Authorities moved 300 prisoners at a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a new, more permanent detention centre with smaller cells and walls to separate inmates from each other, a Pentagon official said today.
"The detainees, most of them suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan, were moved out of Camp X-Ray and into Camp Delta without incident over the weekend," said Marine Captain Riccoh Player.
The new facility has 408 cells, each with a sink and a toilet.
At Camp X-Ray, the cells were enclosed on all four sides with chain link fence which exposed inmates to the elements but also made it easy to communicate between cells.
At the new facility, the cells are enclosed by walls on three sides and by chain link fencing in the front, allowing inmates to see into cells opposite them but not on the side.
"They cannot communicate side-by-side as they could at X-Ray, which should alleviate some of the interrogation challenges," said Cpt Player.
"They won't be completely cut off from communication, but they are going to have to be more creative to communicate," he said.
The new facility has an interrogation centre and access to medical facilities at the nearby base hospital.
Camp Delta, which is costing 26 million dollars to build, will have 612 units.
AFP
