Madam, - I have only just read your edition of July 19th, after being away for a fortnight, and I simply cannot believe what I read on page 10, in the column written by Mark Steyn and entitled "Free the Afghans at Guantanamo, but keep the Brits". The tone is casual, even flippant, making light of all the suffering and humiliation endured by the prisoners at Guantanamo since they were flown there, manacled, chained, hooded and with their beards shorn off against their will.
In the first camp, X Ray, they were kept in tiny, chainlink outdoor cages where they were likely to be rained upon. They got little exercise, if any at all, and were chained when allowed to leave their cages.
A second camp, Delta, started taking inmates in April of last year. There, the cells are even smaller and the men hardly ever leave them. Some went on hunger strike and several of them attempted suicide last year. They still have not had any contact with their loved ones or access to legal advice.
What they have had to endure so far all too clearly violates article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Mark Steyn's suggestion, therefore, that the suicide attempts come from "prisoners depressed at being unable to become suicide-bombers" is deeply hurtful. And to say that "one could make the case that stopping them is disrespectful of their cultural tradition" only adds insult to injury.
Mr Steyn would be well advised to get his facts right by reading a reliable human-rights report, like Amnesty International's, from which I obtained the details on the prisoners' conditions.
I find it extremely disappointing to read such comments in your paper and it goes without saying that I am not looking forward to reading Mark Steyn's future columns, however interesting they might be in other respects. - Yours, etc.,
MAGGIE PERNOT, Rue des Alleux, St Julien, France.
Madam, - Congratulations on the decision to feature a regular column from the Canadian journalist Mark Steyn. His welcome, because overdue, challenge to some of the more ridiculous diktats of the PC establishment, intruding into so many areas of people's lives, is as hilariously spot-on as it is timely.
I have no doubt his views will have resonated with many of your readers. - Yours, etc.,
MRS D. BURKE, Lee Road, Cork.