Initial reaction force: Difference between revisions
imported>Swinub |
imported>Pbritti Add shortdesc |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Type of anti-riot unit in prisons}} | |||
[[File:Guantanamo riot squad.jpg|thumb|Outside Guantanamo riot squad training]] | [[File:Guantanamo riot squad.jpg|thumb|Outside Guantanamo riot squad training]] | ||
[[File:Guantanamo riot squad training.jpg|thumb|Indoors Guantanamo riot squad training]] | [[File:Guantanamo riot squad training.jpg|thumb|Indoors Guantanamo riot squad training]] | ||
| Line 25: | Line 26: | ||
[http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/David-Hicks-affidavit/2004/12/10/1102625527396.html The David Hicks affidavit], ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 10 December 2004 | [http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/David-Hicks-affidavit/2004/12/10/1102625527396.html The David Hicks affidavit], ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 10 December 2004 | ||
</ref> | </ref> | ||
<ref name=DailyMirror2004-07-01>Rosa Prince and Gary Jones, [http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=890 "My Hell in Camp X-ray,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305070156/http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=890 |date=2005-03-05 }} source: Daily Mirror, London, March 12, 2004, accessed on July 1, 2004.</ref> | <ref name="DailyMirror2004-07-01">Rosa Prince and Gary Jones, [http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=890 "My Hell in Camp X-ray,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305070156/http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=890 |date=2005-03-05 }} source: Daily Mirror, London, March 12, 2004, accessed on July 1, 2004.</ref> | ||
<ref name=TheGuardian2004-05-16b> | <ref name="TheGuardian2004-05-16b"> | ||
{{cite news | {{cite news |author=David Rose, Gaby Hinsliff |date=2004-05-16 |title=US guards 'filmed beatings' at terror camp: Senator urges action as Briton reveals Guantanamo abuse |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/16/terrorism.guantanamo1 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216191826/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/16/terrorism.guantanamo1 |archivedate=2008-02-16 |publisher=[[The Observer]] |quote=Dozens of videotapes of American guards allegedly engaged in brutal attacks on Guantanamo Bay detainees have been stored and catalogued at the camp, an investigation by The Observer has revealed. The disclosures, made in an interview with Tarek Dergoul, the fifth British prisoner freed last March, who has been too traumatised to speak until now, prompted demands last night by senior politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to make the videos available immediately.}} | ||
| | |||
| title | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| archiveurl | |||
| | |||
| quote | |||
}} | |||
</ref> | </ref> | ||
<ref name=TheGuardian2004-05-16a> | <ref name="TheGuardian2004-05-16a"> | ||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/16/terrorism.guantanamo | | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/16/terrorism.guantanamo | ||
| Line 57: | Line 48: | ||
*[http://www.truth-out.org/051609Y Torture Continues at Guantánamo Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716000333/http://www.truth-out.org/051609Y |date=2010-07-16 }} [[Truthout]] | *[http://www.truth-out.org/051609Y Torture Continues at Guantánamo Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716000333/http://www.truth-out.org/051609Y |date=2010-07-16 }} [[Truthout]] | ||
*[http://hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/gitmo1004/9.htm Human Rights Watch] | *[http://hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/gitmo1004/9.htm Human Rights Watch] | ||
*[ | *[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/16/terrorism.guantanamo1 Observer International (British newspaper)] | ||
*[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=14042696_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-MY-HELL-IN-CAMP-X-RAY-name_page.html Mirror.co.uk online Newspaper] | *[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=14042696_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-MY-HELL-IN-CAMP-X-RAY-name_page.html Mirror.co.uk online Newspaper] | ||
Latest revision as of 03:26, 3 December 2025
An initial reaction force (IRF), also known as an internal reaction force, or extreme reaction force (ERF) to inmates, is a type of small-scale riot squad in U.S. military prisons such as the Camp Delta detention center of Guantanamo Bay.[1][2][3] A squad is suited up and ready to respond, at all times, in instances when one or more detainees are combative or resistive.
Controversy
It is alleged by detainees that the units also act as a punishment squad for detainees whose level of insubordination does not fit the criteria for IRF deployment. Part of the allegations charge that regular guards will create reasons to call on the IRF to brutalize detainees over petty or non-existent infractions; refusing to agree to the third cell search in a day or infractions as slight as placing their toiletries on their shelf in the wrong order.[2][3][4] claims: "16. I have witnessed the activities of the Internal Reaction Force (hereinafter "IRF"), which consists of a squad of soldiers that enter a detainee's cell and brutalize him with the aid of an attack dog. The IRF invasions were so common that the term to be "IRF'd" became part of the language of the detainees. I have seen detainees suffer serious injuries as a result of being IRF'ed. I have seen detainees IRF'ed while they were praying, or for refusing medication."
Another allegation by ex-detainees is that while the IRF squad is en route to the target detainee's cell they will chant, "IRF! IRF! IRF!" in order to intimidate and terrify the detainee. Part of the allegation claims that, when the squad arrives at a detainee's cell, they shout out demands to comply.[2][3]
In his first interview, after his repatriation, Tarek Dergoul asserted that a sixth member of the ERF team always stood outside the cell, with a video camera, recording the action.[2][3] Camp authorities confirmed every ERF action was filmed, and Senator Patrick Leahy called for the recordings to be made available to the Senate Judiciary Committee, to see if they contained instances of the kind of abuse recorded in the Abu Ghraib trophy photos. Camp Commandant Jay Hood appeared before the committee two months later with a selection of recordings of the use of the ERF squad.
See also
References
- ↑ The David Hicks affidavit, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 December 2004
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Rosa Prince and Gary Jones, "My Hell in Camp X-ray," Template:Webarchive source: Daily Mirror, London, March 12, 2004, accessed on July 1, 2004.
External links
- Torture Continues at Guantánamo Bay Template:Webarchive Truthout
- Human Rights Watch
- Observer International (British newspaper)
- Mirror.co.uk online Newspaper