON_DETAINEE_CONDITIONS_OF_CONFINEMENTa.pdf Joint letter to Secretary Hagel, Re: Requests to Improve the Conditions of Confinement in Guantanamo, from military and civilian counsel, May 20, 2013. Letter submitted during the IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013. Joint letter to Secretary Hagel, Re: Requests to Improve the Conditions of Confinement in Guantanamo, from military and civilian counsel, May 20, 2013. Letter submitted during the IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013. U.S. Department of Defense, Review of Department Compliance with President’s Executive Order on Detainee Conditions of Confinement, February 23, 2009, pp. 5 and 26. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR