As part of our ASTU syllabus we examined Marc Falkoff’s Poems From Guantánamo, a collection of 22 poems written by 17 detainees from Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo Bay is a military prison in Cuba run by the United States, which was opened in 2002. The difference is that the people detained in Guantánamo Bay have not been charged, therefore are being detained on the premise of being guilty until proven innocent.
Reading Poems From Guantánamo was an eye opening experience. A person’s reaction to the poems differs a lot, depending on their personal beliefs and cultural background. On one end of the spectrum there are those who believe that all of the detainees are in fact terrorists and deserve nothing better, while on the opposite end there are those who believe that the United States has stepped far out of line and violated numerous human rights by running the facility.
Personally, I found it hard to identify fully with either argument. While I do believe that there are human rights violations occurring within the facility such as force feeding, at the same time I am not in a position to judge whether the men being detained are genuinely innocent people. However I do feel that the detainees should stand trial immediately and either be charged or released, instead of being held indefinitely in Guantánamo Bay.
In my opinion most of the poems are well written, regardless of who wrote them and whether they are or a monster or a saint. The poems evoke basic human compassion and empathy, which can be confusing as the authors have been labeled as ‘terrorists’. This brings about the question of whether someone who is a ‘terrorist’ deserves to be thought of as a human and be protected by international human rights. If someone has carried out terrorist activities such as bombing and killing people, should they be given any sympathy? Or should they be treated like a monster and tortured in unimaginable ways?
Works Cited:
Falkoff, Marc. Poems from Guantánamo. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2007. Print.