Living history: covering the Guantanamo Bay detention facility

Times photographer Chris Zuppa and reporter Meg Laughlin took a media tour of the detention camps at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in June. Read their report: Behind Guantanamo's walls, there are more walls. Chris recounts his experience below.

The icy security official introduces himself as Rob, then spouts off his litany of NOs. NO faces of detainees. NO more than one guard tower in a photograph. NO photographs of unmanned guard towers. NO photographs of guard towers without permission from the guard. NO photographs of security cameras. The list seems endless.

Reporter Meg Laughlin and I had flown Lynx Air, a twin-propellor plane, from Fort Lauderdale to Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, arriving 13 hours late because of a flight delay. We crossed the bay in a ferry, checked into our rooms, got our ID badges and rushed through breakfast to catch up with the media tour hosted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

First stop is the detainee library. Our JTF public affairs escort drives us in a white van. Rob, a private contractor for the military, briefs us from the front passenger seat on the do's and don’ts. Meg leans in and whispers to me, “What can you photograph?”

I knew Guantanamo would be tough. When applying for the visit we had to sign a "rules to abide" form, something required of all journalists who want to make the trip. Failure to comply can result in expulsion from the base and criminal prosecution if we disseminate classified information. On top of that, all my photographs would be previewed by government censors. Any considered in violation of the agreement must be deleted from the camera's memory card.

Never before have I allowed a subject this much control. But there's no choice. I wanted to go. Badly. Guantanamo Bay is living history. It will forever be a chapter in the story of our country and I longed to witness it.

For two days we tour the base and detention camps along with a couple of German journalists, always escorted by at least two public affairs officials. Our time and access are limited. There will be NO talking to detainees. Other than public affairs officials, most military personnel give fake or incomplete names for attribution of quotes. Raising the viewfinder to my eye sometimes triggers an official to stop me, just to make sure I'm following the rules. In one camp I'm simply told to stop taking photos.

At the end of each day, two men screen my images. They delete anything of detainees in profile, or facing the camera (even if the face is not in focus). They delete anything that might reveal a detainee’s identity, like a tattoo on an arm. They delete seemingly innocuous photographs of my journalism colleagues because their Guantanamo Bay ID badges are visible. They delete anything that shows a detention camp in relationship to a road. I’m still scratching my head over that one because I saw a recent Associated Press photograph of the same scene.

The experience is stressful. Public affairs Sgt. Andrew Hillegass, a young and affable family man, tells me that photojournalists have stormed out of the security review. Others have willingly pointed out images that violated the rules to abide. I just watch and let the censors decide.

My favorite photograph survives the digital trash can, a scene of detainees kneeling in morning prayer at Camp IV shortly after 5 a.m. For me it encapsulates Guantanamo Bay. The image feels distant, sterile and slightly surreal. Yet it shows everything -- Muslims confined within razor wire in a nondescript location, their futures to be determined by political and judicial decisions made a world away. I hope it engages our readers and prompts them to seek out multiple points of view, and helps them recognize that the story of Guantanamo's detainees is a complex one. [CHRIS ZUPPA, Times] VIEW GUANTANAMO PHOTO GALLERY

Comments

[m]

nice post chris. thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[Lance Rothstein]

Magnificent images Chris! What a great opportunity. I like the flowers growing on the cages of camp X-ray. Thanks for enduring the military censors and finding poignant pictures to capture this important chapter in our country's history.